Revenge! Hernandez hits back-to-back game-winners against ex-Jays to win Mariners series
Scott Servais had a conversation with Teoscar Hernandez hours before this crucial series with Toronto began.
It was short. Yet it was full of confidence.
Acquired via trade from the Blue Jays last November, Hernandez had his second go-around against his former team this weekend, his first at T-Mobile Park. He struggled batting in three games in Canada earlier this season. He went 1-for-12 with a solo home run and seven strikeouts at Toronto in April.
And so Servais, before what proved to be a turning point for a season with so much promise, checked on his right fielder.
“He was trying to do too much (in Toronto),” the Mariners manager said.
His advice to Hernandez? Simple: Take a deep breath. Have fun.
Hernandez replied to his manager with a smile.
“Don’t worry,” the slugger told Servais. “I’m good. I’m good this time.”
And he was prophetic.
Hernandez was indeed the star of this weekend’s Mariners-Blue Jays series at a packed, roaring T-Mobile Park. Friday’s opener set up perfectly for Seattle’s outfielder to sting the team that dealt him away — plus the tens of thousands of Blue Jays fans who made their annual trek down from Canada to Seattle.
The atmosphere, in Seattle’s own park, was unrelenting. First baseman Ty France said: “It feels like a playoff game.”
With Friday night’s series opener tied and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Hernandez stepped into the batter’s box. Jose Caballero stood at third, 90 feet from a Mariners win.
Hernandez planned to stay patient; he admitted later he was afraid to chase pitches out of the strike zone. Yet the first pitch from Toronto closer Jordan Romano was too good to pass up. Hernandez slapped Romano’s slider off the outside edge of home plate the opposite way, to right field.
Romano pointed to the sky, hoping for an inning-ending flyout. But Hernandez knew. Blue Jays right fielder George Springer could only watch as a walk-off single crashed off the wall.
Caballero jogged home. Seattle mobbed its hero at first base, and Hernandez claimed revenge. The Mariners recovered from a late, two-run deficit and stunned its Canadian visitors in the series opener, 3-2.
“Fun game,” Servais said. “I think everybody got their money’s worth tonight. I know Mariners fans did.”
Barely 18 hours later, Hernandez did it again.
Seattle rallied for a five-run seventh inning to a 9-8 win Saturday. The decisive hit: Hernandez’s go-ahead, two-run double. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh added two homers, yet Hernandez was the hero again, having collected the game-winning RBI in consecutive games.
“We won the game,” added Hernandez. “For me, that’s all that matters.”
Toronto salvaged a game and rallied for victory Sunday in the series finale, 4-3. Recent Home Run Derby champion Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Toronto designated hitter Brandon Belt jump-started the Blue Jays’ win with home runs early off Mariners rookie starter Bryan Woo.
Seattle crept back to tie the finale before Toronto pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal singled home what proved to be the game-winning run in the seventh inning.
Woo (1-3) allowed four hits and four earned runs with a walk and seven strikeouts in six innings. His fastball was excellent, particularly early. Yet he was unable to help secure a Seattle sweep that would have pulled the Mariners (50-49) within 2 1/2 games of Toronto for the third and final wild-card playoff spot in the American League.
“Everything felt good, for the most part,” Woo said.
The pair of Toronto home runs Woo surrendered were his only true mistakes.
“I wanted to get after them, pitch well, and make sure I was in the zone early,” he said.
Sunday’s was yet another photo finish. Seattle’s tying and game-winning runs stood in scoring position with one out in the ninth. But Julio Rodriguez struck out. Eugenio Suarez then flew out. And Romano had the save and the Blue Jays’ only win at T-Mobile Park in its last seven tries.
“We’ve been getting those big knocks here recently,” Servais said. “Just not enough today.”
Sunday’s one-run loss slipped Seattle into fourth place in the AL West, now 8.5 games behind Texas (59-41) for the division lead. The Mariners are 4.5 games out of the wild card.
Still: This was the series of Teoscar Hernandez.
“He was fired up,” Servais said of his right fielder. “He’s got some kind of ability, and he’s on it right now. It’s fun to watch.”
KELENIC KICKS COOLER, FRACTURES FOOT
With tears in his eyes and his left foot confined to a walking boot, Jarred Kelenic met with the media Thursday morning.
His unforeseen injury could keep Seattle’s budding outfielder off the field for weeks.
