8/27/22

Guardians 4, Mariners 3

(Seattle, WA) T-Mobile Park was a packed house on Saturday night as Seattle welcomed the Cleveland Guardians for game three of their four-game series. Many Mariner legends were also in attendance as Ichiro became the tenth member of the Seattle Mariners Hall of Famer in a great pregame ceremony. While the current Mariners flexed their muscles with three home runs, those were the only hits they could muster as they fell to Cleveland 4-3.

All the vibes were good during the pregame ceremony. Ichiro became the 10th member of the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame with many former teammates there to celebrate the first Japanese position player in the history of Major League Baseball. Many other members of the Mariners Hall of Fame were in attendance. Alvin Davis, Jamie Moyer, Marilyn Niehaus (representing legendary broadcaster Dave Niehaus), Dan Wilson, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. were all there while Randy Johnson and Lou Pinella also sent in a video message congratulating Ichiro. There was also a very special message from Ichiro’s dogs as well as many players around the league both past and present such as Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Daisuke Matsusaka and Shohei Ohtani. One of the coolest moments was in Japanese tradition someone is given a bouquet of flowers as a congratulations for their success. The Mariners would have Julio Rodriguez give Ichiro his bouquet as the past and future of the franchise embraced.

Luis Castillo then took the mound and it was game time. Castillo struggled with his pitch count due to Cleveland hitters fouling off numerous pitches but the game was scoreless in the bottom of the 2nd. That was when Eugenio Suarez unloaded on a 2-2 slider off of Zach Plesac for his 24th home run of the season to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 3rd, the Mariners would add-on in the same way. Julio Rodriguez would get his first hit since signing his new extension and hit a high fly ball to left field. Guardian left fielder Steven Kwan tried to bring it back but it carried too far out of his reach for a solo home run. J-Rod’s 21st home run of the season made it 2-0 Seattle.

The Guardians would finally breakthrough against Castillo in the top of the 4th. MVP candidate Jose Ramirez would smoke a solo shot to right for his 26th home run of the season. The Seattle lead was cut to 2-1.

It was an ace performance by Luis Castillo despite the high pitch count. A single in the 6th was easily pitched around as Castillo threw a season high 115 pitches through six strong innings. Castillo allowed just four hits and one run while walking just one batter and striking out ten.

Ty France was ejected between the 5th and 6th after being punched out looking at the plate. Seattle native Jake Lamb would replace France at first base and it would turn out to be a memorable night for Lamb. Not only did he make a phenomenal defensive play at first on a diving stop, but in the bottom of the 7th he would hit his first home run as a Mariner and his third of the season to extend the lead. With the bullpen taking over, the Mariners had a 3-1 lead.

Los Bamberos would not have a memorable night. The newly named Mariner bullpen got off to a good start with a scoreless 7th thrown by Diego Castillo. The 8th was a different story. Back-to-back baserunners to lead off the inning with a walk to Steven Kwan and a single by Amed Rosario had runners on first and second against Andres Munoz with nobody out. Jose Ramirez then flipped a line drive down the left field line for extra bases. Kwan would score on the RBI double and it was 3-2. Josh Naylor would hit a ground ball to first to score Rosario and move Ramirez to third. A sacrifice fly by Andres Gimenez would score Ramirez and in the blink of an eye Cleveland had a 4-3 lead.

The Mariners couldn’t get anything going in the 8th or 9th and would go quietly into the night as Cleveland finished off the comeback and defeated the Mariners 4-3. The Mariners three home runs were not only their only hits of the ball game, but their only baserunners of the game as well.

Seattle (69-58) couldn’t take advantage of both Toronto and Tampa Bay losses as they stay tied with Toronto for the second Wild Card and half a game behind Tampa Bay for the top spot. Baltimore would capitalize as they knocked off Houston to move just a game and a half behind Seattle and Toronto. The Mariners will try to take the series in the finale of the four-game set on Sunday at 1:10p. It will be Ray Day for Seattle as Robbie Ray (10-8, 3.75 ERA) faces off against Cleveland (67-58) as the Guardians counter with Aaron Civale (2-5, 5.37 ERA) in the finale.

Matt’s Takeaway

There is clear frustration with the offense right now. Ty France is normally cool, calm, and collected and with his personal struggles at the plate and defensively he finally snapped. This is back-to-back games where the Mariners have had a player ejected. Jesse Winker and Scott Servais got dumped on Friday but it lit a spark. Don’t let the numbers fool you. The Guardians have a very good rotation and the Mariners bullpen finally had a hiccup. A nice win on Sunday will have the good vibes back for Seattle but they need to figure things out offensively. Three baserunners in a game will not cut it.

Top Performers

Guardians

• Jose Ramirez- 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Steven Kwan- 2-3, R, BB
• Zach Plesac (W, 3-11)- 7 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

Mariners

• Jake Lamb- 1-1, HR, RBI, R, Fantastic defensive play
• Julio Rodriguez- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• Luis Castillo (ND)- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO

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