Fateful pitch turns into snowball Gilbert, Seattle couldn't stop

BOSTON -- There were 313 pitches thrown between the Mariners and Red Sox on Monday night at Fenway Park, but it felt like there was only one that completely changed the dynamic in Seattle’s 14-7 loss.

In a 1-2 count with two outs and runners on second and third in the third inning, Logan Gilbert fired a 97.8 mph fastball to Wilyer Abreu that, according to just about every angle, appeared to be in the strike zone for what would’ve been an inning-ending, backwards K. It was instead called a ball by home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher, which kept the fateful frame alive and unexpectedly opened the floodgates to the scoreless tie.

Two pitches later, Gilbert darted a splitter too far inside and out of Cal Raleigh’s range to block, which allowed Boston’s Connor Wong to score from third base easily. Then five offerings later, as part of a 12-pitch battle with Abreu, Gilbert surrendered a 100.9 mph RBI single that lasered past the outstretched glove of second baseman Jorge Polanco and into right field.

And it all snowballed from there.

On his very next pitch after the single, Gilbert paid for a center-cut, 94.6 mph fastball that Masataka Yoshida blasted for a two-run homer sailing beyond both bullpens and 425 feet into the right-field bleachers. Rafael Devers then doubled. So did Tyler O’Neill. And Dominic Smith, too.

And by that point, with Gilbert at 43 pitches in the never-ending third inning and 69 overall, Mariners manager Scott Servais was forced to relieve the first-time All-Star and turn to a heavily-taxed bullpen.

“That stuff's going to happen,” Gilbert said of the call. “I will say, it's a tough game already. It's tougher when you have to get four outs or an extra strike or whatever it may be, especially against a good team like that.”

Adding another gut punch was that one of Gilbert’s pitches in the third led to an injury scare for Raleigh, who was plunked in his right hand on a slider that bounced in front of the plate, through his legs and into the hand, which was behind his back.

Raleigh remained in the game after conferring with Servais and Mariners head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson, then he crushed his 23rd homer in the sixth, but after shaking the hand out just prior. Even so, it was nonetheless another dink in a summer that’s been full of them for the backstop who is arguably as important to Seattle’s roster as any player.

After Gilbert left, Servais needed four relievers to reach the finish line.

“It's crazy, games are decided oftentimes by just the narrowest of margins,” Servais said. “And you look at a game like tonight, and you wouldn't think that. ... They got momentum. The snowball got rolling down the hill, and we couldn't stop it.”

To be sure, there were ample moments on Monday for Gilbert to escape the third, before and after the call that didn’t go his way.

Gilbert nearly ignited a 1-6-3 double play that also would’ve ended the third, on a comebacker from Jarren Duran. But the speedster forced Seattle to settle for a forceout after he beat out the relay throw from shortstop Dylan Moore. Duran dialed his sprint speed up to 30.4 feet-per-second, well above the 27.0 league average. He then stole second base just before the run-scoring wild pitch.

“I mean that play, too, definitely changed the inning,” Gilbert said. “So a couple of things there. But he's a great player all the way around. What he can do at the plate and then obviously his speed.”

Moreover, Monday’s loss was at the hands of the team directly ahead of the Mariners in the American League Wild Card standings. Seattle’s likeliest path to the postseason would be by winning an underachieving AL West -- which they ended the day tied atop -- but victories against other AL contenders would create a safety net should the club need to get in via the Wild Card route.

The Mariners have a reinforcement coming in the form of Justin Turner, and perhaps more if the front office strikes another deal before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. PT Trade Deadline. And their other prized acquisition, Randy Arozarena, crushed his first homer since Thursday’s trade with the Rays, over the Green Monster and left-field foul pole -- close enough to warrant a crew chief review.

But other than that, Monday was a night that the Mariners would like to soon forget.