5,000 light years from Birdland
But I’m still preachin’ the Trident
Long-gone, uptight years from Birdland
And I’m still watchin’ it with ’em
Years from the land of the Bird
And I am still feelin’ dispirit
5,000 light years from Birdland
But I know we still hear it
Goms named it
Goms made it
Goms heard it
Then played it
Well-stated!
Birdland-
It happened down in Birdland
Oh!
The Mariners needed Logan Gilbert to go deep on Tuesday. The team is down a reliever because they ditched the ham sandwich for a six-man rotation, for reasons I do and don’t agree with. But regardless, it means they’re short in the bullpen for a bit. After leaning on the leverage arms the last few games, this would have been the time for Gilbert to snap out of his funk, go deep in the game, secure a Mariners win, and help reset things for the week ahead.
That seemed unlikely early. Gilbert threw 31 pitches in the first inning. He loaded the bases, but allowed just one run on a sac fly (which could have been much worse without a great catch from Julio). He threw 27 pitches in the second inning. He put a couple runners on but escaped without a run (thanks to a great throw from Cole Young). This felt like a disaster in the making.
And from there, Gilbert was perfect. He set down the side in order the third, fourth, and fifth innings. I began writing in this very recap that Gilbert’s day ended after five at 96 pitches, then whoa, he stepped out of the dugout for the sixth. He got Pete Alonso to line out on a first pitch slider. He worked a full count against Colton Cowser but dropped a slider on the black for strike three. Then he got Leody Tavares to ground out to first, racing to cover the bag, stomping down for the final out. Six innings, five strikeouts, three hits, two walks, one run. This was roughly the vibe by the end.
I don’t even really know what to say about Gilbert at this point. His FIP still begins with a 4. So many of his outings this year have looked like Tuesday. Well, to be fair, he’s typically dominated early and struggled late. But every game there’s a handful of batters he can’t quite sit down or even simply move on from, throwing full-count pitch after pitch after pitch. It’s just weird. The arsenal metrics suggest Gilbert should have some resistance to these specific issues. Like, his stuff is sharp, hard, diverse, and deceptive. He got Pete Alonso to whiff so bad he threw his bat into the stands, and gave us one of the all-time Brad Adam in-game interviews with Craig from Richland. (Craig kept the bat despite cash offers from Orioles fans! Nice. An all-time Logan Gilbert trophy, in the hands of a Mariners fan.) So I don’t know. I think there’s something to be said for Gilbert tonight. I gave up on this one. He didn’t.
It’s a good thing he didn’t, because the Mariners won 6-5 in extras in what turned out to be a ridiculous, sloppy, fever-dream of a game that the Mariners had no business winning in Birdland.
In the middle of that hub
I remember one ball club
Where we went to try and sweep
Down on Eu-taw street
Some ornithology nerds
That they named it for a Bird
Where Ayala swooped and swirled
And League made me want to hurl
Adam Jones was sent there
To the distance we stared
Birdland – I’m singin’ Birdland
Birdland – Ol’ swingin’ Birdland
The lineup the Mariners together tonight was… uh… not the plan from Spring Training. They’re dealing with a rash of injuries at the moment, and so it’s been the, “We need some guys to step up” time of the season. And step up they, ultimately, kinda, in a way, did.
Randy Arozarena led off the third inning with a line drive single, and Rob Refsnyder followed with one of his own. Mitch Garver fell behind quickly, but laid off a few great pitches out of the zone. Trevor Rogers came back in with a fastball, and Garver was ready and gave us the latest Mitch Garver Exasperated Bat Drop.
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This was huge, giving the Mariners a 3-1 lead. Again, Gilbert was clearly not long for this game, and they were going to need some runs to survive a shallow bullpen in this one. After the homer, the vibes were roughly here:
Once Gilbert miraculously cleared six with the game still 3-1, the lineup did well to scratch across some cushion. Victor Robles beat out a squibber with two outs, and Julio rocketed another through the infield. That brought up Arozarena, who picked up a third straight two out single, scoring Robles on a close play the plate.
Unfortunately, the Orioles would get that run right back with Alex Hoppe in the game. An error by Cole Young, a single, and a double play put a runner on third. And Hoppe brought him home with a spiked pitch to the backstop. 4-2. The walls of Birdland were closing in.
Jose Ferrer got the ball in the ninth. He threw 42 pitches.
Ferrer quickly got ahead of Tavares leading off. But Tavares battled, working the count back to 2-2. Ferrer threw him a fastball way outside for ball three. Tavares thinking it was ball four started toward first and began to derobe, unbuckling his elbow guard. He tried to play it off cool once he realized, slowly getting back to the box. But he’d forgotten about the pitch timer, and when it expired, the umpire called him out. Vibe check:
Still, this is Birdland. Coby Mayo immediately homered to make it 4-3. Jeremiah Jackson singled, and Tyler O’Neill nearly ended the game with a barrel to right. But it landed short and skipped over the wall, crucially, for a ground rule double.
Samuel Basallo then hit a ball just three feet. Ferrer went charging after it down the first base line. He grabbed it and made a desperate, tumbling throw for home that was neither accurate nor on time, scoring the tying run. He probably should have thrown to first.
Ferrer walked Taylor Ward to load the bases. Again, there was still just one out in the ninth inning of a tie game. Gunnar Henderson pounded a one hopper to third. Patrick Wisdom, playing in, leaped high and made a strong throw home to get the lead runner.
Up stepped Pete Alonso. Ferrer threw him six sinkers to work the count full. He went to the sinker again. It caught the center of the plate and Alonso rocketed a grounder up the middle. Right there was Bliss, who snagged it and raced to the bag to get the runner by a step. The Mariners, somehow, survived.
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Arozarena took the lead right back in the 10th. With the Manfred Man on first, he poked a slider way out of the zone to right. It looked like a fly out off the bat, but it just carried and carried and carried the Mariners to a 6-4 lead. It can’t be state enough: What a season he’s having.
Nick Davila got the 10th with a 6-4 lead and the Manfred Man on second. It didn’t start well. Hoppe hit Blaze Alexander with the first pitch of the inning to bring the winning run to the plate. Tavares followed with a hard grounder through the right side to make the game 6-5 with nobody out.
Davila got Mayo to pop up to Bliss, who made a tremendous diving effort near the foul line to snag the first out. Jackson then hit a chopper to third. Wisdom, again playing in, cut the ball off perfectly with a backhand toward the third base line. He contorted his body to get off a quick throw, which was right on target to Garver, who slapped down the tag to deny the tying run.
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Davila ended it with a strikeout.
Not today, Birdland.
Curs-ed lair
Who even cares
– where?
Down in Birdland
Junior’s swing
Home run king
– there
Down in Birdland
Ju-li-o
Climbed the wall
– Where?
Down in Birdland
Félix is ours
That was lame
– where?
Down in Birdland
Ju-li-o
Climbed that wall
– Again…?
Down in Birdland
Two and oh
Two to go
– there
Down in Birdland yeah
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