The AL West may have missed its chance to leave the Seattle Mariners behind.
Seattle has been under .500 for most of the season, but now the Mariners (31-29) lead the division after six straight victories. They’ve made this run without slugger Cal Raleigh, who was hitting .161 when he went on the injured list over two weeks ago.
It doesn’t take much to shake up the standings in the AL West. The Mariners’ streak included a three-game sweep this past week over the Athletics. The A’s were in first place, but have lost seven of their last nine. Houston has won eight of its last 12 to pull back into contention, just 4 1/2 games out of first place. The whole division is separated by 8 games, the top three teams by 2 1/2.
Despite Raleigh’s absence, the Mariners are fourth in the American League in home runs, but pitching is what has driven this recent run. Seattle has held opponents to two runs or fewer in five of its last six games.
The same five starters have made 57 of Seattle’s 60 starts. Bryan Woo (3.44), Logan Gilbert (3.69), George Kirby (3.77) and Emerson Hancock (2.78) all have ERAs among the top 25 in the AL. Luis Castillo (5.53) lags behind the other four starters, but lately Seattle has been using him in sort of a tag team with Bryce Miller, with one starting and the other coming out of the bullpen.
In a 9-2 win over the Athletics, Castillo pitched four scoreless innings and then Miller threw the last five. On Sunday against Arizona, Miller started and went five innings, then Castillo worked the last five and Seattle won 3-2 in 10.
Trivia time
The New York Yankees scored 13 runs in the third inning Sunday in their 13-8 victory over the Athletics. The Yankees actually went hitless in the other eight innings.
Anthony Volpe became the third player in the last 50 years to have two hits, two runs and two steals in an inning. Who were the other two?
Bonus question: Volpe nearly got to bat three times in the inning, but he was on deck when the third out came. Who was the last player with three plate appearances in an inning.
Performance of the week
Jacob Misiorowski struck out 12 in seven two-hit innings — throwing 57 pitches of at least 100 mph — as the Milwaukee Brewers beat St. Louis 5-1 last Monday. Milwaukee went on to sweep three straight from the Cardinals, and the Brewers now lead the NL Central by 4 1/2 games over St. Louis.
Comeback of the week
The Orioles trailed by four with one out and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth Saturday. Toronto never got another out, with Jeff Hoffman allowing the next six hitters to reach base before Connor Seabold issued a bases-loaded walk to Adley Rutschman that tied the game. Pete Alonso followed with a single to give Baltimore a 6-5 win.
Toronto’s win probability was 99.3%, according to Baseball Savant, before Hoffman hit a batter and allowed a triple, a single, a double and two walks.
The Orioles went 7-3 on their homestand against Detroit, Tampa Bay and Toronto. That included a walk-off win over each of those teams and a three-game sweep of the AL East-leading Rays.
Trivia answer
Detroit’s Alan Trammell had two hits, two runs and two steals in the bottom of the first on Sept. 20, 1983, against Baltimore. Seattle’s Mike Cameron pulled it off in the top of the seventh on May 16, 2002, against Toronto.
Bonus answer: Boston’s Johnny Damon had three plate appearances in the bottom of the first on June 27, 2003, against Florida. He had a single, a double and a triple as the Red Sox scored 14 runs in the first.
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