M’s Eugenio Suarez bids to keep ‘good vibes’ going vs. Rangers

Good vibes, indeed.

Thursday started with the Seattle Mariners reuniting with Eugenio Suarez shortly after midnight on a plane at Sacramento (Calif.) International Airport and concluded that night with a 6-0 victory against the visiting Texas Rangers.

The teams entered Thursday tied for both second place in the American League West and the AL’s third and final wild-card berth. The four-game series will continue Friday night in Seattle.

After a disheartening 5-4 defeat Wednesday night against the host Athletics, the Mariners sat on the tarmac for more than 45 minutes with no idea why their flight home was delayed. The reason became apparent when Suarez, acquired hours earlier in a trade with Arizona, and his family stepped on board. A loud cheer went up from the front of the cabin, and Suarez walked down the aisle, hugging everyone along the way.

“Obviously, it was a special moment to see all my teammates on the plane cheer for me,” Suarez said. “It’s something that I obviously feel really good (about) because I see everybody in the same place, so I got to say hello to everybody together.”

Suarez, a slugging third baseman known for his “good vibes only” mantra while playing for Seattle in 2022-23, received a standing ovation from Mariners fans in his first at-bat Thursday. He was responsible for the game’s opening run on a double in the fourth inning and also scored on a wild pitch.

“It was just a great moment, I think, for him,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “Baseball is about relationships. It’s about the teams you play on, the teammates that you have, and any time you get reunited with that, it’s a special feeling. And that’s what it felt like on the plane last night. It was a very cool moment for all of us.”

Seattle’s Cal Raleigh hit his majors-leading 42nd home run, breaking the record for most homers in a season by a switch-hitting catcher set by the New York Mets’ Todd Hundley in 1996.

Rookie Cole Young added a solo shot and a run-scoring triple, and George Kirby pitched six scoreless innings for the Mariners.

“When you get a guy like that on top of his game, you know you have your hands full,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of Kirby. “We got a couple chances there, just didn’t quite cash in, and we have got to figure out a way to score runs here … this park has been tough for us.”

Friday’s game will feature a matchup of right-handers in the Rangers’ Jack Leiter (7-6, 4.09 ERA) and Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (3-4, 3.36).

Leiter has won his past three starts, including 8-1 Sunday against visiting Atlanta in a game in which he went six innings and allowed one run on two hits with seven strikeouts.

Leiter is 0-2 with a 6.98 ERA in four career appearances against the Mariners, including two starts. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings in a 13-1 loss at Seattle on May 2, giving up six runs on eight hits. Leiter didn’t get a decision despite allowing one run on seven hits over six innings on June 29 in Arlington, Texas, a game the M’s won 6-4 in 12 innings.

Gilbert is coming off a 4-1 loss Sunday to the host Los Angeles Angels after allowing four runs on just three hits in five innings.

He’s 5-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 15 career starts against the Rangers. Gilbert beat visiting Texas 3-1 on April 13, as he allowed one run on three hits over five innings, with seven strikeouts. He took a no-decision June 27 at Texas in a game the M’s won 7-6 in 12 innings.

–Field Level Media