There was a surprising catalyst for the Seattle Mariners’ rally that led them to their third straight win on Monday night.
Naylor, Woo lead Mariners past Cardinals 4-2 for third straight win
With the M’s trailing St. Louis 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning, second baseman and No. 9 hitter Leo Rivas made Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas work. After getting to a 3-2 count on the first five pitches, Rivas fouled off three straight offerings before watching the ninth pitch for a leadoff walk.
And then the Mariners were off and running.
Following Rivas’ walk, the Mariners came through with three hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly in their next five plate appearances to take a 4-2 lead, which proved to be the final score.
Jorge Polanco, who plated the final run with a sac fly, pointed at the leadoff man in that inning after the game.
“Good at-bats, good at-bats. It started with Leo in that inning,” Polanco said to Seattle Sports’ Curtis Rogers in an on-field interview on the Mariners Radio Network broadcast. “He took a great at-bat and we just followed him. We come with good momentum and we just did our thing right there.”
Rivas may be one of the lesser-known players on the Mariners roster, and he hasn’t seen a lot of action for the M’s this year, but that could be changing. Even ESPN MLB analyst Jeff Passan shouted him out Tuesday during his weekly visit with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“By the way, what do you think of full-time Rivas or most-time Rivas ahead of (rookie Mariners second baseman) Cole Young? Are you guys on board with that?” Passan posed. “… He’s earned it. Leo Rivas has had a good year.”
That he has.
Rivas, a 27-year-old switch-hitter, has pretty much only been good when given an opportunity this season. When he was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma in late May, he had a .283/.411/.300 slash line for a .711 OPS in 30 games and 73 plate appearances.
He immediately made an impact when he returned to the team as a September call-up, too, smacking his first MLB home run on Sept. 1 in Tampa Bay.
Rivas, who also had a 2 for 3 performance with a double and an RBI on Friday at Atlanta, now has a .278/.409/.347 slash for a .756 OPS in 36 games and 88 plate appearances this season.
When you look at Rivas’ stats in between his two MLB stints this year, it’s clear he’s been in a good spot at the plate. In 66 games in Triple-A, he hit .318 with 10 homers, 46 RBIs, a .471 on-base and .978 OPS.
Rivas can help the Mariners on the bases, too. He has four stolen bases in four attempts in MLB play this year, and was 24 of 27 on steals with Tacoma.
The Mariners may be more apt to use Rivas now after receiving news that second baseman Ryan Bliss, who was on a rehab assignment in Triple-A working back from a torn biceps, suffered a season-ending knee injury over the weekend.
Young, a left-handed hitter, has mainly served as Seattle’s primary second baseman since he was called up at the end of May for his MLB debut in June, but he is just 2 for 38 (.053) over his last 15 games. Polanco also sees some time at the position, but he’s been the team’s usual designated hitter. Rivas at least gives the M’s a good option against left-handed pitching (career .276 average and .364 on-base percentage) as well as solid defense and speed.
We’ll see if Rivas gets another start when the Mariners play the second of their three-game series with the Cardinals at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday night. Radio coverage on Seattle Sports will begin at 5:30 with the pregame show.
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