Ryan Bliss, Leo Rivas key Mariners in 6-0 win over Mets
Published in Baseball
SEATTLE — Facing left-handed starting pitchers for the first two games of the weekend series vs. the New York Mets, the Seattle Mariners went with a very different looking lineup in Friday’s series opener at T-Mobile Park.
With veteran lefty Jose Quintana starting for New York, manager Scott Servais decided to go with a pair of rookies in his middle infield, starting Leo Rivas at shortstop and Ryan Bliss at second base. The two infielders were young teenagers when the 35-year-old Quintana made his debut major-league debut on May 7, 2012.
Bliss played sparingly after making his debut, starting 19 games over a two-month stay at the MLB level before being optioned to Tacoma to get regular at-bats. Rivas started six games and appeared in ninth others when J.P. Crawford went on the injury list with an oblique strain early in the season.
Batting in the eighth and ninth spots, they delivered the two biggest hits to help propel the Mariners to a 6-0 victory.
With the win, the Mariners (61-56) remained tied atop the American League West standings with the Houston Astros (60-55), who picked up a win against Boston.
Getting the start in place of Jorge Polanco, who is battling some knee soreness, Bliss stepped to the plate in the second inning with Mitch Haniger on first base, having singled to left off Quintana.
In his first plate appearance since being recalled on Wednesday, Bliss sat on a first-pitch curveball from Quintana, smashing a ball into the Mariners bullpen for his second-career homer and his first at T-Mobile Park.
Rivas ended Quintana’s outing with two outs in the seventh inning. Mitch Garver led off with a walk and Dylan Moore reached on an infield single. But Haniger was rung up on a questionable third strike by home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez and Bliss hit a soft roller back to the mound for the second out.
With runners on second and third, Rivas stayed on a 3-2 changeup that was sinking away from him and off the plate. But he was able to push the pitch through the right side of the infield with a groundball single that scored both runners.
A 4-0 lead didn’t guarantee a victory, but scoring four runs usually means success for Seattle. The Mariners are now 48-10 when scoring four or more runs.
Seattle wasn’t finished in the seventh. They worked a pair of walks off Quintana’s replacement, Adam Ottavino, to load the bases for Cal Raleigh.
The Dumper delivered with a single to right field to score two more runs and make it 6-0.
Making his 23 rd start of the season, Bryce Miller pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits with a walk and six strikeouts to improve to 9-7 on the season and lower his overall ERA to 3.45 on the season.
It was his 15th start this season where he allowed two runs or fewer and his 12 th quality start of six or more innings pitched with three runs or fewer allowed.
Miller didn’t dominate, allowing a baserunner in each of the first four innings. But he executed pitches with runners on base to keep the Mets scoreless.
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