ST. PETERSBURG -- A record-setting afternoon for Logan Gilbert was ultimately overshadowed by the Mariners’ fifth consecutive loss as they fell to the Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field, 6-1.
The right-hander became the fifth pitcher in franchise history to reach 1,000 strikeouts when he got Jonny DeLuca to tip an 87.9 mph slider into Cal Raleigh’s glove to begin the bottom of the second inning at Tropicana Field. None of those other hurlers -- Félix Hernández, Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer or Mark Langston -- recorded 1,000 K's faster than Gilbert.
It took him just 944 innings to get to the century mark, breaking Johnson's previous record for the fewest innings needed to obtain 1,000 strikeouts in a Mariners uniform (957 1/3), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Gilbert, a Florida native who was born and raised a few hours north of the Rays’ home park, received an ovation from his friends and family who were sitting near Seattle’s dugout.
“That’s a big deal,” Gilbert said of his achievement. “Being so close to home, if I'm not going to get it in Seattle, this is the next-best place, and I had a lot of people out here. A lot of people in those stands that helped me since I was 4 years old to now get here. So, it was a pretty full-circle moment.”
After debuting in 2021, Gilbert has recorded at least 170 strikeouts in each of the past four seasons. He struck out five batters over 6 2/3 innings on the day, and his 875 strikeouts since the start of 2022 are the fourth-most in the Majors, trailing only Dylan Cease (1,028), Kevin Gausman (901) and Zack Wheeler (892).
The No. 14 overall selection by Seattle in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Stetson University, Gilbert entered his matchup against the AL East-leading Rays with a 1.78 ERA and 57 strikeouts across 50 2/3 innings in his previous eight starts. Seattle won seven of those eight games, so he seemed to be the perfect option to have on the mound to kick Seattle out of its current funk.
Yet Gilbert’s four-seamer, which has been so effective as he’s leaned on it more often of late, was not sharp Saturday. The Rays went 7-for-16 in at-bats ending on that pitch. In his previous four starts -- when his four-seam usage rate was north of 55% -- opposing hitters had combined to go 5-for-48 against Gilbert’s heater.
“It’s been better the last few starts,” he admitted. “Take nothing away from them; they put good swings on it. But I didn't feel like I had my best stuff today.”
That forced Gilbert to work out of multiple jams with his slider, curveball and splitter. He was mostly successful, surrendering lone runs in the second and third innings before buckling down.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh and with his pitch count rising, Gilbert told manager Dan Wilson during a mound visit that he wanted to face Rays left-handed hitter Jonathan Aranda. Wilson had left-hander Gabe Speier ready in the bullpen, but he showed confidence in his workhorse.
Aranda ended up lashing Gilbert’s last pitch of the game -- a four-seamer -- into right-center field with a 106.6 mph exit velocity for a double.
“It's tough,” Gilbert said. “You obviously want to get the guy, and I appreciate [Wilson] letting me have the chance there. Sometimes it works out.”
Speier did enter after an intentional walk to Junior Caminero and was immediately ambushed by pinch-hitter Ryan Vilade for a three-run home run that effectively put the game out of reach for Seattle, which has scored a total of 12 runs during its five-game skid.
The offense once again failed to get a hit with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-6 on the afternoon. It is now 0-for-27 in RISP situations dating back to the eighth inning of Tuesday’s loss to the Marlins.
“I know the hitting coaches put in a ton of work with these guys, and everybody is doing what they can to turn it around,” Wilson said. “It just hasn't happened.”
The Mariners had a golden opportunity to get off the schneid right away Saturday as they loaded the bases with one out in the first, only to see that chance dashed once Josh Naylor and Luke Raley struck out swinging against Rays starter Griffin Jax.
Seattle will now head into Sunday’s first-half finale looking to avoid dropping six consecutive games for the first time since May 2022.