SEATTLE — After the Seattle Mariners’ completed a trade earlier in the day for an All-Star caliber closer and veteran outfielder, manager Scott Servais said it sent an all-in kind of message.
It’s much easier to be all-in behind an ace like James Paxton.
His start against the Minnesota Twins on Friday at Safeco Field might as well have guaranteed him of American League pitcher of the month. The lefty from Ladner added 11 strikeouts in seven innings to his stellar May resume in the Mariners’ 2-1 victory.
Oh, and just another close game.
The Mariners (30-20) returned to a season-high 10 games above .500, doing so behind their major-league-leading 14th one-run victory.
If you’re counting, the Mariners have won almost half of their games by a measly one run.
Here was Friday’s recipe: Dominant Paxton, just enough offense, dominant Edwin Diaz, who earned his major-league leading 18th save.
Paxton followed his complete-game, three-hit victory over the Tigers last week with this gem. He struck out nine of 12 batters in one stretch to strike out at least 11 batters for just the second time in his career (both happened this month).
If the no-hitter didn’t convince you, here’s how you know James Paxton has taken the next step this season:
The lefty from Ladner had never thrown more than 10 strikeouts in a game entering 2018. This year he’s struck out at least 10 batters four times, including 16 earlier this month against the Oakland Athletics and 11 on Friday against the Twins.
Granted, strikeouts are up across baseball. But Paxton’s strikeouts-per-nine-innings of 11.35 entered the day as the third-best in the American League behind the Astros’ Gerrit Cole and Red Sox’s Chris Sale.
He did throw an 87-mph cutter in the middle of the plate in the fifth inning for Twins’ right fielder Max Kepler, but he seemed to respond in a Canadian sort of anger — striking out four of the next five batters he faced.
This was the fourth time Paxton has pitched at least seven innings in a game this season — all coming this month.
But he needed some offense.
Nelson Cruz, who led the American League in RBIs last season, hadn’t driven in a run for the Mariners since May 12. And he hasn’t hit a home run since May 3.
But then he led off the first inning with a single to left field and Jean Segura scored from second base.
Cruz entered the game batting .222 with two hits in his past 22 at-bats (.091). He also hasn’t been fully healthy, dealing with leg injuries most of the season, including being hit by a pitch in his foot and then his elbow, causing bone contusions, in separate games last week.
After Kepler’s home run tied it, the Mariners scored a run after dodging bullets.
For as well as Paxton was pitching, that’s how good Twins’ 23-year-old Fernando Romero was dealing, too.
But he threw a 95-mph fastball near Guillermo Heredia’s head with two outs in the sixth inning. Heredia dodged it and took his base.
The next pitch? A 95-mph fastball near Mitch Haniger’s head, but the wild pitch allowed Heredia to reach second and Haniger soon after followed with a single to center field for the go-ahead run.
And this weekend the Mariners get some reinforcements with reliever Alex Colome and outfielder Denard Span on their way from the Tampa Bay Rays after the Mariners sent minor league pitchers Andrew Moore and Tommy Romero in the Friday-afternoon deal.
