The Arizona Diamondbacks traded three players, including former Auburn standout Ryan Bliss, to acquire Seattle Mariners pitcher Paul Sewald on Monday.

With the Major League Baseball trade deadline on the horizon at 5 p.m. CDT Tuesday, the Diamondbacks made a move to strengthen their bullpen while a game behind in the National League wild-card race entering Monday’s games.

Sewald has a 3-1 record with a 2.93 earned-run average with 21 saves in 45 games in 2023. In 43 innings, the right-hander has struck out 60.

Arizona has struggled to settle on a closer this season. Scott McGough and Andrew Chafin have eight saves apiece, and Miguel Castro has seven for the Diamondbacks. All three have ERAs above 4.00, and they have combined for 11 blown saves.

Seattle made the deal while trailing in the American League wild-card race by 4.5 games and in the AL West by 5.5 games.

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In addition to Bliss, the Mariners received third baseman Josh Rojas and outfielder Dominic Canzone.

In 59 games for the Diamondbacks this season, Rojas has hit .228 with six stolen bases. In the previous two seasons as a regular for Arizona, Rojas had 20 home runs, 32 stolen bases and a .267 batting average.

Canzone has played in 15 games for Arizona. In 71 games with the Reno Aces, the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, Canzone had 16 home runs, 71 RBIs and a .354 batting average this season.

A second-round draft pick from Auburn in 2021, Bliss had 67 runs, 12 home runs, 30 stolen bases and a .358 batting average for the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles in 2022 before being promoted to Reno, where the second baseman played 13 games before the trade.

Bliss played in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on July 8 in Seattle.

In three seasons as Auburn’s shortstop, Bliss had a .328 batting average, .397 on-base average and .581 slugging percentage in 134 games. He hit 20 home runs and stole 22 bases while playing for the Tigers. In 2019, Bliss played in every game as a freshman as Auburn went to the College World Series for the first time since 1997.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.