CLEVELAND — As he caught the short underhand toss from Ty France and stepped on first base for the final out of the Mariners’ 3-2 victory that clinched a series win over the Guardians, Paul Sewald held the ball in his glove, put his arms in a cradle position and mimicked a baby-rocking motion.
Why?
Well, the hitter that made the final out — Josh Naylor — did that when he would round the bases on a home run last season. It became infamous in the American League Division Series when Naylor hit a homer off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who took exception to it.
As for Sewald, well, that’s just the Mariners being the Mariners and having a little fun. Something they didn’t have much of when the Guardians kicked them around in the opening series of the season, taking three of four games in Seattle.
The Mariners have now taken the first two games of the three-game series at Progressive Field and will go for a sweep on Sunday with George Kirby getting the start.
The Mariners jumped all over Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill, scoring three runs in the first two innings.
Three straight singles from Julio Rodriguez, Ty France and Eugenio Suarez resulted in a 1-0 lead. With one out and the bases loaded, Jarred Kelenic pulled a ground ball through the left side to score another run. It was the first of three hits for him on the night.
The Mariners probably should’ve had more, but Kolten Wong struck out and Tom Murphy flew out to left to end the inning.
Seattle picked up another run in the second inning when France doubled into the left-field corner and scored moments later on Suarez’s single to left to make it 3-0.
But the scoring would dry up against Quantrill and the Guardians bullpen. Seattle squandered opportunities to add on in the third, eighth and ninth innings.
After facing the Guardians in his first outing of the season and allowing four runs on six hits, Gonzales faced them again and gave the Mariners a solid outing, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing one run on six hits with a walk.
He held the Guardians scoreless through the first four innings, working around some early baserunners in the first three. Cleveland finally got to him in the fifth inning. A leadoff double off the bat of Andres Gimenez and a one-out double from Myles Straw would be the only run Gonzales allowed. He got some help to get out that inning with Rodriguez chasing down a drive to the gap in right-center and J.P. Crawford snaring a 109-mph line drive off the bat of Jose Ramirez to end the inning.
Gonzales couldn’t quite finish the sixth inning, though. He issued a one-out walk to Josh Naylor and allowed a two-out double to Gimenez that put runners on second and third.
Mariners manager Scott Servais went to his bullpen. Right-hander Penn Murfee got pinch-hitter Will Brennan to fly out to right field to end the inning.
A night after getting near flawless work from their bullpen, Matt Festa struggled in the seventh inning. He walked Straw, the No. 9 hitter in the order, to start the inning.
