The Seattle Mariners got away with a 4-1 victory over the San Diego Padres Tuesday night at Petco Park. Logan Gilbert had a splendid time on the mound, as he contained the Padres' offense for seven innings. Another hero for Seattle in this game in the eyes of manager Scott Servais is JP Crawford.
After the game, Servais gave props to Crawford's plate discipline which greatly helped the Mariners in eating up the pitch count of Padres starter Joe Musgrove during a prolonged plate appearance in the fourth inning.
“There are not many nights where I talk about maybe the one at-bat where the guy didn't get a hit that really changed the game for me. J.P,” said the Mariners skipper (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). “Crawford in the fourth inning is down with an 0-2 count. He somehow works a walk. After that, it forced the pitcher throws 17 more pitches and now their starter is out of the game in the fifth inning. Those little things like that, that maybe don't show up in a box score, are a big deal. It changed the game. On those type of things, we've got to be cognizant of and understand where we're at in the game.
Crawford, who finished the game 1-for-3 with a run and a walk, is one of the most patient hitters on the Mariners roster. In fact, he leads the team with 31 walks so far in the 2023 MLB regular season. In addition to that, he entered the Padres game inside the top 20 among qualified hitters in terms of walk rate (11.3%).