8/29/23
Athletics 3, Mariners 1
(Seattle, WA) Injuries are a part of not just baseball, but all sports. Some things are just out of a player’s control. For the Seattle Mariners, Tuesday night was just a mess of constant small inconveniences that they couldn’t avoid. While no serious issues occurred, it was just a snowball effect of issues that led to some problems on the field for the Mariners as well. For the Oakland Athletics, it was an opportunity to finally defeat the Mariners and they would due just that as Seattle dropped game two 3-1.
First, George Kirby was scratched from his scheduled start due to an illness that kept him up all night on Monday. Enter Luke Weaver who would make his first start for the Mariners as he faced the A’s. Next, just minutes before first pitch, Julio Rodriguez was scratched from the lineup due to foot soreness. While neither Kirby or Rodriguez are dealing with serious issues, losing both of them in the lead up to first pitch led to some scrambling by the Mariner coaching staff. But there was still a game to be played and a division lead to protect.
Weaver did not have a great start for the Mariners. For the first time in the series, the M’s found themselves trailing Oakland before they even got an at bat. Seth Brown did the damage with a two-out solo home run to give Oakland the 1-0 lead. It was Brown’s 12th long ball of the year, but that would be it for the A’s in the 1st as Weaver left a two-out double by Brent Rooker stranded.
In the top of the 2nd, Oakland continued to build their lead. A leadoff single by Jordan Diaz put a runner on. After getting Lawrence Butler to fly out for the first out, Weaver gave up one of the longest home runs hit by an Athletic this season. Shea Langeliers crushed a 439-foot blast that had an exit velocity of 111-mph. The 16th home run of the season for Langeliers extended the Oakland lead to 3-0.
Seattle wouldn’t get their first hit of the game until the bottom of the 4th. A single by Teoscar Hernandez began the inning and a walk for Cal Raleigh turned it into a threat for the Mariners. The next two Mariners were retired as Mike Ford flew out and Dominic Canzone struck out. Dylan Moore than drew a walk to load the bases for Cade Marlowe. The rookie already had one grand slam in his rookie season, but would have to settle for less this time around. A walk would still result in an RBI for Marlowe, making it 3-1 with Jose Caballero at the plate. A weak pop up to shortstop Nick Allen would extinguish the Mariner threat as they left the bases loaded.
The Mariners continued to struggle getting runners on and still trailed 3-1 when Oakland closer and Kelso graduate Trevor May entered to pitch the bottom of the 9th. After striking out Dylan Moore and Cade Marlowe for a quick two outs, May started to get himself into trouble. A pinch hit single for Josh Rojas extended the game and brought the tying run to the plate in J.P. Crawford. The Mariner leadoff man would reach with his 28th double of the season to put runners on second and third with the winning run coming to the plate in Eugenio Suarez. The only Mariner with a walkoff home run this season took some healthy hacks, but came up empty on a high heater for the final strike as the Mariners fell to the Oakland Athletics for the first time this season, 3-1.
Unfortunately for the Mariners (75-57), the other teams in the AL West race did not have the same issues. Both Texas and Houston won on Tuesday, creating a three-way tie for the lead in the AL West. It is unknown if Julio Rodriguez or Ty France will return to the lineup for the finale of the three-game series with Oakland (39-94) and now it is unknown who will start for Seattle as well. Bryce Miller (8-4, 3.90 ERA) is currently listed as the starter as of the writing of this story. However, Scott Servais did not rule out the possibility of George Kirby (10-8, 3.28 ERA) making his start that was scrapped on Tuesday if he is feeling well enough on Wednesday morning. This would help manage Miller’s innings and likely push everyone back a game. We do know that Zach Neal (1-0, 6.88 ERA) will make the start for the Oakland A’s. Neal is coming off just his second start of the season, where he earned his first win of 2023 as the offense helped him out by making up for their defensive woes in a win over the Chicago White Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm.
Notable Performances
Athletics
- Shea Langeliers- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Seth Brown- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
- Ken Waldichuk (ND)- 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 SO
Mariners
- Teoscar Hernandez- 1-3, R
- J.P. Crawford- 1-3, 2B, 2 BB
- Luke Weaver (L, 2-5)- 3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
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