SEATTLE -- Needing an offensive jolt after a sluggish start to the second half, the Mariners rebounded from a rough weekend series to defeat the Rangers, 7-3, on Monday at T-Mobile Park.
Here are three questions that loom after the win, and how they relate to how the club fares the rest of the season:
Is Marco back on track?
Left-hander Marco Gonzales threw a career-high 81 strikes on Monday for a rate of 73.6 percent, well above his 66.5 percent average over his first 21 starts. Location and command are at the heart of Gonzales’ approach, particularly given that he doesn’t possess overpowering velocity and that he pitches heavily to contact. Gonzales had just four strikeouts on Monday, and only two from his final 18 batters, 17 of which he retired to cap seven strong innings.
The first two in that stretch came with the bases loaded, and Gonzales escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam with only one run allowed. His other run manifested after a fan prevented Kyle Seager from catching a would-be third-out popup in foul territory, which allowed Hunter Pence to continue his at-bat and hit an RBI single.
Gonzales believes Monday offered optimism that he’s turned a corner from what was a tough stretch in May and June, when the Mariners lost each of his seven starts after he became the first pitcher to five wins this season. Seattle has now won six of his past eight starts dating to June 7, and Gonzales has earned the win in each of those outings, a sign that he’s pitching deeper into games.
“I think just remaining calm, settling in on my breathing and being able to just execute pitches and not try to do too much,” Gonzales said of the root of his turnaround. “Not try to be too fine or miss bats. Early in my career, getting into those positions, I would try to miss and avoid contact. Now, I'm just accepting it and going right after guys. I think that's given me success in those situations.”
Is Nola’s success sustainable?
In a season of “opportunity,” as manager Scott Servais has said, no offensive player is taking more advantage of his than Austin Nola, who crushed a three-run homer in the second inning that propelled the Mariners to a lead and seven unanswered runs.
Nola, who is earning his first Major League action after spending eight years in the Minors, is hitting .349 with a 1.009 OPS over 24 games for the Mariners. He’s hitting so well that he’s playing himself into the starting lineup -- and at a position he’d played sparingly before this season.
Monday’s game was Nola’s 26th start at first base, where he played just 25 of his 773 games in the Minors. Because he is primarily a catcher, he essentially gives Seattle three backstops, which allows Servais to keep Omar Narvaez -- who has a 1.037 OPS over his past 30 games -- in the lineup as a DH on getaway days.
“Right now, I'm just trying to focus on getting a good pitch to swing at,” Nola said. “We worked on all the mechanics in spring. Right now, it just comes down to competing and going out there and swinging at good pitches. I'm just trying to do my job. That's the biggest thing for me.”
Nola has been a pleasant surprise, particularly given that he’s playing a position that allocated power early in the season with Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce before each was traded. The 29-year-old will likely continue to play at a rate of two out of three games.
Can the Mariners win when run producers struggle?
Seattle’s top run producer, Daniel Vogelbach, went 0-for-4 and is 4-for-24 since playing in his first All-Star Game. His struggles are particularly illuminating when the club loses, like it did in seven of its first eight games out of the break. But when other bats are producing, as they were on Monday, Seattle showed that it can find ways to win.
Vogelbach and right fielder Domingo Santana, who hit third and ranks eighth in the American League with 65 RBIs, were the only Mariners in the starting lineup who went hitless.
J.P. Crawford, who the club is hopeful will be its shortstop when it returns to contention, went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI single, marking his first multi-hit game since June 28, when he was slashing .319/.383/.486. Since then, his line was down to .251/.323/.429 entering Monday.
Seager, who entered the eighth inning 5-for-his-last-58, crushed a 394-foot homer after the game was decided. Tim Beckham, who is playing left field to keep his hot bat in the lineup, went 1-for-3 and scored twice. Beckham has hit in 11 of his past 12 games.
“It's nice to see guys get going,” Servais said. “Really, the bottom of our lineup chipping in -- a huge home run by Austin Nola when we're down early in the ballgame and get us right back in the lead. Other good at-bats after that. Mallex [Smith] got a big two-run single. J.P. swung the bat better tonight. It was nice to see Seager get one. It's been a struggle for him of late. Nice job offensively.”