'Look of our future': Rookies propel Mariners

KANSAS CITY -- Going into this three-game set, Mariners manager Scott Servais stressed the importance of leaving Kansas City with a series win, as his club is in need of every advantage as it tries to make up ground in a tightly contested American League Wild Card chase.

After splitting the first two games, winning Sunday’s rubber match became imperative for the Mariners’ postseason hopes. And thanks to the team’s pair of budding young stars, it was able to get it done.

The Mariners triumphed over the Royals, 7-1, on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium behind another big game from Jarred Kelenic and a masterful outing from Logan Gilbert. Kelenic finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and his third homer of the series, while his fellow rookie Gilbert tossed seven innings, allowing one run on three hits.

• Box score

"We got a firsthand look of our future,” Servais said. “The young pups led the way today.”

As a result, Seattle (80-69) remains four games back of a Wild Card spot, as Boston (86-65) and Toronto (84-65) both won on Sunday. But Seattle did gain ground on the third-place Yankees (83-67), who lost. The Mariners remain two games back of the Athletics (82-67) and next head to Oakland for a four-game set beginning Monday.

• Wild Card standings

Servais was undoubtedly delighted to get the series win, but to see the aforementioned “young pups” lead the way was especially nice, and he believes it speaks to a larger organizational trend.

"It's very indicative of what we've talked about that we're building here in Seattle,” Servais said. “We have a group of young players that we believe in. These are kind of the first couple to touch us. There's more coming behind it.”

Kelenic wasted no time making an impact, as he doubled in a pair of runs in the first to get Seattle on the board against Jackson Kowar, whom they hung five runs on in just four innings. Ty France, who went 7-for-9 over the series, came in to score along with Abraham Toro.

The damage didn’t stop there. Kelenic stepped into the box to lead off the third, working six pitches from Kowar before turning on a 95.2 mph fastball and sending it onto the party porch in right-center field. It came just two days after Kelenic crushed a pair of homers to power the Mariners’ win in the opener and kick-start what could be a watershed series for the youngster, who logged a 2.444 OPS over the weekend.

"Right now I feel like I'm in a really good groove, and I'm really just going to try to keep this going,” Kelenic said.

Kelenic wasn’t the only Mariner to go deep however, as Mitch Haniger and Jake Bauers each deposited a ball over the fence for a solo homer. Bauers’ blast traveled a Statcast-projected 460 feet into the outfield fountains, which marked his Major League high and the longest homer for Seattle this season. Bauers said it “might as well” be considered the farthest ball he’s ever hit in his life.

"I didn't know I had 460 in me,” Bauers said.

Steering the ship steadily on the mound was Gilbert, who was dominant from the start. He retired 20 of the 25 batters he faced, including 17 of his first 18. The only real damage he allowed came in the sixth, when Whit Merrifield and Nicky Lopez -- two of the hottest hitters of the second half -- doubled and singled to bring in Kansas City’s lone run.

Gilbert's outing ended in somewhat unusual fashion, as he made an inning-ending catch in the seventh that could be described as anywhere from diving to tumbling, and from impressive to frightening.

"I told him I saw his life flash before my eyes, with [Dylan Moore] running in there,” Bauers said. “I thought he was going to catch a knee to the forehead or something like that.”

No matter how graceful he was in wrapping his day, Gilbert coming out strong from the get-go, coupled with Kelenic’s early damage, put Seattle in the perfect situation, according to Servais. And in an increasingly tight Wild Card race, it led to a valuable victory.

"The key to the game was certainly early in the game,” Servais said. “It's kind of a hot day over here, your starting pitcher comes out, takes control, sets the tempo. ... We needed to win this series; we won this series. We'll head to Oakland, see what happens over there."

Kelenic echoed his skipper’s sentiments.

"As a team today, we swung the bat really well. It wasn't even just me,” Kelenic said. “Logan, he had a heck of a day today. I think overall, it was what we needed to bounce into Oakland."