Former Mariner Draft Pick Shuts Down Seattle, Rays Sweep M's 1-0

The Seattle Mariners past trades came back to bite them in the series with the Rays, but Sunday was the exclamation point.

General Manager Jerry Dipoto has completed 10 trades with Tampa since he assumed control of the M’s in 2015.

Former Mariner reliever Emilio Pagan picked up saves in all three games. Former Seattle backstop Mike Zunino hit a big home run that paved the way for the Rays win on Saturday. But Sunday belonged to a former fourth round draft pick.

Seattle picked Ryan Yarbrough in the 2014 MLB draft, but he never played a game for the big league club. He was traded to Tampa in Jan. 2017 to get Drew Smyly, who also never played for Seattle. Smyly required Tommy John Surgery during his only season in the Mariners organization.

I’ve buried the lead, sorry. Yarbrough was nothing short of spectacular, and yet his manager, Kevin Cash, took the young starter out of the game ONE out shy of his first ever complete game.

The 27-year-old threw a three-hit shutout with eight strikeouts through 8.2 innings. The previously mentioned Pagan came in and finished the game, getting Omar Narvaez to ground out to second base.

Notes:

The Rays hadn’t won in Seattle since 2015, but they came to the Northwest and swept the M’s in three games.
The last time Tampa swept the Mariners was a four-game series in 2012 (April 30-May 3) in Florida.
The last time the Rays completed a sweep in Seattle was the three-game variety in May 2010.

The Mariners, as mentioned, were limited to three hits. Kyle Seager, Tom Murphy and Dee Gordon all picked up one hit each. No Mariner batter safely reached second base. Gordon was caught stealing in the second inning.

The M’s have lost eight of nine, and Seattle now sits at 48-71.

Winning Pitcher, (11-3) Ryan Yarbrough: 8.2 IP, 0 ER, 8 K, 0 BB

Losing Pitcher, (6-6) Wade LeBlanc: 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 K, 0 BB

Save (12), Emilio Pagan: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB

Seattle has the day off Monday before starting a three-game series in Detroit. Pregame coverage starts Tuesday at 3 p.m. on 102.9/750 The Game.

Here are the highlights from the game:

Top 4th … Eric Sogard Home Run, 1-0 Rays