Inside The Mariners

Takeaways From Seattle Mariners Series Win Against Toronto Blue Jays

The Mariners won their fourth consecutive series on Sunday, as they played arguably their most chaotic series of the season.
Teren Kowatsch|
Seattle Mariners players celebrate a win against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 20 at Rogers Centre.
Seattle Mariners players celebrate a win against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 20 at Rogers Centre. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

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Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners wrapped up the second leg of their nine-game road trip with a series win against the Toronto Blue Jays on Easter Sunday.

The Mariners improved to two games over .500 (12-10) for the first time this season. It was their fourth consecutive series win. It also was arguably their most chaotic stretch of the year.

Here's the takeaways from Seattle's series against Toronto:

Mariners living off home runs

The Mariners have been one of the best teams in baseball when it comes to hitting the home run. They hit six in the series against the Blue Jays, bringing their season total to 32. That number is fifth in the league entering Monday.

Seattle manager Dan Wilson has preached small ball and aggression on the base paths to generate runs. But the homer was the key to the Mariners' series win this time around. Rowdy Tellez's grand slam expanded Seattle's lead from 4-3 to the eventual final of 8-4 on Saturday. The team hit two home runs in the first inning Sunday to take a 3-0 lead. Tellez then went deep again as a pinch-hitter.

The Mariners will continue to prioritize the small ball approach, but having the home run ball in their back pocket will be huge as the season progresses.

Starting rotation still trying to find midseason form

Seattle's starting rotation hasn't been its usual dominant self through the first 22 games of the season.

Bryan Woo was the only starting pitcher to go longer than five innings in this series. He threw seven, struck out four, walked two and allowed two earned runs on seven hits. Logan Gilbert threw 4.2 innings and Luis Castillo threw five.

The Mariners' offense and bullpen has had to bail out the starting rotation in several games on the road trip. The starting rotation is ninth in the league in strikeouts (116) but tied for 22nd in opposing batting average (.253) and 17th in ERA (4.13).

Seattle still in play for wide open American League

There's still 140 games to go on the schedule, but if Seattle continues to play as it has been, then it will be in a good spot to secure a spot in the postseason.

Entering Monday, the Mariners have the first of three Wild Card spots in the American League. They're two games out of the No. 1 seed in the American League and one game out of the top spot in the AL West. Seattle is the only team in the division with a positive run differential (+5). The top team in the division, the Texas Rangers, have a -14 run differential.

If the season ended today, the Mariners would be the only team in the postseason aside from the AL East-leading New York Yankees and AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers with a positive run differential.

A lot can happen between now and the end of September. But early indications are that Seattle will be right in the thick of postseason contention.

Up next

The Mariners will have an off day Monday before beginning the final leg of their nine-game road trip at 3:45 p.m. PT on Tuesday. They'll take on the Boston Red Sox.

Related Stories on Seattle Mariners

ROWDY TELLEZ SETS PERSONAL HISTORY WITH HOME RUN ON SUNDAY: The veteran first baseman accomplished a new career first against his former team, the Toronto Blue Jays. CLICK HERE

HOME RUN BARRAGE LIFTS MARINERS TO 8-3 WIN OVER BLUE JAYS: Rowdy Tellez, Cal Raleigh and Dylan Moore all homered to give the Mariners their fourth consecutive series win. CLICK HERE

BEN WILLIAMSON, ROWDY TELLEZ MAKE FRANCHISE HISTORY: The pair of infielders accomplished something the team hasn't seen in over a decade in an 8-4 win against the Toronto Blue Jays. CLICK HERE

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Teren Kowatsch
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