Following his ninth-inning strikeout in a loss to the Twins Wednesday, Kelenic, known for his unwavering intensity and effort, let that emotion “get the best of (him),” he said later. The 24-year-old retreated to the dugout and kicked a Gatorade cooler. That bad idea broke a bone in his left foot.
Surgery isn’t necessary, though president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told ROOT Sports this weekend Kelenic will miss at least four weeks. His earliest return is scheduled for September. Kelenic’s best statistical campaign, by far — a season many deemed his “breakout” as Seattle’s most consistently productive hitter this uneven season — has stopped.
It’s an unfortunate, unfathomable — and avoidable — halt.
“I made a mistake,” Kelenic said, pausing briefly through his tears. “I just, I feel terrible. Especially for the guys. … I let them down. I take full responsibility for it. It’s on me. It just can’t happen.”
Seattle recalled Cade Marlowe from Triple-A Tacoma. He was to join still-struggling veteran A.J. Pollock in a left-field platoon. Marlowe, 26, was the Mariners’ 20th-round pick in the 2019 MLB draft. He made his major league debut Thursday and reached base via fourth-inning walk.
Then Pollock went on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a strained left hamstring. That brought Rainiers outfielder Taylor Trammell back up to Seattle.
Kelenic says what’s toughest for him is watching all of it from the dugout.
“That’s the biggest thing … I love to win,” he said. “I’m a huge competitor. And that’s the hardest part. Now, I can’t be out there to help the guys.”
Seattle rallied for a shutout win in Kelenic’s absence Thursday night, 5-0 over Minnesota, carried by the sustained dominance of starter George Kirby across seven shutout innings. The win earned the Mariners a four-game split with the Twins, before Seattle grabbed those two of three from Toronto.
Not an awful answer to Kelenic kicking a water cooler and hurting not just himself but his team.
“I think it’s a learning lesson for (Jarred),” Servais said. “You’ve got to be able to control your emotions. That’s part of being a professional. Last night, he let it get the best of him.
“It affects all of us.”
M’S INK TOP DRAFT PICKS
Tai Peete wasted little time acclimating himself to the confines of T-Mobile Park. He proved the distance of the Hit it Here Cafe far beyond above right field was no contest for him.
The Mariners selected Peete, a high-school infielder possessing what Seattle believes is tremendous upside, 30th overall in the MLB Draft two weeks ago. Batting from the left side of the plate during warmups Tuesday, Peete flashed tremendous power with a silky-smooth swing. Mariners, coaches, and the front-office members that selected him watched the display.
Peete punished a baseball into the windows of the Cafe on his final swing, well above the main concourse of right-field seating. It was a monster blast, perhaps a foreshadowing of the homers Peete may launch in Seattle in future years.
Alongside him was fellow infielder Colt Emerson, selected by the Mariners eight picks earlier (No. 22). Both signed their professional contracts Tuesday then soaked in a major-league experience they both considered a dream. They took grounders with Kolten Wong and J.P. Crawford. They learned from the likes of Mariners infield coach Perry Hill.
“I met Ichiro earlier. Like, it’s insane,” Emerson told reporters. “I’ve enjoyed every second of this. I’ve soaked up every part of it.”
Seattle also owned pick No. 29 this month and selected outfielder Johnny Farmelo, Peete’s former roommate. With Emerson, they form a trio of higher-risk, perhaps higher-upside players the Mariners plan to develop in their system.
Selected directly after Farmelo, Peete learned his draft destiny and picked up his phone.
“We called each other. … ‘Yo, look at the TV! Look at the TV!’” Peete shouted at Farmelo, excitedly.
Farmelo wasn’t far behind. He arrived to Seattle and signed his deal Wednesday for an estimated $3.2 million, per MLB.com.
Emerson signed for a reported $3.8 million, above his assigned pick value of $3.497 million. Peete signed for a reported $2.5 million.
“When you have three first-round picks … to be able to add three middle-of-the-field players that are athletic, that check pretty much every box on and off the field,” Mariners director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said.
“It’s a fun time to be a scout.”
ON DECK
The Mariners embark on a six-game road trip this week, first to Minnesota for a three-game set with the Twins (July 24-26).
Seattle then visits Chase Field in Phoenix for a weekend series with the Diamondbacks (July 28-30) before returning home to T-Mobile Park on July 31 for a three-game set with Boston.
This story was originally published July 23, 2023 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Revenge! Hernandez hits back-to-back game-winners against ex-Jays to win Mariners series."
