Mariners turn to Logan Gilbert in series finale vs. Angels

Right-hander Logan Gilbert will try and build on his best start of the season when the Seattle Mariners go for a series victory against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday in Anaheim, Calif.

Gilbert (3-3, 3.07 ERA), a 2024 All-Star when he led the majors with 208 2/3 innings pitched, will be making his eighth start since missing seven weeks with a right elbow flexor strain.

Seattle has won Gilbert’s last two starts, a no-decision in an 8-4 win over American League Central-leading Detroit, then a 1-0 win over National League Central co-leader Milwaukee. In those two games, Gilbert allowed eight hits and no earned runs over a combined 11 2/3 innings and striking out 19.

Gilbert especially was impressive in his last outing on Tuesday, outdueling Brewers hard-throwing All-Star Jacob Misiorowski in the process. He allowed two hits and struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings in that 1-0 victory.

“I think this was probably the best we’ve seen him this year, just the way he attacked, the stuff that he had, well in control of that ballgame,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “All around, it was just a great ballgame by him.

“I think it’s huge for him.”

Gilbert is 4-3 with a 3.63 ERA in 10 career starts against the Angels, including 4-1 with a 4.10 ERA in seven starts at Anaheim Stadium.

Seattle has won two of the first three games in the series, including a 7-2 win on Saturday night that saw catcher Cal Raleigh club his major league leading 40th home run to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth, and Julio Rodriguez homer for the fourth time in three games.

Raleigh became the first catcher and also the first switch-hitter in major league history to hit 40 homers before the end of July. He also became the seventh different catcher to hit 40 home runs in a season, joining Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza – who both did it twice – Roy Campanella, Todd Hundley, Javy Lopez and Salvador Perez.

“It’s a cool milestone to hit and I’m very thankful for it,” Raleigh said. “A cool moment for sure. I think back to when I got 30, that was cool, and 40 is definitely very cool as well. I’m not trying to downplay it, but glad we got the win tonight. I’ll look back one day and it’ll be a cool moment.”

“The season and the numbers he’s put up is pretty staggering,” Wilson said. “This is just another one of those notches on his belt.”

Meanwhile, Rodriguez has homered in three consecutive games for the second time this month while Randy Arozarena hit his 12th homer in 22 games and now has 20 in a season for the fifth consecutive year.

Right-hander Kyle Hendricks (5-7, 4.92 ERA) will try to help the Angels salvage a split of the series. Hendricks is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in two career starts against Seattle. That win came on June 6 this season when he allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings in a 5-4 victory at Angel Stadium.

The Angels lost for the fifth time in six games on Saturday. Taylor Ward was one of the few bright spots, hitting his 24th home run in the second inning to give the team a short-lived 1-0 lead.

Los Angeles put both Chris Taylor (hand) and Jorge Soler (back) on the injured list before Saturday’s game, and third baseman Yoan Moncada left in the sixth inning after taking a 96.4 mph George Kirby fastball off his right hand. X-rays were negative for a fracture and interim manager Ray Montgomery said Moncada is day-to-day.

“I thought at first that I had broken a broken (pinky) finger because it was numb,” Moncada said.

“Definitely dodged a bullet there,” Montgomery said. “X-rays were negative. … He’s sore. We’ll see how it goes.”

-Field Level Media