SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners are still looking to find separation in a crowded American League.

The Mariners attempted to do that in the second of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Seattle found itself down 1-0 to San Diego in the top of the second inning after Padres first baseman Gavin Sheets hit a lead-off solo home run to right field.

After Sheets' home run, Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert settled in and retired the side.

Gilbert struck out San Diego shortstop Xander Bogaerts swinging on a splitter for the first out of the inning. It was the second strikeout of the game for Gilbert, who also fanned second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. in the top of the first.

Gilbert's strikeout against Bogaerts was the 938th of the former's career, which moved him up to fifth in Seattle history in strikeouts.

The four pitchers ahead of Gilbert in that category are: Felix Hernandez (2,524 strikeouts), Randy Johnson (2,152), Jamie Moyer (1,239) and Mark Langston (1,078).

Gilbert was picked in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft (14th overall) out of Stetson College by the Mariners. He made his major league debut in 2022 and has been a fixture on the team's starting rotation since.

With the exception of this season (Gilbert made his 10th start of the year Saturday), Gilbert has made at least 24 starts in each season since his major league debut and has struck out at least 128 batters in all of them.

Gilbert made his first career All-Star game in 2024 and crossed the 200/200 (200 strikeouts, 200 innings pitched) that season. He finished out '24 with a 3.23 ERA and fanned 220 hitters in 208.2 innings pitched across 33 starts.

The 29-year-old righty has been the M's Opening Day starter each of the last two seasons. He earned the honor in '25, taking over from three-time All-Star and veteran Luis Castillo, who was the first starting pitcher of the season for Seattle from 2023-24.

Gilbert entered his start against San Diego on Saturday with a 3.78 ERA and 52 strikeouts on the season across nine prior starts.

The former Stetson College product is under his third year of arbitration and will be under team control through next season. If he and the Mariners are able to agree to a long-term contract, he'll have an opportunity to rise up higher on the team's all-time strikeout list in the years to come.

Gilbert finished his outing Saturday with five strikeouts, two walks and seven earned runs allowed on five hits (three homers) in 6.2 innings pitched.

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