The Dodgers clinched the series win against the Mariners as both teams turn toward the postseason
SEATTLE — In a game between the resting lineups of the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at T-Mobile Park, the Dodgers came out on top.
Los Angeles beat Seattle 5-3 in front of a crowd of 45,701, that included a vocal contingent of Dodgers fans.
"Tough one tonight," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview. " ... A tough one to come out on the wrong side of, but some positives to take away, for sure."
Los Angeles rewarded the fans who made the trek up from southern California and struck first in the top of the fifth inning.
Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing hit a two-run, two-out home run to right field to put the visitors in front 2-0.
Rushing's home run was the lone asterisk in a stellar final start of the regular season for Seattle starting pitcher Logan Gilbert.
The 2024 All-Star fanned five, walked one and allowed his two earned runs on four hits (one home run). He threw to rookie catcher Harry Ford, who was making his first major league start.
The M's starters through the series — George Kirby, Gilbert and Bryce Miller — are being handled conservatively with the playoffs around the corner and the club guaranteed a bye through the wild card round.
Kirby threw 85 pitches Friday and Gilbert's night ended at 75 pitches.
"(I wanted to) get to all my pitches," Gilbert said after the game. "Feel like I was aggressive and getting into good counts, and I feel like most of the night we were doing that. Everything felt good, felt like we got to everything. Got to the (curveball) quite a bit at the end, that felt good. Just trying to get to good locations. Feel like it's a good one to build on."
Seattle immediately responded in the home half of the fifth. With one out, second baseman Jorge Polanco hit a three-run home run that crept over the wall in left field. That blast — Polanco's 26th of the season — put the Mariners in front 3-2.
Right-handed pitcher Logan Evans, fresh off the injured list, was the first pitcher out of the bullpen. He went three innings, fanned one, walked another, threw one wild pitch and allowed one earned run on two hits.
Los Angeles left fielder Michael Conforto scored on Evans' wild pitch in the top of the seventh, which tied the game 3-3.
Evans turned the ball over to All-Star closer Andres Munoz for the top of the ninth.
In his first outing in four days, Munoz wasn't able to preserve the tie. He issued two walks to lead off the inning.
Both those runners were brought home after Dodgers third baseman Kike Hernandez hit a two-RBI double for the eventual final of 5-3.
The loss dropped Seattle to 90-71 on the season. The loss also snapped the M's' six-series win streak, which began Sept. 5-7 against the Atlanta Braves.
Before either team got on the board, Mariners center fielder etched his name into team history and secured his 29th and 30th steal of the season in the bottom of the first. He became the only player in franchise history to have two 30/30 (30 steal, 30 home run) seasons.
"There was a chance, so I went out and took it," Rodriguez said after the game. " ... I just feel like, to me, it's very important to impact the game in many different ways. ... I worked really hard for that. I think it's really cool — 30/30, not a lot of guys get to do that. Just to have a chance in this game to do something special like that, it means a lot to me."
Seattle will look to close out its regular season on a high note in the series finale against Los Angeles at 12:10 p.m. PT on Sunday.
Miller will start for the Mariners and Clayton Kershaw will start for the Dodgers. It will be the last regular season start of Kershaw's career.
RELATED MARINERS STORIES
JULIO RODRIGUEZ MAKES FRANCHISE HISTORY: The three-time All-Star became the first player in franchise history to reach an astonishing feat. CLICK HERE
MARINERS ACTIVATED RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER OFF INJURED LIST: Logan Evans, who's been on the shelf with right elbow inflammation, returned to the team just in time for the playoffs. CLICK HERE
MARINERS WILL BE CONSERVATIVE WITH STARTING PITCHERS IN FINAL REGULAR SEASON GAMES: Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller will likely have shorter outings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. CLICK HERE
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!