SEATTLE – As the longest-tenured members of the Mariners, Marco Gonzales and Mitch Haniger have seen a little bit everything since the 2017 season. They’ve watched teammates and staff come and go – not always of their own choosing – and each season ending on the regular-season’s final day.
They felt the frustration of missing the playoffs in 2017 and 2018 on veteran-laden teams that always seemed to be just a little lacking.
They endured the losing of the “step-back” rebuild, starting in the 2019 season and the COVID-shortened 2020 season where the focus was on development and not division titles.
A year ago, they bristled at another year of improvement and development believing the focus should be on winning and make the postseason even when most didn’t think it was possible until it almost happened.
Going into the 2022 season, both remained emphatic in their expectations of the postseason and beyond, with the rest of the organization following their lead.
So perhaps it was fitting that the two “veterans” delivered for a team in an immediate need of a victory and a shift in the late-season tension gripping the fanbase.
Gonzales delivered his best outing since the All-Star break and Haniger provided all of the offense with a three-run homer in the Mariners’ much-needed 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
Following a less-than-optimal homestand that ended with a series loss to the Oakland A’s, the worst team in the American League, and a frustrating two-game series split with the Washington Nationals, the worst team in baseball, Seattle opened an all-important four-game series against a potential playoff foe at T-Mobile Park with a victory.
“This is what I guess we envisioned,” Haniger said. “As a player, you want it to happen sooner. You are hoping for this season every year. But we’re right in the mix. And like I’ve said many times, the goal is to get this group to the playoffs and win a World Series.”
But it was hard-throwing reliever Andres Munoz, who was 2 years old when the Mariners last made the postseason, who cemented the victory and will be vital in any postseason run.
Brought in with two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth inning with the Mariners clinging to the 3-1 lead, Munoz struck out Jose Ramirez on a back-foot slider to end the inning and the threat.
“The first couple sliders he threw Ramirez when he came out of the pen were not the typical Munoz sliders,” manager Scott Servais said. “But as he got into the count, he threw him a good one on 2-0 and he got back into it. The last one he threw was just electric.”
It was just the 52nd time Ramirez had struck out in 514 plate appearances this season.
“I’m just trying to do my job and just trying to fool Ramirez,” Munoz said through interpreter Manny Acta.
“Ramirez was doing his job, putting the ball in play, and it was just a matter of time in the cat-and-mouse game. That’s the one that starts in the strike zone and then it goes out. In that situation that’s the one that I needed to throw.”
Munoz followed that up with a 1-2-3 ninth for the four-out save.
“There’s nothing more comfortable for a manager than having that type of guy that you can bring in out of the bullpen really at any point,” Servais said.
With some fans grumbling about the decision to keep him in the starting rotation instead of right-hander Chris Flexen, Gonzales pitched six innings, allowing just one run on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
He’s posted wins in his three of his last four starts. Gonzales was adamant that he felt better than the reults he’d been posting.
“I feel relieved because that’s definitely how I felt and to get the results to match up with that, feels good,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not satisfied because I think we have a long way to go and a lot of games ahead of us. So it’s a good start. It’s something to build on for sure.”
His one run allowed came in a first inning that could’ve been much worse.
Gonzales’ second pitch of the game – an 89 mph fastball – was clubbed into the right field corner by Steven Kwan for a leadoff double. Amed Rosario followed with a swinging bunt that bounced along the infield grass and then the baseline and somehow didn’t roll foul for a single.
With runners on first and third and no outs, Jose Ramirez hit a hard ground ball to second base that the Mariners attempted to turn into a double play, allowing Kwan to race home.
Seattle couldn’t quite get two outs on the play as J.P. Crawford’s throw from the second base bag sailed high, resulting in a collision between first baseman Ty France and Ramirez at first base. France suffered a bruised right calf on the play that eventually forced him out of the game.
But Gonzales got out of the inning without further damage. Cal Raleigh threw out Ramirez at second base on a stolen base attempt for the second out. Gonzales allowed a single to Oscar Ramirez and then got Josh Naylor to ground out to first to end the inning.
He allowed just two more base runners – a two-out bloop single from Austin Hedges in the second inning and a two-out walk of Ramirez in the sixth inning.
Runs were expected to be scarce against Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie, who struck out 14 batters in his previous outings.
But like most starters, he was vulnerable in the first inning. Julio Rodriguez worked a leadoff walk, Jesse Winker followed with a single and Haniger mashed a hanging slider over the wall in left-center for his fourth homer since his returning from the injured list. He has a .313/.378/.507 slash line and 10 RBI in those games.
“To see him come up with a big swing in the first, how can you not be geeked to go out there and pitch after he gets you a two-run lead,” Gonzales said. “I can’t ask much more and so, you know, I can’t ask for much more than that.”