We interrupt the Seattle hoo-hah around reaching a season-high eight games above .500 (27-19), following a 3-2, walk-off win in 11 innings over Detroit Sunday at Safeco Field, with three words of greater significance for the Mariners season: Wade Bleeping LeBlanc.
Post-game attention deservedly piled upon SS Jean Segura, who hit the game-winning single, and RF Mitch Haniger, whose two-run homer in the ninth brought the Mariners back from the deader-than-Blockbuster-Video category. And the bullpen delivered 5.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing only two hits.
But it was LeBlanc, picked up on a barely-noticed waiver claim March 25 from the Yankees, who is providing the kind of every-fifth-day reliability for a starting rotation that assuredly was the biggest vulnerability coming out of spring training.
Much was expected from, and is being delivered by, the big-ticket guys. But the Mariners were going nowhere this season without unexpected production from guys filling in, well, le blanks.
He gave up two runs on a first-inning homer to ex-Mariner John Hicks, then shut down the Tigers on five hits into the sixth inning, turning over the game to the bullpen that was fully available following James Paxton’s complete game in a 7-2 win Saturday night.
LeBlanc was clear about his post-homer recovery: “You take a punch in the mouth, and you fight back, or you back down.”
Spoken like a 33-year-old whose been with seven teams in 10 MLB seasons and has a 30-35 record to show for it. LeBlanc is the journeyman’s journeyman — he was a Mariner for most of 2016 — so he knows the team, the game and his role.
“Keep us close until the offense takes over,” he said. Although he is left-handed like Paxton, the styles — one throws 100 mph, the other drives on the shoulder — are so different that it seems almost complementary.
“(Opponents) probably run to the bat rack when I’m following Paxton,” he said. “Two different styles, different arm slots . . . We’re left-handed but they have to approach us a completely different way. They may be a little jumpy, ready to swing at a guy like me. Three of the first four guys swung at the first pitch. They were jumpier.
“I start off slow, and kinda work back.”
Here’s how effective that has been: In four starts this season — nine appearances total — LeBlanc has a 1.33 ERA over 20 innings. Paxton’s ERA over the same period is 1.70.
LeBlanc may have to ask Paxton to jump in the sidecar and let him drive.
“Wade threw the ball really well,” manage Scott Servais said. “Made the one mistake. .He did what he does all the time — he changes speeds. Today, he had a better change-up than cutter. Last time the cutter was better.”
In the fashion of Jamie Moyer, LeBlanc kept hitters off-balance and guessing until his counterpart, Francisco Liriano, blinked. The Detroit starter, who was in the bullpen for Houston last year when the Astros won the World Series, had a no-hitter until the seventh, when Haniger singled.
After the eighth, he was up to a season-high 102 pitches. Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire brought in closer Shane Greene, who gave up a single to Segura before Haniger launched into the upper deck in left.
In the 11th, when Segura singled home Dee Gordon, who singled and stole second despite a sore toe, the Mariners had the series 3-1 and their 12th come-from-behind triumph, third-most in the American League.
“The heart on this club has is pretty impressive,” Servais said. “We had injuries, we had guys out of the lineup, (Gordon) hobbling around out there.
“Nice way to wrap up the homestand. After the way it started, I didn’t know what would happen.”
He referred to Tuesday, when he, the franchise and all of baseball were shocked by the 80-game suspension of 2B Robinson Cano for violating baseball’s PED policy. But the Mariners have gone 4-2 since then and seem to have patched well for now.
Gordon has made a seamless transition from centerfield to his natural position of second base. Guillermo Heredia, the platoon left fielder, shifted to center, where he is an above-average defender who entered the game hitting .318 against right-handed pitching and .294 against lefties. So much for the alleged need to platoon him. And Gamel in left entered the game hitting .353 since May 5.
How long the patch will hold is unknowable. But independent of the lineup shuffle, the post-suspension Mariners are getting a boost where it was most needed.
Servais was coy answering a question about whether LeBlanc’s games as reliever and starter make him a serious figure in the future.
“He pitches every fifth day,” he said. “He’s pretty good.”
All successful teams need unexpected help from some of the non-stars. Even at 33, LeBlanc could be that guy. He almost has to be. The Mariners have almost no major-league-ready prospects to advance into the lineup or the rotation, nor do they have the depth to trade any of their expensive veterans for short-term help.
They seemed to have patched for Cano’s absence. If LeBlanc keeps punching back as he did Sunday, they have a patch for the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
Walk-off wins are cool. Two starting lefthanders who dominate from different worlds are rare.
7 Comments
Moyer-esque, and you are right about the rarity of two disparate left handers. Leake will not win a Cy Young, but he tosses a lot of innings. Gordon is an igniter. Cruz and Seagar are the third and fourth best hitters, behind Segura and Haniger. That is intimidating, perhaps even to Ohtani. LeBlanc is right— just stay in the game, and allow the hitters to eventually wear down the opposition’s pitchers. Stealing wins in April and May help immensely in September. I remain the Mariner Optimist.
Good to know you’re out there, leaning into the wind and rain, putting one foot ahead of the other.
No umbrella, no hat, a flannel shirt, faded blue jeans, no belt and Chuck Taylors….but sunglasses. You can take the kid out of Burien, but you can’t take the Burien out of the kid.
Mariners are 27-19 and i guess I may leave my self-imposed Mariner blackout. Is it time to purchase Root and jump on the Mariner Bandwagon? Are the baseball gods smiling upon the M’s or they toying with us?
You are rootless? Pity.
But if you’re asking my advice on how to spend your money to guarantee your pleasure, I think you have mistaken me for a pimp.
By June 4th, this will have been a very telling stretch of games. The typical Mariners I’ve come to know and groan over would emerge from this golden opportunity in their schedule (six series against five different teams with records of .500 or lower) with an eight to ten game losing streak and two or three key injuries. And, sure enough, the Cano suspension and that Keystone Cops ninth inning had me thinking, “Here we go again.” But lo and behold, there seems to be something going on here. Something different… something better. Something… dare I say… consistent?!
Sure, the Ms have had plenty of comeback and walk-off wins, but this year they seem to be happening at better times. Trades seem to actually be bearing fruit (Ryon Healey, Dee Gordon, Le Blanc); injuries have not descended upon the pitching staff (fingers crossed); and Kyle Seager even had an OK April.
All the traps and thin margins are still there, but so far these Mariners have managed to avoid stretches of poorly played ball and devastating injuries that have produced losing streaks in the past. If they can keep it up, especially through this stretch of games to June 3, then… we’ll see. I know, pretty jaded, but I can’t help it.
I’M sorry…I am responding viscerally….but i am really enjoying ENJOYING this very small and limited time frame when my M’s are in the playoff picture!