Logan Gilbert felt the need on Tuesday to apologize for his awkward dance moves, although he sure looked plenty graceful for a big guy — and nobody would have cared otherwise after his masterpiece on the mound.
The 198cm-tall right-hander had never before let loose shuffling around in the Seattle Mariners’ post-game winning circle in what has become ritual for the finishing pitcher and his fielders after the final out.
“It was pretty cool. I always wanted to do the dance, but I kind of embarrassed myself,” Gilbert said post beer shower as proud parents Keith and Noel waited to congratulate him.
Photo: AFP
“First time, hopefully it didn’t look too bad. I’ll take it,” he added.
Gilbert struck out seven pitching a five-hit gem for his first career complete game, Mike Ford homered during a four-hit performance and A.J. Pollock added a late two-run shot as the Seattle Mariners beat the San Francisco Giants 6-0 for their fourth straight win.
After striking out Mike Yastrzemski swinging to end the 2 hour, 20 minute Fourth of July matinee, 26-year-old Gilbert clapped his hand into his glove and quickly went to embrace catcher Tom Murphy.
Julio Rodriguez contributed an RBI single and doubled as the Seattle offense did plenty to back right-hander Gilbert (6-5) in his winning effort facing the Giants for the first time in his career.
Seattle’s four-game winning streak matches their season best with the other four-game unbeaten run coming in a sweep of the Oakland Athletics from May 22 to 25.
Gilbert did not walk a batter in the 105-pitch masterpiece for Seattle’s seventh shutout, while the Mariners outhit the Giants 13-5.
On his 31st birthday, Ford connected for his seventh home run in the third and also doubled twice, singled and scored a run on a wild pitch by rookie right-hander Keaton Winn (0-2) in the second.
Mariners manager Scott Servais called Ford “our version of Babe Ruth.”
The Giants lost their fourth straight game and were dealt their eighth shutout and sixth at home.
Winn had been solid in three relief appearances and one start since his June 18 call-up, but then gave up three runs on six hits over four innings in his second career start.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
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