Gilbert (1 H, 8 K's) not 'intimidated' by Yanks

SEATTLE -- Yusei Kikuchi might be the Mariners' lone All-Star, but Logan Gilbert is emerging as their blossoming ace.

The towering 24-year-old overpowered a loaded Yankees lineup that had shelled Seattle's starters, including Kikuchi, over the first two games of this series. Gilbert struck out eight and completed seven brilliant innings -- both career highs for the up-and-comer, but probably benchmarks that won't last long given the way he's pitching and his potential as a long-term top-of-the-rotation fixture.

The Mariners have now won each of Gilbert's past eight starts dating back to May 25 following Thursday's 4-0 win over New York. That is the longest active streak in the Majors, and it trails only a stretch of nine starts that the Cardinals won behind Jack Flaherty for the longest of 2021. Gilbert has a 2.57 ERA and has held opposing hitters to a .207/.258/.352 slash line (.610 OPS) in this stretch.

"Intimidated is not anywhere in his vocabulary," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "I think you get a read on guys coming out of their starting-pitcher meeting headed into the game, and I asked [pitching coach Pete Woodworth] how it went today. And he said, 'I wish I could've recorded it. Every young pitcher should hear that. That's how you need to go after that type of ballclub.'"

The only hit Gilbert surrendered was a second-inning double to Giancarlo Stanton, who went on to look overwhelmed in his final two at-bats against the 6-foot-6 righty, particularly against his gnarly slider. That breaking ball was as good as it's been all season, generating four of his strikeouts, with whiffs on 11 of the 19 swings against it, by far the most in any of his 10 career starts.

Gilbert's fastball, or at least his approach with it, was just as impressive. And it was so good that he only turned to his offspeed, curveball and changeup six times. When he did drop in the changeup, he wasn't scared to throw it to right-handed hitters, such as Gary Sánchez, which Servais said would be the next step in Gilbert's development. So, essentially, he was a two-pitch pitcher on Thursday.

"It just came down to the execution when it's two pitches like that," Gilbert said. "And righty lineup, we weren't gonna throw a ton of changeups today unless we needed to. But the fastball and slider felt good."

But back to his heater: Against a Yanks lineup that has homered 76 times against fastballs, tied for sixth most in the Majors, Gilbert didn't shy from throwing his over the plate and forcing them to catch up to his high-90s velocity, with 46 of his 63 thrown on Thursday at 95 mph or higher, including his fastest pitch of the season (98.6 mph) to Aaron Judge. He wasn't afraid to pitch inside, either.

"I think it's just something that you have to be able to do, whether you're comfortable with it or not," Gilbert said. "And I like going to both sides of the plate. And even talking about the slider, if you go inside with the fastball, it's going to help the fastball out, but it's also going to help the slider out and your other pitches; keep them from bleeding over the plate [and] stuff like that. So I felt like it's just essential to be able to go to both sides of the plate."

Kikuchi and Justus Sheffield were far more apprehensive to throw theirs around the plate in the first two games of the series, nibbling on the corners while getting tagged hard for a combined 11 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, though it's since been revealed that Sheffield was dealing with injuries.

But for Gilbert against the Yanks, it was pure adrenaline-driven aggression from a pitcher who was barely out of high school when Stanton and Judge won the T-Mobile Home Run Derby in back-to-back years in 2016 and '17, and DJ LeMahieu was winning his first of two batting titles.

"Sneaky fastball," LeMahieu said. "He can get it up there on the radar gun, and I suppose it was playing up a little bit. He kind of settled in and started throwing some pretty good sliders. He shut us down."

In the broader scope of Seattle's season, what Gilbert is doing -- putting the Mariners in position to win every fifth day -- in the context of a beleaguered rotation can't be overstated.

Sheffield will be down for an extended period due to a left forearm strain and a Grade 2 oblique strain. Justin Dunn is still recovering from a right shoulder strain. Marco Gonzales, with a 5.83 ERA, has also battled injuries and hasn't been himself all season. Entering Thursday, the Mariners had lost three of their past four games, with their starting pitchers giving up 19 runs in 16 innings. No starter had thrown into the sixth inning since Gilbert last Friday against Texas.

Kikuchi looked mortal on Wednesday, but he's been otherwise nails. Chris Flexen has emerged as reliable as anyone, leading the Mariners to a win in 11 of his 15 starts. But no Seattle pitcher has put together as strong of a stretch as the one Gilbert is riding into the All-Star break.