Good Vibes Only: Eugenio Suarez, J-Rod and M’s Win Series Against ATL

Sunday’s finale was no short of chaos after a thrilling walk-off bomb by Eugenio Suarez. It was by far the game of the year, and one of the most crazy, emotional games for the Mariners in the past twenty plus years. Seattle became only the second team in the past five weeks to take down the Atlanta Braves in consecutive games.

With a record now of 79-61, the Seattle Mariners, according to Fangraphs, have a 99.8% chance of making the playoffs this October. They are a season high 18 games above .500, and with Tampa Bay, Toronto and Baltimore all losing today, the M’s are tied with the Rays with a half game lead in the top American League Wild Card spot.

Tomorrow is an off day, and then Tuesday, the San Diego Padres will come to T-Mobile park for two games before the Mariners hit the road to Anaheim.

Let’s recap all three games against what was MLB’s hottest team, the Atlanta Braves.

Robbie Ray looked to continue his recent success on Friday night, but the home run-hitting Braves had an alternative idea. Atlanta’s Dansby Swanson got the scoring going early for the Braves, hitting a two-run blast in the first inning. Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Harris II and Robbie Grossman also added home runs in this one.

Seattle tied at two in the second thanks to a mammoth Carlos Santana two-run homer. He has two in the game, but after the fourth, the Braves never took their foot of the gas pedal. Robbie Ray’s final line: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 6 SO. Atlanta won the opener by a score of 6-4.

Saturday’s 6:10 start was a stellar pitching matchup. It was star-Rookie George Kirby up against Atlanta’s ace, LHP Max Fried.

Sam “Swaggerty” Haggerty got the scoring going in the fifth on a solo shot off of Fried. The next inning, Eugenio Suarez added another run on a first-pitch dong to center.

The seventh inning is when it got a little shaky for Kirby. Atlanta’s Matt Olson brought home Dansby Swanson on a RBI groundout off of Andres Munoz (run credited to Kirby). Then it was time for Los Bomberos. Munoz, Erik Swanson, and Paul Sewald came in after Kirby, not allowing a run, and striking out three combined.

Julio Rodriguez added a much-needed insurance run on an oppo-double in the bottom of the seventh, and the final score ended up being 3-1 in favor of the Mariners in the middle game.

Like stated earlier, Sunday’s game was electric, and it was all Seattle for 8/9’s of the game.

Julio took Jake Odorizzi deep on the second pitch he threw of the ball game. Potential NL MVP Austin Riley tied it up in the fourth, and that’s when Seattle decided to back Marco Gonzales’ wonderful start.

Adam Frazier’s two-run triple, and Sam Haggerty’s RBI single made it 4-1 in the fourth. Geno Suarez added another home run of his own in the fifth, and JP Crawford’s RBI double made it 6-1 after six innings.

Everyone knew that the Braves wouldn’t go away quietly. Michael Harris II added a solo homer in the eighth and then the wheels fell off in the ninth for the M’s. Holding a 6-2 lead in the final half, Harris II made it a one-run game on his second home run in as many innings.

With one out to go and a one-run lead, Eddie Rosario got aboard via a single, and Robbie Grossman took the life out of T-Mobile Park on a two-run, game-leading home run off of Paul Sewald.

But we know how good the M’s are in one-run games. Chaos ball was in full effect on the bottom half of the ball game. Julio Rodriguez tied it up on a 117-MPH homer off of the manual scoreboard for his second dinger of the game. Two batters later, Mr. Eugenio Suarez decided he wanted to have himself a two-homer game, and he did such that. A walk-off blast into the Mariners’ bullpen, off of Kenley Jansen, capped off an amazing 8-7 Seattle victory.

After taking two of three from the Braves, here is a look at the updated American League Wild Card standing as of Sunday night:

  • Tampa Bay Rays (78-60), +0.5 GB
  • Seattle Mariners (79-61), +0.5 GB
  • Toronto Blue Jays (78-61), -- GB
  • Baltimore Orioles (73-67), 5.5 GB

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