Seattle, WA
Seattle Mariners’ Gilbert hits key mark in dazzling start
It had been quite a while since Logan Gilbert pitched through the seventh inning for the Seattle Mariners.
So long, in fact, that Gilbert was surprised hear the last time it occurred was on opening day last season.
“I didn’t know it’s been that long. That doesn’t feel great,” he quipped after the Mariners’ 6-1 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Seattle Mariners 6, Houston Astros 1: Box Score
Gilbert snapped his streak 27 straight starts without pitching through the seventh with his best outing this season against the Astros.
Perhaps most encouraging for Gilbert was the fact that he did it in an efficient manner. The right-hander needed just 85 pitches to get through seven innings of one-run ball while striking out 11 and giving up just four hits and one walk. Gilbert had only three three-ball counts on the day.
“It’s nice to keep going and get back to that,” Gilbert said. “We talked about it like two days ago, so it’s nice that we put the plan in place and did it, and hopefully more of those to come.”
The plan? Gilbert said he talked with pitching coach Pete Woodworth and catcher Cal Raleigh about forcing more contact to shorten at-bats.
“I have plenty of options. It’s just really (that) quicker at-bats sometimes are good. Almost treating it like if they swing, it’s a good thing,” said Gilbert, who still racked up 15 whiffs on the day. “If they hit it, we win, instead of just trying to out-stuff everybody. Sometimes if they swing, sometimes it’s a hit, sometimes it’s not. But just continually doing that usually puts us in a pretty good spot.”
It’s a goal of Gilbert’s this season to get deeper into ballgames. After leading MLB with 208 2/3 innings pitched in 2024, Gilbert’s 2025 season saw him strikeout batters at a higher clip at the cost not typically going into as deep into games as the season prior.
During Gilbert’s 2024 campaign, he pitched seven innings or more 10 times, including getting through the eighth four times. He lasted less than six innings in just seven of his 33 starts.
But in a 2025 season that was shortened to just 25 starts due to flexor injury in his right elbow, Gilbert pitched less than six innings on 17 occasions.
His seven-inning start Sunday marked his second straight outing of at least six innings. Gilbert had just one streak of two or more starts with at least six innings pitched last year.
Getting through seven innings wasn’t the only highlight of Gilbert’s day. He also picked off a runner for just the second time in 150 career starts when he caught Jose Altuve leaning at first base in the first inning.
Gilbert wasn’t sure at the time whether or not it was his first career pickoff in the majors.
“I was about to throw the ball out, but I didn’t know if that would like look bad,” he said with a laugh. “But I was fired up because it’s been so long and I never pick guys off. But that was just called from the dugout. It was a glove drop (by Raleigh). So we were trying to catch him bouncing.”
Gilbert got an assist on the play with a deke from Josh Naylor, too. The first baseman flashed his glove and stepped towards the bag to get Altuve to jump back towards the base, then he faked to step away and Altuve shuffled towards second as Gilbert fired to first for the out.
“It was called by the dugout, Naylor deking him, Cal reading it. So basically, everybody else picked him off. I just threw the ball,” Gilbert joked.
