CHICAGO — The new additions acclimated just fine during their first day with the Mariners. Left fielder Randy Arozarena and reliever Yimi Garcia will help this team down the stretch, no doubt.
There was simmering doubt, however, about whether second baseman Jorge Polanco would ever rediscover the swing that made him one of the Mariners’ most coveted players in the offseason.
Polanco has shown signs of a rebirth in recent weeks, and he had his best game with the Mariners on Saturday night, homering twice in a 6-3 victory over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Even if it comes against a White Sox (27-80) team that has lost 13 in a row, the Mariners (55-51) desperately needed this series win and desperately needed an offensive resurgence after playing uninspired baseball for most of July.
“Right now, we’re feeling really good and we have good chemistry,” Polanco said. “We know we can do better, and we’re gonna do better.”
Polanco hit a sharp single to drive in Arozarena from second base for the Mariners’ final run, and the switch-hitting veteran finished 3 for 5 with three RBIs, his first three-hit game of the season.
Arozarena, who reported to the Mariners after flying in from Tampa Bay on Saturday morning, went 1 for 4 with a walk and two strikeouts in his Mariners debut.
Garcia, acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays on Friday, had his initial flight from Toronto canceled, and he didn’t arrive at the ballpark until 90 minutes before first pitch Saturday. He was in the game, anyway, in the seventh inning, needing just nine pitches to retire the White Sox in order, with two strikeouts.
“It’s an exciting time,” catcher Cal Raleigh said. “Any time you do things like that [in trades], it boosts the more, boosts the confidence and gives us a little outlook on what’s to come. Everybody’s excited.”
Raleigh hit his team-leading 21st homer leading off the fifth inning — a mammoth 429-foot blast — and Polanco followed with his second of the day, a rocket a 110.7 mph off the bat for his hardest hit of the season.
The Mariners had gone the whole season without hitting back-to-back homers. Now they’ve done it on consecutive nights, after Josh Rojas, Dylan Moore and Victor Robles hit three in a row in a 10-0 victory over the White Sox on Friday.
Polanco tied the score at 1-1 with a leadoff homer in the fourth inning of White Sox starter Erick Fedde, a 426-foot shot to straightaway center field.
It’s Polanco’s first multi-homer game since July 6, 2022 when he was with the Twins, also against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Polanco also homered on Friday night, and he has 10 hits in his last 35 at-bats, with four homers and two doubles.
“I’m feeling really good at the plate,” Polanco said. “I think the last couple games shows that I feel good. I’ve been working on things — and it’s working.”
He said made a recent adjustment in his approach at the plate. It’s less about his mechanical setup and more about his mindset and what pitches he’s hunting when he steps into the box.
Servais said Polanco, specifically, has been on time to hit the fastball, and that’s been the most important adjustment.
“This is baseball, you know. Sometimes you do good. Sometimes you do bad,” Polanco said. “You’ve gotta keep working and never give up. Just keep working and it’s paying off right now.”
Mitch Haniger and Robles drew walks off Fedde in the third, and Moore delivered a two-out single to right field to drive in Haniger from second to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead.
Robles followed with another two-out, RBI single to drive in Rojas to make it 3-1.
Robles, continuing to fill in for the injured Julio Rodriguez in center field, also had three hits Saturday.
“Robles has been our spark plug there at the top,” Raleigh said. “We need him to keep doing what he’s doing.”
Bryan Woo, in just his third start over the past month, allowed only one unearned run in four innings was pulled after 70 pitches after feeling some discomfort in his right hamstring — the same hamstring that landed him on the injured list last month.
Servais was not overly concerned about Woo and expects him to make his next start.
“I just felt it a little bit. The training staff and the coaches were wanting to be cautious about it and smart about it,” Woo said. “Hamstrings can be tricky. I don’t have whole a lot of experience with them, so I just trust the training staff and what they’re telling me. Yeah, it’s been frustrating, but just doing what I can, listening to them, and I know that they’ve got my best interest.”
Mariners reliever Gregory Santos, pitching for the first time since an injury scare Wednesday in Seattle, couldn’t get out of the eighth inning against his old club.
He plunked Eloy Jimenez with a first-pitch fastball, loading the bases with two outs and prompting Scott Servais to call on Andres Muñoz.
Muñoz, on a 1-2 count, threw a wild slider to Luis Robert Jr. that got past Raleigh, allowing a run to score.
But Muñoz struck out Robert on the next pitch, ending the threat.
Muñoz then closed the door in the ninth for his seventh save of four outs or more.
Ken Griffey Jr. made a cameo at the park late in the game — joining the team in the dugout late in the game, and then taking part in a small celebration in the clubhouse.
The Mariners remain one game back of Houston (55-49) in the AL West after the Astros rallied for a walkoff victory over the Dodgers.
#Jorge #Polanco #homers #Mariners #beat #White #Sox #Randy #Arozarenas #debut
