6/27/23
Nationals 7, Mariners 4 (11)
(Seattle, WA) All the highs of the win on Monday night came crashing down on Tuesday in Seattle. Coming off a great environment and win the night before, Seattle got off to a fast start and it looked like the Mariners might have figured things out. Reality would strike when issues the team has faced all season popped up late one again as the M’s wasted opportunity after opportunity to score and it would end up costing them in a 7-4 loss in extra innings.
An early mistake would cost Bryan Woo and the Mariners. A two out single by Jeimer Candelario seemed to be an innocent 1st inning base hit. Trying to keep Candelario close to the bag at first, Woo attempted to pickoff Candelario and he looked to have him. The throw however, was way off target and ended up rolling in foul territory down the right field line. Candelario scored all the way from first on the error and the Nationals had the early 1-0 lead.
Seattle would have an immediate response in the bottom of the 1st. It started the same way as the Nats half of the inning. A two out single by Ty France seemed harmless enough. Teoscar Hernandez hit was not harmless at all. Teo drove a sinker the other way and it had enough carry to get out of the park for the 15th home run of the season for Hernandez. The two-run shot also had given Seattle the lead 2-1.
Bryan Woo got out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 2nd and settled down after that. In the bottom of the 4th, Seattle would add on. Singles by Ty France and Cal Raleigh put runners on the corners with just one out. Eugenio Suarez would do exactly what he did in the opener and that is he got the ball in the air. A fly ball to fairly deep left field was caught by Corey Dickerson, but France trotted home to score easily to extend the lead to 3-1.
Things got a little chippy between the two teams in the top of the 5th. With Lane Thomas on first with two outs, Candelario drove a ball to deep left center field. Jarred Kelenic made a diving effort but couldn’t come up with the highlight reel catch. Thomas scored easily on Candelario’s 25th double of the season to cut the lead to 3-2. Candelario then began to give signals to Joey Maneses at the plate telling him where Cal Raleigh was setting up for the pitch. It almost worked out for the Nats, but Maneses had to settle for a deep flyout to left to end the inning. Cal Raleigh then confronted Candelario which led to benches slowly emptying out. The umpires would keep everyone calm and no ejections were needed as the game rolled on.
Trouble struck the Mariners in the top of the 7th. After Gabe Speier hit CJ Abrams to begin the inning, Matt Brash came in and walked Derek Hill and Lane Thomas to load the bases with nobody out. Luis Garcia would hit a deep fly ball to Julio Rodriguez in center that would be caught, but would also score Abrams to tie the game at 3-3. Brash would escape the rest of the inning however without giving up the go-ahead run.
A walk by Jarred Kelenic and a single by Mike Ford had the Mariners threatening immediately in the bottom of the 7th. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Kolten Wong smashed a hard grounder right to shortstop Ildemaro Vargas. Vargas flipped to second for the first out, and that is when Kelenic would break for home. Luis Garcia fired the ball home and Jarred Kelenic was tagged out for the double play…or so we thought. The Mariners would challenge and the call would be changed as Kelenic beat the tag to score and give the M’s a 4-3 lead.
Paul Sewald would make a rare 8th inning appearance as he tried to set the table for the 9th. Sewald didn’t really make a mistake but the lead would be gone by the start of the 9th. A sweeper below the zone to Keibert Ruiz was driven out of the park for a solo shot and the ninth home run of the season for Ruiz. The one big swing shifted the game again as it was tied 4-4.
We went to extra innings after the M’s left a couple of runners on in the bottom of the 9th. Justin Topa pitched a scoreless and stressless top of the 10th giving the Mariners a golden opportunity to walk it off in the home half. With Wong starting on second, J.P. Crawford was intentionally walked and Julio walked the old fashioned way to load the bases with nobody out and the meat of the Mariner order coming up. Then came the frustration. Ty France popped out to the catcher in foul territory for the first out. Teoscar Hernandez then struck out swinging for a big out number two. The opportunity was officially wasted as Cal Raleigh hit a weak 2-0 grounder right back to the pitcher to end the inning and deal a major blow to the energy in T-Mobile Park.
Trevor Gott was in a good spot in the top of the 11th in his return to the team. With runners on first and second with two outs, Lane Thomas hurt the M’s once again. Thomas drove a grounder down the right field line that just stayed inside of the bag for a fair ball. Both runners came into score on Thomas’ 21st double of the season to make it 6-4 Nationals. Thomas would then come into score on a Luis Garcia RBI single. Seattle would go down quietly in the bottom of the 11th including two strikeouts looking to deal a massive body blow to the 2023 Mariners season as Seattle dropped a tough one 7-4.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Mariners (38-40) and the Nationals (31-48) as the two teams meet in the rubber game of the series on Wednesday at 1:10pm. Logan Gilbert (5-4, 4.07 ERA) will look to nab back-to-back strong starts after he dominated in Baltimore on Friday. Patrick Corbin (4-9, 5.32 ERA) will go for the Nats as he tries to clean his name after being one of the worst pitchers in baseball over the last couple of years.
Notable Performances
Nationals
- Lane Thomas- 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Luis Garcia- 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, SB
- Jake Irvin (ND)- 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
Mariners
- Teoscar Hernandez- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
- Ty France- 2-5, 2 R
- Bryan Woo (ND)- 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
Roster Moves
- RHP Trevor Gott activated from the 15-day IL
- RHP Chris Flexen designated for assignment
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