9/3/23

Mets 6, Mariners 3

(New York, NY) Riding a five series win streak into Sunday’s finale with the New York Mets, the Seattle Mariners were trying to not only keep that series streak alive, but also capitalize on a rough weekend for both the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. With their All-Star George Kirby on the mound, everything was set up for the M’s to come through to keep the momentum rolling. However, the pesky bats of the Mets and one big Polar Bear would thwart the plans of the Mariners as the series win streak came to an end with a 6-3 loss to the Mets.

For the first three innings of this game, it would be the Mets taking the lead and slowly building it up. In the bottom of the 1st, a mistake by the Mariners helped the Mets strike first. With the bases empty and one out, Francisco Lindor hit a grounder to Josh Rojas at second base. The ball would go right off the glove of Rojas for an error and put a runner on for the middle of the Mets order. Kirby would get a big out when Jeff McNeil popped up to J.P. Crawford for the second out, keeping Lindor at first. Lindor would then attempt to steal second but Pete Alonso helped him out. A line drive into right center kept Lindor going through third and heading home. The relay throw short hopped Mike Ford and kicked away, allowing Lindor to score and Alonso to reach second. Sloppy defense in the 1st from the Mariners gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Seattle had something going in the top of the 2nd as they tried to answer New York. A leadoff walk for Cal Raleigh and a one-out single by Dominic Canzone had runners on first and second with one away. Mike Ford then hit a flyball to deep right center that looked like it would score at least one run for Seattle. Right fielder DJ Stewart had other plans as he made a tremendous running catch to take the hit away from Ford and record the second out. Tylor Megill would then strikeout Cade Marlowe to officially end the Mariner threat and keep them off the scoreboard.

New York did some more two out damage in the bottom of the 2nd. A one out single for rookie Ronny Mauricio put some speed on the basepaths. With two outs, Mauricio swiped second for his second stolen base of the year to put a runner in scoring position. Francisco Alvarez chased one up and in and fought it off into left field for a base hit. Mauricio scored easily from second to make it 2-0 as George Kirby’s pitch count continued to climb. A bobbling catch by Rojas would end the inning however before the Mets could do more damage.

That took things to the bottom of the 3rd where the Polar Bear continued his big day. A leadoff single by Jeff McNeil brought Alonso to the plate and while the Mariners had done a good job of keeping him in check to this point, it was only a matter of time before Alonso started doing serious damage. Alonso smoked a 1-2 curveball that hung way too much and sent it out to left field for a two-run shot. The 40th home run of the season for Alonso felt like it might be the knockout blow for New York as their lead was up to 4-0.

With two outs and the bases empty in the top of the 4th, it felt as if the Mariners were just going to phone the rest of this one in and move on to Cincinnati. Eugenio Suarez would then get hit by a pitch and that seemed to give the M’s a bit of life. Dominic Canzone came to the plate and fell behind 0-2. Megill would try to burn a fastball by Canzone at the letters and on the inner third, but Canzone was ready for it. The rookie got the barrel to it and sent it out to right center for his fifth home run of the season and his second in as many days. That wouldn’t be it for the Mariners as Mike Ford went back-to-back with Canzone for his 14th of the season. Two swings all of a sudden got Seattle back in it just trailing 4-3.

Momentum was building for the Mariners as they got the leadoff man on in the top of the 5th via a J.P. Crawford walk. It isn’t too often that a 112-mph hit ball is worse for the team up to bat than it is for the defense. That would happen when Julio Rodriguez smoked a one hopper that was somehow gloved by Francisco Lindor at short. Lindor showed why he is one of the best defenders in the league as he turned the rocket into a 6-4-3 double play. That dealt a big blow to the Mariner comeback as a great threat from the top of the order ended before scoring the tying run.

The long ball helped the M’s get back into the game, but it would help the Mets pull away. A couple of solo home runs in the bottom of the 5th and 7th innings helped the Mets double up the Mariners and give them some breathing room. First, it was Jeff McNeil hitting his 7th home run of the season against Dominic Leone who made his Mariner return on Sunday. Then, Pete Alonso got the Mariners again with a solo blast off of Trent Thornton for his second of the game and 41st of the season. The pair of solo shots made it 6-3 Mets going into the 9th.

Against Adam Ottavino, the Mariners tried to put some pressure on New York in the final frame. A one-out walk for Mike Ford brought Dylan Moore to the plate and he would put together a nine pitch at bat. Unfortunately, pitch number nine was a called third strike for the second out. Sam Haggerty extended the game by hitting a grounder that clipped the side of the third base bag to bring the tying run to the plate in J.P. Crawford. The Mariner shortstop could not replicate his home run off Ottavino the night before as J.P. went down swinging for the final out, giving the Mets the 6-3 win.

Luckily for the Mariners (77-59), the Houston Astros lost to the Yankees on Sunday but the Texas Rangers walked off the Minnesota Twins to tighten up the AL West. Seattle still sits atop the division one game ahead of both the Astros and Yankees with about one month left in the season. The schedule continues to get tougher for the M’s as they now head to Cincinnati for a three-game series with the Reds (71-68) who are currently in a four-way tie for the final National League Wild Card spot. Game one will be on Labor Day Monday at 1:10pm. Bryan Woo will start game one for the Mariners and has looked very good since returning from the IL. Since that short stint, Woo has pitched 10 innings and allowed just one run on six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. For Cincinnati, it will be a bullpen day as the Reds have not announced who will be their bulk reliever, but the game will be started by Tejay Antone (0-0, 0.00 ERA) who was just reinstated from the 60-day IL last week. Antone has just pitched one scoreless inning since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Dominic Canzone- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Mike Ford- 1-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
• George Kirby (L, 10-9)- 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

Mets

• Pete Alonso- 3-4, 2 HRs, 4 RBI, 2 R
• Jeff McNeil- 2-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
• Tylor Megill (W, 8-7)- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

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