Gilbert shows ace stuff with career-high 13 K's in bounceback start

SEATTLE -- Logan Gilbert joked that with as rewarding as his career-high 13 strikeouts were in a massive individual turnaround for him, of course Cal Raleigh had to also have a banner day for the Mariners in an 11-4 win over the A’s on Sunday afternoon.

“I give him a hard time that he just loves the spotlight,” Gilbert said.

Raleigh crushed his 48th and 49th homers in his first two at-bats vs. the A’s to tie, then surpass the previous historical high for the most in a single season for a player with at least 75% of games as a catcher. The benchmark that the Mariners backstop exceeded was previously held by the Royals’ Salvador Perez in 2021.

Yet, the totality of Gilbert’s day -- six innings of one-run, three-hit ball -- was arguably the more promising development for the Mariners (70-61), who’ve experienced shaky starting pitching in their hunt to return to the postseason for the first time since 2022.

That’s been especially true for Gilbert, who missed seven weeks earlier this season with a right elbow flexor strain and entered Sunday with a 4.55 ERA in 12 starts since returning, capped by one of the worst outings of his five-year career his last time out on Monday in Philadelphia.

“It's been a tough year for him,” said Raleigh, who’s also one of Gilbert’s good friends, “and just in general, having to fight an injury like that. To come back, that's not easy, and try to find that feel, and trying to find it in the big leagues is really tough.”

Gilbert surrendered a solo homer to Jacob Wilson in the second inning but was mostly untouchable otherwise, with just two additional singles and one walk allowed.

Beyond the K’s, Gilbert generated 25 whiffs on Sunday, including 10 on his slider -- the pitch he threw most regularly and the one that was battered for a pair of middle-middle homers in Philly. But it was the splitter that he used in putaway counts, generating seven strikeouts on the offering, which has held hitters to an 11-for-98 (.112) clip this season.

In the process, he raised his MLB-leading strikeout rate (min. 90 innings) to 34.7%.

“Cal really liked the fastball early on, kind of the way I was working over the top, through the zone,” Gilbert said. “And then the slider seemed like it was getting to good spots under the zone. ... It felt like everything was in tighter groupings. Everything was kind of in good spots, less sporadic.”

The key, as simple as it sounds, was pitching ahead.

Gilbert threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 22 batters he faced, and in the other four instances, he never reached a 2-0 count. Among his 13 strikeouts, 11 came after he threw a first-pitch strike.

It was a point of emphasis in a pregame meeting with Raleigh, Mariners pitching coach Pete Woodworth and director of pitching strategy Trent Blank -- and came after he exhibited some rare outward frustration on Monday.

“I haven't really felt like I've completely clicked at any point in the season,” Gilbert said. “It's like, it's been fine. But I have really high standards, so I've been frustrated at times throughout the year. So honestly, I feel like it was just answered prayers this past week, working through all that kind of stuff, and then trying to just go out there and have fun today.”

Gilbert now has a 3.69 ERA on the season, and the Mariners are 12-7 in his starts. There have been glimpses of greatness, but none more glaring than Sunday -- which the club hopes can springboard him down the stretch.