SEATTLE (AP) — Logan Gilbert took a perfect game into the sixth inning to cap the best season of his career and Cal Raleigh hit a record-setting two-run homer as the Seattle Mariners beat the Athletics 6-4 on Sunday in their final game representing Oakland.
The final time for the A's with “Oakland” across the front of their gray road uniforms was nearly a historic day for Gilbert. He was overpowering from the outset and retired the first 17 batters of the game before Nick Allen's soft single into left field with two outs in the sixth inning.
That was it for Gilbert, who struck out seven and finished the season with 208 2/3 innings pitched, becoming the first Seattle pitcher to lead baseball in innings for a season. Gilbert (9-12) finished with 220 strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 3.23. And while Detroit's Tarik Skubal seems to be the consensus choice for the AL Cy Young Award, Gilbert should finish high in the voting.
“I know I get a lot of time off so I was just going to leave it all out there. I felt like I at least owed that to the fans and I know I'm going to be wishing on a random day in December or January I was at T-Mobile (Park) pitching against whoever," Gilbert said.
Raleigh's two-run homer to cap Seattle’s four-run fifth inning came on the final pitch from A’s starter Mitch Spence (8-10). It was Raleigh's 34th of the season and 93rd in his career, passing Mike Piazza for the most home runs by a catcher in their first four seasons.
The homer also gave Raleigh 100 RBIs, the first catcher in franchise history to reach that mark.
“That was a really cool moment. The past couple of days my phone's been blowing up, ‘Got to get to 100, got to get to 100.’ I'd obviously trade it in a heartbeat for a spot in the playoffs but that'll be a cool little feat to look back on one day," Raleigh said.
Justin Turner added a two-run single and Victor Robles and Julio Rodríguez both capped hot Septembers with RBI hits.
Seattle finished 85-77 after sweeping the A's, but for the first time in several years, the final series was meaningless for the Mariners after being eliminated from playoff contention on Thursday.
The final day for Oakland (69-93) was filled with appreciation and honor for the A's, along with feelings of sadness the team no longer would represent the East Bay city next season. The A's will relocate to Sacramento for the next few years before a planned move to Las Vegas.
Fans of the green and gold turned out for the finale, starting “Let's go Oakland” chants throughout the game, many of them wearing shirts or carrying signs imploring the A's current ownership to sell the team.
“The emotion of Thursday will never be matched, but today knowing the last game with the Oakland jersey, and the ‘Let’s go Oakland' chants in the ninth inning as loud as they were in a visiting stadium was pretty impressive,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said.
Tyler Nevin had a two-run double in the seventh inning to make sure Oakland's final game didn't end in a shutout and Darell Hernaiz had a two-run double in the ninth.
Baseball Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson threw out the ceremonial first pitch on the final day, wearing a half-A’s, half-Mariners jersey. While Henderson played the majority of his career in Oakland, he spent part of one season with Seattle in 2000.
Seattle finished the season with an unofficial total attendance of 2,554,868 after drawing 42,177 for the finale. That’s down slightly from last season when Seattle drew 2,690,418.
The A’s and Mariners will see each other again in Seattle to open next season on March 27, 2025.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb