8/13/22

The Seattle Mariners got a chance to play in a nationally televised gamed on Saturday night in game two of their three-game set with the Texas Rangers. Game two wouldn’t go as well for the Mariners as they fell victim to the old adage, “It’s not how you start, but how you finish.”

The Mariners got out of the gate quick. In the top of the 1st, they put pressure on Rangers starter Dane Dunning when Julio Rodriguez led off the game with an infield single. A single by Ty France would have runners on first and second and they would both move up after a Mitch Haniger groundout. The bases were then loaded after a Jesse Winker walk with Eugenio Suarez stepping up to the plate. He wouldn’t need to swing the bat as a wild pitch allowed Rodriguez to score from first and give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. Suarez would then hit a sacrifice fly to score France and it was 2-0 before Marco Gonzales threw a pitch.

The offense wasn’t done early and they would add on in the 2nd. A leadoff double by Cal Raleigh and a groundout by J.P. Crawford had a runner on third with one out. Second half sensation Sam Haggerty would also hit a fly ball deep enough to score Raleigh to make it 3-0 Seattle.

Gonzales was dominant his first time through the Rangers order. He retired nine of the first ten batters that he faced and made it look quite easy. In the bottom of the 4th, things changed. The Rangers got aggressive at the plate and a first pitch double by Adolis Garcia started a rally. The next batter, Jonah Heim, also swung at the first pitch and he would double to left to put the Rangers on the board and make it 3-1. A first pitch bloop single by Nathaniel Lowe kept the momentum on the side of the Rangers.

With runners on the corners, Charlie Culberson would hit a slow roller to Suarez at third but an errant throw would score another run and move Lowe to third with just one out and the score now 3-2. Ezequiel Duran would line a base hit to center to tie the game at 3-3. Texas still wasn’t done. Bubba Thompson would lay down a safety squeeze to score the fourth run of the inning and give the Rangers a 4-3 lead.

In the 5th, it would be one of the Rangers massive offseason acquisitions continuing the Rangers onslaught. Corey Seager would crush a no-doubter to right field for his 26th home run of the season to extend the Ranger lead to 5-3.

The Mariners would cut that deficit back down to one in the 6th. Eugenio Suarez would welcome new pitcher Brock Burke to the ball game with a solo shot to left. The home run was the 19th on the year for Suarez and made it 5-4.

The Mariners couldn’t get any more offense going while the Rangers looked to play add on. In the bottom of the 6th with Duran on second and Thompson on first, Josh H. Smith would pinch hit and loop one into right that would get down for a base hit. Duran would score from second to make it 6-4 Texas.

Adolis Garcia would hit an RBI groundout in the 8th to make it 7-4 which would turn out to be the final of the Rangers victory. The Mariners only managed to get one baserunner in the final three innings of the ballgame after scoring three runs in the first two innings.

The Mariners (62-53) dropped back into the second Wild Card spot in the American League with the loss and a Toronto win. Seattle and Texas will finish up the three-game set with a rubber game on Sunday at 11:35a as Logan Gilbert looks to bounce back against Martin Perez.

Matt’s Takeaway

It feels like this was an outlier for the Mariners this season. Normally, the team jumps on the opposing bullpen, but they were stifled by the Rangers relievers. Also, the Mariners bullpen allowed the Rangers to add on late and the Mariners defense looked rough. You can’t win them all so I am not worried about the performances in this one. The only worry I have is that the Mariners will now face a great pitcher in Perez who will be looking to bounce back himself after a tough outing. Seattle needs Logan Gilbert to be on his A game in the finale.

Top Performers

Mariners

• Eugenio Suarez- 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• J.P. Crawford- 2-4
• Marco Gonzales (L, 7-12)- 5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2K

Rangers

• Jonah Heim- 3-5, 2 2B, RBI, R
• Ezequiel Duran- 2-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB
• Dane Dunning (ND)- 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO