The Seattle Mariners are battling for playoff position in the American League, and now they are finally starting to find their stride as the regular season starts to wind down. Seattle has a formidable group of pitchers, and now the batting order is starting to click after the blockbuster addition of Eugenio Suarez at the trade deadline.
The Mariners have been especially good at generating runs over their last 10 games, crossing the plate 53 times during that span. In that time, they have crashed 20 home runs and stolen 20 bases without bring caught stolen, making them the first team in MLB history to achieve those three feats in a 10-game span according to OptaStats.
That great hitting and quality base running has been resulting in wins for Seattle, which has won eight of its last 10 games including six in a row. The Mariners will be going for their second consecutive sweep on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
In the first two games against the Rays on Friday and Saturday, the stars in the Seattle lineup have really shown up and delivered their best when the Mariners have needed it most. Cal Raleigh won the first game of the series on Friday night with a monster three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Seattle a lead.
Raleigh crushed another three-run homer on Saturday night, a 7-4 win for Seattle, while star outfielder Julio Rodriguez hit a pair of home runs on his way to a three-RBI night.
The Marines have been able to do all of this despite getting next to nothing from Suarez, who was banged up just before the trade and is still settling in with his new team. In eight games with the Mariners after reuniting with Seattle at the deadline, Suarez has just two hits in 30 at-bats with one home run.
If the big-hitting third baseman, who still has 37 home runs and 90 RBI on the season, can get going, this Mariners lineup will immediately become even more dangerous. They have closed the gap on the Houston Astros in the AL West and now trail by just a half-game, and with this momentum look poised to vault themselves into the top spot.
