Stat of the Day: Sewald's hitless streak
MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Mariners this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.
June 30: Mariners 9, Blue Jays 7 (10) -- Dominant Sewald
Paul Sewald continues to gain more trust and leverage out of Seattle's bullpen, and he's quietly put together a hitless streak of 25 batters over his past eight outings, including a 1-2-3 sixth inning on Wednesday against the Blue Jays. In this stretch, he's only walked two.
June 29: Blue Jays 9, Mariners 3 -- A well-traveled team
The Mariners traveled to Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y., for their first look at the Blue Jays this season. This was the 52nd park Seattle has traveled to for a regular-season game in franchise history and the first new stadium the Mariners have played in since their first time at the Rangers' Globe Life Field in 2020.
June 27: Mariners 3, White Sox 2 (Game 1); White Sox 7, Mariners 5 (Game 2) -- No. 9 shines
It wasn't just that Taylor Trammell hit two impressive homers in the first game on Sunday, including a go-ahead shot in the ninth. It was where he was doing it in the lineup that stood out. Trammell was batting ninth, which extended the Mariners' streak of homering from the nine-spot to five games. Though they didn't continue the streak in the nightcap, it was still an impressive feat, and the longest such stretch since the Yankees did so from Aug. 16-20, 2003.
June 25: Mariners 9, White Sox 3 -- Double play machines
The Mariners already led the Majors in double plays entering this three-game series against Chicago, and they padded that mark with a season-high three on Friday. And it should come as no surprise that reigning Gold Glove Award winner J.P. Crawford was at the center of each of them.
June 23: Rockies 5, Mariners 2 -- Trammell is 31,000th run
Taylor Trammell's sixth-inning homer off Germ¨¢n M¨¢rquez wasn't just notable in that he broke up the Rockies' righty's perfect game. It also represented a franchise milestone. The solo shot marked the 31,000th run in franchise history, dating all the way back to when the club began play in 1977.
June 22: Mariners 2, Rockies 1 -- Crawford with bases loaded
J.P. Crawford continued his June tear with an RBI single with the bases loaded in the fifth inning of what wound up being a tight, one-run tilt against Colorado. Crawford worked a full count against Kyle Freeland before putting the Mariners on the board. The knock highlighted Crawford's clutch factor, as it elevated his batting average to .450 with the bases loaded, which moved him into a tie for fourth among active players who've had at least 25 plate appearances.
June 20: Mariners 6, Rays 2 (10) -- A day of firsts for Long
Not only was Shed Long Jr.'s walk-off grand slam the first of his career (and his first home run of 2021), it was also the first time he's driven in four runs in a single game.
June 19: Mariners 6, Rays 5 (10) -- Crawford's first slam a liner
J.P. Crawford's grand slam had a launch angle of 16 degrees. That's tied for the lowest launch angle on a home run in MLB this season.
June 18: Mariners 5, Rays 1 -- Kikuchi stellar over last 9
In his last nine starts, Yusei Kikuchi has a 2.53 ERA across 57 innings. Compare that to his first four starts, when he had a 5.70 ERA in 23 2/3 innings.
June 17: Mariners 6, Rays 5 -- Veteran's first walk-off pinch-hit
Instead of relaxing on a scheduled off-day, Kyle Seager came up with a pinch-hit, RBI single to secure a walk-off win for the Mariners. The 11-year veteran doesn't have an extensive pinch-hit history (18 plate appearances), and on Thursday he recorded his first walk-off pinch-hit. Seattle now has 11 pinch-hit walk-offs since 2000, with the most recent prior to Seager's coming on Sept. 25, 2018, courtesy of Chris Hermann against Oakland.
June 16: Twins 7, Mariners 2 -- Seattle turns 73rd double play
Will Vest igniting a 3-6-1 double play might not have looked like much in the grand scheme of a tough loss, but it was notable in that it pushed Seattle into an elite defensive category -- they have now turned more double plays than any club in the Majors this season.
June 15: Mariners 10, Twins 0 -- Flexen on the Twins
All season, the Mariners have been strictly governing the innings of their young starting pitching staff. That's what made Chris Flexen's outing against Minnesota all the more impressive. He became not only the first Seattle starter to register eight innings -- in shutout fashion, to boot -- he was the first to record an out in the seventh inning. In the eyes of manager Scott Servais, it was the best pitching performance from Seattle all season.
June 14: Mariners 4, Twins 3 -- New Mariner goes deep
By crushing a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning, Bauers became the 17th Mariners player to leave the yard this season. The 400-foot blast helped Seattle reach a mark that is tied for fifth most in the Majors.
