8/24/22

Nationals 3, Mariners 1

(Seattle, WA) The Seattle Mariners have been a team that lean on their pitching for years. The offense has been a problem for Seattle for over a decade. This season looked like the offense would be alright and good enough to help the pitching staff snap the long playoff drought. The last four games have been the same offensive issues we have seen for years and these issues are flaring up against bad teams. This was on full display on Wednesday when the Mariners fell to the Washington Nationals 3-1 against a starting pitcher with an ERA over 5.

George Kirby came out of the gates throwing nothing but strikes. Literally. Kirby set a major league record by throwing 24 consecutive strikes to start a ball game. The previous record was held by Joe Musgrove who threw 21 strikes in a row to start a game back in 2018. Kirby would also tie his career high with nine strikeouts on the day.

The bad news was that the Nationals were hitting those strikes. Three straight singles by Joey Maneses, Luke Voit, and Nelson Cruz plated a run in the first inning to give Washington a 1-0 lead. Keibert Ruiz would then hit into a double play to help Kirby escape the first inning with just minimal damage allowed.

Washington would threaten again in the 5th. Singles by Lane Thomas and Ildemaro Vargas were followed by a sacrifice bunt by Victor Robles to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Kirby would tightrope out of danger by getting Cesar Hernandez to groundout to third and Joey Maneses to groundout to second to keep the Mariners at just a 1-0 deficit.

The Mariners wouldn’t record a hit from the 1st inning until the bottom of the 5th. Carlos Santana would double to give the Mariners a crooked number in the hit column. They wouldn’t be able to score however until the bottom of the 8th. With nobody on and two outs, Julio Rodriguez joined the 20/20 club as he launched his 20th home run of the season to even the score at 1-1. J-Rod became the first Mariner since Mike Cameron in 2002 and only the fourth rookie in MLB history to record 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season. He also did it faster than any other player in American League history needing only 107 games to do so while Mike Trout needed 112 games to accomplish the feat.

The good times would come to a screeching halt in the top of the 9th. With a runner on first and two outs, Paul Sewald would give up a two-run shot to Ildemaro Vargas to give Washington a 3-1 lead. It was Vargas’ third home run of the season.

Seattle would threaten in the bottom of the 9th. Eugenio Suarez would double to leadoff the inning and bring the tying run to the plate. Ty France would groundout but move Suarez to third in the process. Carlos Santana would strikeout looking to put the Mariners one out away from a tough loss. Adam Frazier extended the game with a walk to bring up the winning run in the form of Cal Raleigh. Raleigh would drive one to the deepest part of T-Mobile Park but would come just short of what would have been a walk off home run as Victor Robles made the catch to hand the Mariners a 3-1 loss.

Seattle (67-57) now sit in the last Wild Card spot in the American League as they fall a game behind Toronto and a game and a half behind Tampa Bay. However, they didn’t lose any of their lead over the first team on the outside of the playoffs as they remain 2.5 games ahead of Baltimore. The Mariners now start a four-game set with the team that they would play in the playoffs if the postseason started today in the Cleveland Guardians (66-56). Game one starts on Thursday at 1:10p as Marco Gonzales (8-12, 4.08 ERA) looks to gain some momentum back against Triston McKenzie (9-9, 3.11 ERA) who is having a breakout year for the Guardians.

Matt’s Takeaway

I am staying positive due to the fact that the Mariners aren’t losing any of their lead for the Wild Card. I am very worried about the offense. As a team the Mariners are 24th in batting average and 22nd in runs scored. For a team that is 7th in team ERA and tops in defense, the offense needs to be better. Even if they are just average that would do wonders with how good this pitching staff is. Ty France is in a big slump right now as he is 0-16 in the last four games. They need a spark and against a very good rotation in Cleveland, it won’t be easy. Maybe Ichiro coming to town to be inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame will do the trick.

Top Performers

Nationals

• Ildemaro Vargas- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Nelson Cruz- 1-4, RBI
• Anibal Sanchez (ND)- 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

Mariners

• Julio Rodriguez- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• Jesse Winker- 2-3, BB
• George Kirby (ND)- 7 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO

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