Mariners aim to continue strong play in opener vs. Marlins

There was some hand-wringing going on in Seattle after the Mariners stumbled to a 3-7 start to the season and lost right fielder Victor Robles and second baseman Ryan Bliss to long-term injuries.

But all seems better now as the Mariners return home to open a three-game series with the Miami Marlins on Friday night.

The Mariners bounced back from a three-game sweep in San Francisco to take five of six games against American League West rivals Houston and Texas at T-Mobile Park. They then headed out on a nine-game trip to Cincinnati, Toronto and Boston. Although the Mariners lost the opening game in each of those series, they rebounded to win the final two each time, going 6-3 on the lengthy trek.

“It shows some resiliency and not getting too down or too up, honestly, after wins or losses,” said Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo, who pitched six quality innings in a 4-3 victory Thursday afternoon against the Red Sox.

“Just trying to stay consistent and keep playing good baseball. Down early in a lot of those games, up early in a lot of those games too, just continuing to keep going, keep playing.”

Mitch Garver hit a two-run double in the first inning and the Mariners scored twice more in the second. That was enough for Woo, who allowed two runs on three hits, with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Closer Andres Munoz remained perfect with his AL-leading ninth save in as many opportunities. Munoz has yet to allow an earned run in 13 appearances this season.

“Losing the first game, showing a lot of fight, coming back in each series, this was a really nice way to cap it,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.

The Marlins had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 5-2 loss to visiting Cincinnati on Wednesday despite Sandy Alcantara’s first quality start of the season.

Agustin Ramirez got Wednesday off after reaching base in seven of his first eight plate appearances following his call-up from Triple-A Jacksonville on Monday.

“I’ve been working a lot to have these results,” the catcher said via an interpreter. “And to be honest, sometimes I look through the mask and look at the stadium, I ask myself, ‘Am I here?'”

Ramirez, acquired last summer in the deal that sent Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the New York Yankees, is 5-for-6 with three doubles and batted cleanup spot in his second MLB game Tuesday.

“He’s certainly a real talent,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “There’s real bat speed, there’s real impact. You’re never sure how a young player is going to come in right away and respond at the major league level. It’s like a real calmness to his plate appearances, what he’s swinging at. He’s firing at the right pitches. And there’s a real aggressive approach there, and a real threat.”

Ramirez got called up with catchers Nick Fortes (left oblique strain) and Rob Brantly (right lat strain) both nursing injuries.

“I think the (initial) message with Gus was, ‘Congratulations,'” McCullough said. “Certainly we’ve always believed in the talent, and still think there’s still refining left to do, especially on the defensive end of things. It’s great that he’s come up and had a couple games and helped us win. He’ll have to continue to work on the defense, and as we get further down the road, we just have to evaluate things, and what we feel like is best for now and moving on.”

Friday’s series opener is scheduled to feature a pair of right-handers in Miami’s Cal Quantrill (1-2, 8.31 ERA) and Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (1-1, 2.63).

Quantrill is 0-1 with a 3.98 ERA in five career meetings (four starts) versus the Mariners, while Gilbert is 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA in two contests against the Marlins.

–Field Level Media