Kade Anderson delivers best start of career as Mariners stave off elimination

DENVER — Kade Anderson believes in standards not expectations. He sets the standard for what is considered acceptable while others can have expectations.

In his previous outing in Anaheim, he made it bluntly clear that his execution and performance was far below the standard he had set for himself.

On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, Anderson set a new standard for himself in his sixth MLB start with the best outing of his young career.

Working in the vast and hitter-friendly Coors Field and pitching in conditions that can turn even the most successful veteran pitcher passive and afraid of contact, Anderson was unflappable in Seattle’s 2-1 victory over the Rockies.

He tossed seven efficient and scoreless innings, allowing just three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts to pick up the win. He registered first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 24 batters he faced and only had five three-ball counts. Of his 84 pitches, 61 were strikes, including 16 swings and misses. 

“That’s what I was doing so well throughout the minor leagues,” Anderson said. “I was getting ahead of dudes, so I could put dudes away quicker, and that’s the new standard. That’s the kind of pitcher I am. I have to attack. I have to go right at dudes, and then be able to put them away when you get to those chances.”

With the win over the Rockies and the Rangers (78-78) losing to the Blue Jays, the Mariners (73-83) staved off elimination from the American League West race for another day. Their tragic number sits at two. A win by the Rangers or a loss by the Mariners reduces the number by one. Both teams have Monday off from games and will open the final stretch of six games on Tuesday.

“I told him when we took him out of the ballgame that we had talked a lot about making adjustments from his last time, and when you see something like that and the adjustments that he made today, it was phenomenal,” manager Dan Wilson said.

Anderson’s outing was almost wasted by a late-inning bullpen implosion. Brought in to close out a 2-0 game, Andres Muñoz gave up a one-out solo homer to Hunter Goodman. Muñoz then walked TJ Rumfield on five pitches with all four balls being nowhere close to the strike zone. On the final pitch of the plate appearance, Muñoz winced as he finished the pitch, grabbing at his right knee. After a meeting with Wilson and athletic trainer Kevin Orloski, Muñoz exited the game. He will undergo imaging on Monday in Seattle.

Eduard Bazardo was called on to get the final two outs. He struck out Cole Carrigg for the second out, but then walked Adael Amador to put the winning run on base. But Bazardo was able to notch his first career save, striking out Brett Sullivan on three pitches to end the game.

After dominating hitters at the Double-A level for much of the season, Anderson has produced mixed results since being called up, which wasn’t unexpected. But the Mariners hadn’t seen the cold precision and efficiency that he displayed in the minor leagues until Sunday’s outing.

The Rockies had runners reach base in only two of his seven innings of work. 

“I give Cal Raleigh a lot of credit, too, playing today after the night game last night, and putting together the game plan that they had,” Wilson said. “I thought they did a really good job of using the fastball at the top and Kade buried his off-speed stuff down very, very well. They took advantage of that team being aggressive and they got a lot of quick outs, which allowed him to get deep. The whole game plan from beginning to end and the way Kade executed it was phenomenal.”

Colorado threatened in the second. Carrigg singled on a ground ball up the middle with one out and Amador followed with a single to left. With runners on first and second, Anderson got Sullivan to hit a ground ball to first baseman Josh Naylor, who hesitated briefly on his throw to second, which didn’t allow Seattle to turn a double play. 

Would that missed play come back to haunt Anderson and Seattle? 

Brock Rodden didn’t allow it to happen. 

Getting the start at third base, the rookie utility player made a diving stop on Jordan Beck’s hard ground ball down the line, scrambled to his feet and fired to first for the third out of the inning. 

That out started a string of 11 consecutive batters retired for Anderson. 

With one out in the sixth, Anderson gave up a triple to Jake McCarthy on a line drive into the right-field corner. 

But Anderson came back to strike out Connor Norby looking on a perfect changeup at the bottom of the strike zone. Home-plate umpire Edwin Jimenez initially called the pitch a ball. But Raleigh challenged it and the ABS system overturned it to a strike.

Anderson didn’t leave it up to the ump. Facing Goodman, the Rockies best power hitter, Anderson threw a nasty backfoot slider for a swinging strike three to end the inning and the threat. 

“It all comes back to execution,” Anderson said. “I said that last time, and I just did a better job of executing today, and put myself in situations to where I can lean on throwing balls out of the zone where they hopefully swing at them.”

After giving up five hits with two strikes in his previous outing, Anderson changed his thinking.

“I was just throwing too many strikes in two-strike counts,” Anderson said. “Just focusing on execution, like throwing the curveballs, getting it down. That’s been like a big thing for me. I felt like I was just leaving so much over the plate. The fastballs up today were good as well.”

At 72 pitches after six innings, Anderson came charging out of the dugout to start the seventh. He retired the side in order on a ground out and a pair of pop-outs. 

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Dominic Canzone drove in both of the Mariners’ runs. 

In the fourth inning, he smacked a single to right-center with Randy Arozarena attempting to steal second on the play. Arozarena kept on sprinting around second and through the stop sign of third-base coach Carlos Cardoza, sliding into home just before the throw reached home. 

In the sixth, Canzone lashed a line drive just inside the right-field line for a double that scored J.P. Crawford from first base.

“It’s just one of those ballgames where you know sometimes the bats aren’t swinging it, and you’ve got to scratch runs any way you can,” Canzone said. “So them keeping their head down and hustling. I mean, that’s all you can ask for.”

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