Kelenic, Gilbert debuts spoiled by Cleveland

SEATTLE -- A night that was billed with pomp and circumstance surrounding the debuts of Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert was on its way to being spoiled in historic fashion, with the Mariners just six outs shy of being no-hit for the second time in eight days.

But Seattle’s bats finally broke through with two hits in the eighth inning, and they made things interesting in the ninth with the winning run on first base after Cleveland reliever Emanuel Clase walked the bases loaded.

Luis Torrens, however, struck out to end the game against Bryan Shaw and the Mariners’ would-be rally was halted in a 4-2 loss that had just the two hits: a line-drive single by J.P. Crawford and a two-run homer by Dylan Moore that drove him in.

The big-ticket debuts were met with big-time fanfare in Seattle, with Kelenic and Gilbert each drawing roaring ovations upon introductions in front of a season-high 9,880 fans, thanks to some eased restriction and vaccinated-only seat sections.

Kelenic went 0-for-4 with two flyouts, one strikeout and a groundout to first base. He swung at the first pitch he saw from Zach Plesac, but he was the victim of a stellar snag by Josh Naylor, who went sailing into the right-field seats in foul territory. Kelenic then struck out in the third on four pitches with a few chase cuts way outside the zone, and he also hit a sharp groundout in the sixth. In his final at-bat, MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 overall prospect got a little too much under one and hit a 100.1 mph lineout to center field.

“I thought Jarred’s at-bats, a lot of excitement, a lot of anxiety going on,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I thought as the game went on, he certainly calmed down, started working through some at-bats. And the last ball he hit, I thought he hit right on the barrel. He's going to be fine.”

Gilbert had an up-and-down night, but with a handful of positives to hang his hat on. He breezed through a 1-2-3 first inning on eight pitches, all four-seam fastballs, topping out at 97 mph, and he wound up with five strikeouts and no walks -- notable, given the Mariners’ emphasis on pitching in the strike zone and making opposing hitters work.

However, a few of those in-zone pitches were breaking balls left hanging over the plate, which Franmil Reyes and José Ramírez made him pay for by clearing the fence for homers. Gilbert wound up giving up three additional hits and completed four innings, throwing 71 pitches.

“That kid’s obviously got a good arm and Franmil got a breaking ball and hit it well,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “And then we get a couple fastballs. [Ramírez] got a good fastball and did what he can do. But I can see why they really like the kid. I mean, he’s got some length -- it looks like he’s stepping on you when he lets the ball go. There’s a lot to like.”

Gilbert might’ve gotten the chance to pitch the fifth, but a ball that cleared catcher Torrens’ legs on a strike three allowed Harold Ramirez to reach in the fourth. Gilbert then struck out Jake Bauers, which would’ve ended the inning, but he was forced to throw an additional seven pitches to Austin Hedges, who he also punched out.

Thursday was Gilbert’s second start of the season -- he debuted last Friday for Triple-A Tacoma -- and some of the jitters of the moment and rust of not pitching beyond spring outings might’ve been present.

“The curveball felt pretty good for the most part, dropping it in for strikes,” Gilbert said. “And then with the slider, I was kind of feeling it out as I went. And I think I could have done a better job expanding the zone when I was ahead with two strikes. And then when I did need a strike, I might throw the one out of the zone that needed to be in the zone. So, just getting that feel for it. Some of them felt great. And some of them felt like it was just a little off.”

Seattle's bullpen got back on track by putting up five scoreless innings, all from its lower-leverage relievers, including Drew Steckenrider, Robert Dugger and Erik Swanson, who combined to allow just one baserunner and struck out six.

But the Mariners’ losing streak stretched to a season-high five games due to its lack of offensive production. Had it not been for a line drive from Crawford that narrowly sailed over shortstop Amed Rosario, Moore would’ve come to the plate with two outs and no one on, four outs shy of a no-no, the stakes even higher.

“We need to have that intensity earlier in the game, I guess, and we should be able to do that,” Servais said. “It's showing up later. It should be there earlier, and that's something we need to address and get better at.”