June 13: Mariners 6, Indians 2 -- Seager's 3-hit, homer-filled day
Kyle Seager had carried the Mariners for much of April, but he entered Sunday's series finale hitting .175/.250/.378 since. That's what made his 3-for-5 day so encouraging, one that included a double and a 427-foot homer off reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. Also telling was that the deep fly came against Bieber's curve, another promising sign for the veteran, given that he entered the day whiffing at 50% of the breaking pitches he's seen this season with a .116 average and just one homer, per Statcast.
June 12: Indians 5, Mariners 4 (10) -- Glad you're back Moore
Dylan Moore gave the Mariners a huge welcome back after missing 22 games with a huge home run in Cleveland, a 427-foot shot that was far and away his longest of the season. Moore was on a hot streak in the 10 games before he hit the IL with a left calf strain, homering three times in that stretch. The fact that he's healthy and continuing to produce after a really tough April are incredibly encouraging signs.
June 11: Indians 7, Mariners 0 -- Fraley shows patience at plate
Jake Fraley drew yet another free pass in the first inning against Cleveland, his 18th of the season in just his 16th game. With that walk in his three plate appearances, Fraley now has a 30.5% walk rate for the season, which is by far the highest of any of the 409 players in the Majors this season who have at least 50 plate appearances. Only two of those other players have a walk rate of at least 20%.
June 10: Tigers 8, Mariners 3 -- Crawford's 2-way value
Though he didn't have as much to show for it in the series finale, J.P. Crawford has nonetheless been on a tear this month, hitting .400 even after an 0-for-5 day. It all suggests that his bat is catching up to his Gold Glove. The 26-year-old entered Thursday as the only player worth at least 1.2 wins above replacement both at the plate and in the field, according to Baseball-Reference.
June 9: Mariners 9, Tigers 6 (11 innings) -- Seager loves hitting in Detroit
Well before Jake Fraley's heroics, Kyle Seager hit a three-run bomb that tied the game in the sixth inning, making up for the home-run robbery that Derek Hill levied against him in the first, which actually traveled farther than the one that cleared the fence, 429 feet compared to 426, according to Statcast. Seager now has eight career homers at Comerica Park.
June 8: Tigers 5, Mariners 3 -- J.P. thriving in leadoff role
J.P. Crawford had hits in each of his first three at-bats on Tuesday in Detroit, extending a hot streak at the plate since moving into the everyday leadoff role one week prior. Crawford finished 3-for-4 with a walk and is now batting .462 with a .500 on-base percentage since moving back into the No. 1 spot, where he hit in 48 of his 53 games in 2020.
June 6: Mariners 9, Angels 5 -- Gilbert works hard for 1st "W"
Logan Gilbert earned his first big league win after throwing five innings and allowing one run on two hits against the Angels. The righty struck out seven batters and threw 105 pitches -- he's the first Mariners rookie pitcher to throw 105-plus pitches since Justin Dunn threw 106 in a start on Sept. 20, 2020.
June 5: Angels 12, Mariners 5 -- Fraley's 2nd HR a big one
Rookie Jake Fraley highlighted Seattle's five-run fourth inning with a grand slam. The shot was just the second home run of his career and the first grand slam of the season for the Mariners. It was also the first grand slam for Seattle since Jos¨¦ Marmolejos hit one on Aug. 27, 2020. Like Fraley, Marmolejos hit his as a rookie.
June 4: Angels 3, Mariners 2 -- Crawford wastes no time
On just the second pitch he saw, J.P. Crawford went deep making it his first leadoff homer. It was also the Mariners' first leadoff home run since Mitch Haniger hit one against the Angels at Angel Stadium on April 20, 2019.
June 3: Mariners 6, Angels 2 -- Sheffield fans Ohtani thrice
Justus Sheffield struck out the Shohei Ohtani three times in a gritty start, which dropped the Halos slugger to 0-for-10 with six strikeouts against the blossoming Seattle starter. Sheffield became just the first pitcher in the big leagues to punch out the two-way star at least three times in multiple starts, coupled with his outing last Aug. 29. In fact, the only other starters to fan Ohtani three times in a single game are Luis Garcia on May 10, and Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel during Ohtani's rookie season in 2018.
June 2: A's 6, Mariners 0 -- Murphy's offensive momentum
Tom Murphy's game-winning sacrifice fly on Sunday was the culmination of his rebound at the plate, even though it was technically an out. The Mariners' backstop continued to steer in a positive direction at the dish by going 1-for-3 on an otherwise quiet night against Sean Manaea, who went the distance in a shutout. Murphy now has six hits in his past six games, hitting .375/.400/.750 (1.150 OPS) in that stretch. It's a small sample size, but after a tough first two months, he and the Mariners will take it.
June 1: A's 12, Mariners 6 -- France's hot streak continues
Ty France has been on a tear since returning from a left wrist injury that sidelined him 10 games earlier this month. The Mariners' slugger has reached base in all nine games since returning from the IL, going 13-for-34 with two runs, three doubles, seven RBIs and two walks -- including a 3-for-5 showing on Tuesday.