'Logan Gilbert at his best': Righty unfazed by rain in gem vs. O's

BALTIMORE -- Had the low-pressure weather system hanging all day over Baltimore interrupted the opener of the Mariners’ three-game series with the Orioles after it began Friday night, there is a chance Logan Gilbert would’ve never come back out of the dugout once play resumed. Such is the reality for starting pitchers and rain delays, with teams often not willing to send their starters back out after long interruptions, due to the risk of injury.

As it was, rain began to fall onto Oriole Park in the 7 o’clock hour Friday, but at that point, the Orioles and Mariners already knew they wouldn't begin play on time. That meant Gilbert’s progress was never impeded by weather, only delayed. And that worked out well for the Mariners, who went on to score double-digit runs for the second straight night and secure a 13-1 win behind arguably Gilbert’s best outing of the season.

“Playing with the weather, you won’t win that one,” manager Scott Servais said. “You have to go with the information you have, and if Logan starts the game, you go as far as you can with him. If it rains, you shut it down. Normally an hour is the number. You don’t want him sitting for too long.”

Gilbert wound up sitting for 105 minutes longer than expected, along with everyone else. Then he began dealing.

Said Gilbert: “A few years ago, that probably would have ate me up. But I've gotten a little more relaxed, I guess, and just tried to stay ready. … I tried to take a nap but couldn’t fall asleep, so I just laid on the floor for like an hour.”

Backed by Tom Murphy and Teoscar Hernández homers and later by a seven-run rally against the Orioles ‘pen in the eighth, Gilbert breezed through seven innings of one-run ball, taking a one-hitter into the seventh and retiring 15 straight at one point on a thick, sticky night in the Charm City. Gilbert struck out five and allowed only three baserunners, with Baltimore’s lone run coming on Anthony Santander’s solo homer in the seventh.

“That was really Logan Gilbert at his best,” Servais said.

Gilbert averaged 96.8 mph with his fastball, saw his heater and slider tick up in both velocity and spin rate and threw 68 percent non-fastballs -- an incredibly high number for a pitcher who threw 61.5 percent fastballs as a rookie two years ago. It speaks to the growth Gilbert has undergone particularly with the development of his secondary pitches, especially the splitter, which he only began throwing this year.

“His split-finger was fantastic tonight, and that’s not a pitch he even thought about a year ago,” Servais said. “He has the whole package. … Logan is constantly focused on getting better.”

Said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde: “He was really good. Firm fastball, 97, really good slider, curveball/split to left-handers. We didn’t square many balls up against him.”

Gilbert’s gem continued a strong stretch from the Mariners’ rotation, which has combined to pitch to a 2.25 ERA and 2.85 (57 K, 20 BB) SO/BB rate over its last 10 games. Seattle is 6-4 in those contests.

They are now 7-8 in Gilbert’s starts, a far cry from the outstanding 21-11 mark they posted in the righty’s outings in 2022, when he pitched to a 3.20 ERA in his first full season. But perhaps that is beginning to trend in the right direction. This is Gilbert’s second consecutive positive outing following a season-worst setback against the Angels, and third start in his last four that he’s allowed two runs or fewer.

Friday’s outing stands as a prime example of the high points Gilbert showed he’s capable of last year. What’s lacked this season is the same consistency, the ability to string productive outings together the way he did in ‘22. The same could be said about the Mariners’ offense, which set a season-high in runs and hits and won by its largest margin since June 5, 2019.

The win brought the Mariners back to .500, and showcased what they can look like when they put it all together.

“We came in and silenced the crowd,” Servais said. “It was starting pitching and -- I want to say timely, but it was hitting all night, which is great to see.”