Logan Gilbert struck out 10 over six innings and Cole Young homered for the second straight game as the Seattle Mariners beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3 on Sunday, taking two of three in the series. At 50-50, Seattle is back to .500 for the first time since July 9 — and after Texas lost in Atlanta, the Mariners sit just a half-game out of first in the AL West.
Gilbert gave up both of San Francisco’s first-inning runs — Bryce Eldridge‘s 10th home run and an RBI single by Heliot Ramos — then held the line from there, finishing with four hits, one walk and three earned runs while matching the 10 strikeouts he posted June 16. He improved to 8-6 with a 3.38 ERA, and the 10 punchouts were his most since that June start.
The offense worked its way back in stages. Josh Naylor and Weston Wilson tied it with RBI singles in the fourth, and after Luis Arraez‘s RBI double briefly put the Giants back in front, Cal Raleigh‘s run-scoring groundout evened it at 3-3 in the fifth. Luke Raley then untied it for good, pinch-hitting in the sixth and driving his 15th home run off Adrian Houser. Young capped the scoring in the seventh with a two-run shot to right, his 13th, one night after his three-run homer set up Saturday’s extra-inning win.
Julio Rodríguez made his first start in center field since coming off the seven-day concussion injured list, went 1-for-4 and scored on Young’s homer. His walk-off sacrifice fly won Saturday’s game hours after his activation. Behind Gilbert, Eduard Bazardo struck out three in a clean seventh, Gabe Speier worked the eighth, and Andrés Muñoz pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save.
Seattle also sits one game back of Boston for the final wild-card spot, with the division suddenly the shorter path: the Rangers have lost their grip on what was a 1.5-game lead just two days ago.
For fantasy purposes, Young is the add here — he has homered in consecutive games with multi-RBI efforts in both, and middle infielders with that kind of recent power are still sitting on waivers in plenty of leagues. Gilbert remains a locked-in start every turn, Muñoz’s save chances should keep coming with Seattle playing close games, and Raley’s power plays whenever he’s in the lineup against right-handed pitching.
