9/16/23

Dodgers 6, Mariners 2 (11)

(Seattle, WA) While the floor for the Seattle Mariners has risen over the last few seasons, it has not been just nice and easy baseball for the Mariners. On Saturday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the M’s got a reminder there is still a ways to go before they get to be an elite team. If the heartbreak of multiple missed opportunities to win the game wasn’t enough, the M’s dropped out of a playoff position while the Dodgers celebrated another NL West title as LA knocked off the Mariners in 11 innings, 6-2.

There were many opportunities to score for both teams in this one. In the bottom of the 1st, J.P. Crawford and Teoscar Hernandez drew walks as Seattle threatened with just one out against Clayton Kershaw. Cal Raleigh would dig in and had a strong at-bat going. A borderline pitch would go Kershaw’s way as Cal was punched out looking for the second out. Eugenio Suarez would be the last chance for the Mariners in the inning but could not come through. Geno grounded out to shortstop to end the inning and the threat.

Seattle missed another opportunity when Julio Rodriguez was thrown out trying to steal third after a one-out double. Los Angeles however wasn’t getting anything going against Bryce Miller. The rookie was locked in and gave up a couple of two out hits, but that was it until the top of the 5th. Leading off the inning, Jason Heyward hit his second double of the game and 20th of the season. With a runner in scoring position, Miller got a big strikeout of fellow rookie James Outman for the first out. Heyward moved up to third on a groundout by Miguel Rojas but with two outs, Miller was still in a good position to get out of the inning but did have to deal with Mookie Betts. The former MVP lined one to center and it looked like it was going to put the Dodgers on the board. Julio Rodriguez had other plans as the reigning AL Rookie of the Year made a diving catch to take a hit and RBI away from Betts and keep the game scoreless.

Neither side could do anything against the opposing bullpens. A two-out double for Jason Heyward and a single for Ty France would be it until it looked like the Mariners would finally break through in the bottom of the 8th. Facing a new reliver in Alex Vesia, Seattle put the pressure on him right away. Back-to-back singles by Josh Rojas and Sam Haggerty put runners on first and second with nobody out. A J.P. Crawford strikeout would end up being a bad omen for the Mariners. Ryan Brasier would come in to face Julio Rodriguez and Teoscar Hernandez and he would strike them both out to quickly snuff out the scoring opportunity. 1-2-3 innings in the 9th for both Andrés Muñoz and Brusdar Graterol would send this one to extra innings still scoreless.

Amed Rosario ran for J.D. Martinez as the zombie runner, starting the 10th inning at second. Justin Topa would have a bumpy inning and it started with a single by former Mariner Chris Taylor. With runners on the corners, Topa would get Heyward to lineout to right for the first out and kept the runners on the corners. A cutter would very slightly graze (allegedly) the elbow of James Outman to load the bases with still just one out. Another former Mariner would come to the plate in a big situation as Kolten Wong stepped to the plate. Topa would get ahead of Wong at 0-2, but the second baseman would get the job done. A deep fly ball to right field would drive in Rosario to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead heading into the home half of the inning.

Jose Caballero would run for Ty France at second as the zombie runner. Facing Evan Phillips, Jarred Kelenic grounded out to first for the first out, but did move the tying run to third. Josh Rojas tried to go the other way, but a grounder went right to third baseman Max Muncy. After a short rundown, the Dodgers tagged Caballero out while Rojas moved up to second with two outs. Down to their final out, the Mariners fate rested on the shoulders of Mike Ford. While the DH/First baseman has cooled down since June and July, he would come up big this time around. A grounder got through into centerfield for a base hit. Rojas would score from second on Ford’s single and the game was back even at 1-1. Seattle would then get a chance to walkoff the game after J.P. Crawford doubled into right field to put runners on second and third. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to intentionally walk Julio Rodriguez and bring Teoscar Hernandez to the plate with the bases loaded. A solid groundball up the middle would not get through as Mookie Betts stepped on second to end the inning and send us to the 11th.

Gabe Speier got off to a strong start in the 11th with Mookie Betts starting on second. A strikeout of Freddie Freeman was a very important first out and allowed the M’s to intentionally walk Will Smith. With runners on first and second, things began to fall apart. A well executed slider down and away fooled Max Muncy, but a two-strike weak swing would get the job done. A soft line drive got down in left center and scored Betts to make it 2-1 Dodgers. Isaiah Campbell then came on to pitch but fared much worse. A walk to Amed Rosario loaded the bases for Chris Taylor and he hurt his former team again. A broken bat line drive sat down in left field to score two more Dodgers and make it 4-1. With the bases loaded and two outs, LA added on. Another weak line drive from Kiké Hernández on a pitch well up and in somehow found grass in right field. Two more Dodgers scored to make it 6-1.

It would take a massive inning to keep the game alive for the Mariners. Joe Kelly came in to pitch and committed an error to allow Cal Raleigh to reach first while Teoscar Hernandez moved up to third with nobody out. Kelly then settled in and struck out Eugenio Suarez and Dominic Canzone. A wild pitch did score Hernandez to make it 6-2, but that would be as close as the Mariners could get. Jarred Kelenic grounded out to end the game as the Dodgers celebrated another NL West title while the Mariners September skid continued.

Seattle (81-67) would not lose ground in the AL West race as both Houston and Texas also lost on Saturday. However, the Mariners did fall out of a playoff spot as Toronto beat Boston again. So while the M’s are just 1 1/2 games behind Houston and one game behind Texas for the second Wild Card, they are now behind Toronto by half of a game. Seattle will hope to make up that game on Sunday at 1:10pm when they try to avoid being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers (90-57). Logan Gilbert (13-5, 3.62 ERA) will have to be the stopper for the Mariners as he will start in the finale. Gilbert has not given up more than four runs in a start since July and has only given up four runs once since then. The Dodgers have not yet announced a starter for the finale.

Notable Performances

Dodgers

• Chris Taylor- 2-3, 2 RBI, R
• Jason Heyward- 4-5, 3 2Bs
• Clayton Kershaw (ND)- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Mariners

• Bryce Miller (ND)- 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
• Mike Ford- 1-1, RBI
• Ty France- 2-4

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