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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Log: James Paxton picks up where he left off in win over Rockies

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton throws against the Colorado Rockies during the sixth inning on May 31, 2017 in Seattle. The M’s won 5-0. (Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

PAXTON DOMINANT IN RETURN TO MARINERS ROTATION

What happened: James Paxton made his first start since landing on the disabled list on May 5 and was exactly what the doctor ordered, limiting a good Colorado Rockies team to three hits over 5 1/3 innings and the Seattle Mariners won their fourth in a row, 5-0, on Wednesday at Safeco Field.

Paxton (W, 4-0, 1.26) was scintillating most of the night. He combined 97-98 mph fastballs with a nasty knuckle curve to carve up a very good-hitting Rockies lineup. Paxton made it through 5 1/3 innings plus two more batters and allowed no runs on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Two of the three hits came after he picked up the first out in the sixth.

Relievers Steve Cishek, James Pazos and Nick Vincent made sure the return ended up pleasant, tossing 3 2/3 shutout innings and allowing a single base runner.

On the offensive side, Danny Valencia had a two-run double off – off a right-handed pitcher, no less – and Ben Gamel drove in a pair of runs as well. And Mike Zunino went 2 for 3 with an RBI, his third straight multi-hit game.

The Mariners got to Rockies rookie of the year candidate Antonio Senzatella (L, 7-2) for four runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

Line Outs

  • Paxton was impressive right out of the chute. Went hard after leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon with 96-97-98 until he flied to left. Paxton then finished DJ LeMahieu with a filthy curveball for strike three and Nolan Arenado skied to right for the third out. 14 pitches, 12 strikes.
  • In the second, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager singled, then moved up a base on wild pitch. Danny Valencia came through with some rare contact against a righty, driving one into the right-center gap for a double, scoring both. Later, Mike Zunino doubled to the left-field corner for another run.
  • A little trouble for Paxton in the third. With two down, Tony Wolters smoked a grounder that Seager dove to his right for, but he should have eaten in there. Instead he threw it away and Wolters ended up at second. Paxton then balked Wolters over to third, but he came back to get Blackmon to roll over on a cutter to escape unscathed.
  • Speedster Jarrod Dyson led off the fifth with a walk. After several throws over, Senzatella goofed and balked him over to second. Zunino K’d on a wild pitch and Dyson went to third. Jean Segura walked on four pitches, then Ben Gamel shot one down the left field line and Dyson jogged home.
  • As part of his mastery, Paxton got Pat Valaika to strike out on a curve that bounced at 57 feet. It was nuts. But he then gave up back-to-back base hits and at 74 pitches, was done. Remember, Paxton made just one rehab start and went four innings, at that.
  • Reliever Steve Cishek took over with runners at first and second and got LeMahieu and Arenado to pop out to keep Paxton’s scoreless line intact.
  • With one down in the seventh, Zunino and Segura picked up back-to-back hits, moved up on a wild pitch by reliever Mike Dunn, and Zunino scored on Gamel’s sac fly. It was Zunino’s second hit of the game and made it three consecutive games Zunino had multi-hit games, a career first.

The Takeaway

The M’s got exactly what they wanted – needed – out of Paxton. So much of the rotation has been out for so long and the Mariners are in such a deep hole in the division that it’s realistically difficult to imagine them making any meaningful run at competitiveness. Yet, Paxton’s return (and the return of the offense the past three nights) at least offers hope. Get back to .500 first, then we can start to look ahead.

Tweet of the Day

Players of the Game

Hero: James Paxton, naturally. ‘Big Maple’ picked up right where he left off.

Goat: Robinson Cano. 0 for 4, K, 3 LOB. Not a great night for the slugger.

Mariners Notes

Mariners pitchers combined to throw a shutout for the sixth time this season, the most shutouts by any pitching staff in the majors. …Mariners starters have earned the win in four consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 7-10, 2016 (Ariel Miranda, Taijuan Walker, Hisashi Iwakuma, Felix Hernandez). …Both teams were charged with a balk tonight. The last game involving the Mariners in which each team was charged with at least one balk was Sept. 20, 1988 vs. Kansas City. …James Paxton pitched 5-plus innings without giving up a run for the fifth time this season which is tied for the most such games in the Majors (also: Ervin Santana and Alex Wood). …Paxton made his first start since being placed on the DL with a left forearm strain on May 5… his last start came on May 2 vs LAA.

Next Game

Colorado Rockies (33-22) at Seattle Mariners (25-29) on Thursday at 12:40 p.m. at Safeco Field. LFP Kyle Freeland (5-3, 3.59) vs. Yovani Gallardo (2-5, 5.76).

What others are saying (and writing)

Of course Paxton’s return was the big news from Wednesday’s 5-0 win over Colorado, though there were other storylines as well. … Seager is hot right now and he helped the M’s cool down one of the National League’s top rookie pitchers. … Barring setbacks, a couple more players should be back soon. … Meanwhile, pitcher Sam Gaviglio has filled in admirably. … This Ryan Divish story is a must read if you like defense. And/or parsing baseball’s complex rules. … Mr. Met wasn’t too happy the other day.