9/18/24

(Seattle, WA) Bouncing back from a blowout loss the night before is never an easy thing to do but that task was one that the Seattle Mariners would have to take on Wednesday night. Not only would they need to flush the disaster from the night before, they would have to do so without leadoff man Victor Robles while taking on the best team in the American League in the New York Yankees. With Robles out with a hand injury, Seattle would bump everyone up in the lineup. Before the M’s even took the field all the teams ahead of them except for the Tigers had already lost. Seattle was presented with a golden opportunity that they had to take advantage of.

Yankees 2, Mariners 1 (10 Innings) (Game 2, September 18th)

Bryce Miller got off to a bumpy start and had to throw 25 pitches in the 1st but did not give up a run. In the top of the 2nd, Miller would not be able to get off the hook. Jasson Domínguez reached with a one-out walk and would move up to third on a stolen base and an error on Cal Raleigh’s throw to second. With a runner on third and one out, Anthony Rizzo cashed in with a line drive to right. Domínguez came into score and New York grabbed an early 1-0 lead.

Seattle couldn’t cash in on a leadoff double by Justin Turner in the bottom of the 2nd and Miller found himself in hot water again in the top of the 3rd. After getting two quick outs, Miller ran the count full to Juan Soto before giving Soto a fastball in off the plate. Soto ripped it down the right field line and reached second for his 30th double of the year. Seattle would intentionally walk Aaron Judge but then unintentionally walked Austin Wells to load the bases with two outs. Bryce went right at Jazz Chisholm Jr. and punched him out swinging to escape the jam. The deficit remained 1-0 as Bryce Miller started to really get going.

Offensively, the Mariners left six men on base through seven innings while Miller finished his day on a tear. Retiring the final ten batters he faced, Miller put his issues with the Yankees behind him, lowering his north of 10 ERA against the Yankees in his third career start against the Bronx Bombers. Miller went six innings and allowed just the one run on two hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. What started off as a very shaky outing turned into a strong performance for the righty as he kept the Mariners in the game against one of baseball’s best.

Two more Mariners were left stranded in the bottom of the 7th as the M’s were down to their final six outs. Clay Holmes surprisingly stayed on to pitch the bottom of the 8th after Andrés Muñoz spun a scoreless top of the 8th against the top of the Yankee order, striking out Aaron Judge to end the inning. With nobody on and one out, Justin Turner came to the plate. Always a consistent bat, Turner knows when he needs to pick it up a bit and he pulled off his biggest swing as a Mariner. A slider hung in the middle of the plate and Turner pulled it deep down the left field line. It would stay fair and leave the yard for JT’s 11th long ball of the year. The solo shot had brought life back to T-Mobile Park and tied the game at 1-1. After a scoreless 9th, the game went to extras with that score.

Collin Snider stayed on for the top of the 10th after throwing a scoreless 9th. With Jasson Domínguez starting at second as the automatic runner, it took no time at all for the Yankees to grab the lead. Rizzo ripped the first pitch from Snider to right for his 11th double of the season while also driving in Domínguez. With still nobody out, Snider settled in and got three pop ups to end the inning, the last one being caught by a sliding Luke Raley in right. Just the one run would be manageable for Seattle as they entered the home half down 2-1.

Julio Rodríguez would be the automatic runner in the bottom of the 10th with Washington State University alum Ian Hamilton taking over on the mound for the Yankees. The inning got off to a strong start with a Cal Raleigh single to left to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Then absolute disaster struck. One night after a terrible baserunning error from Victor Robles cost the M’s, Rodríguez would take that to another level. Randy Arozarena struck out swinging and let go of his bat which flew down the third base line. Julio moved to avoid the bat but kept moving towards the third base dugout instead of getting back to the bag. Austin Wells would throw out Julio at third after falling asleep for a brutal double play. Justin Turner couldn’t salvage anything for the Mariners as he went down swinging to end the game. Boos rained down from the disgruntled fans as the M’s dropped another one to the Yankees thanks to a mental error, 2-1.

Notable Performances

Yankees

Mariners

• Justin Turner- 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, R, BB
• Bryce Miller (ND)- 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 SO

What’s Next

All of a sudden the Mariners are on the brink of elimination as their elimination number is down to 7 with each loss for the Mariners and win for the team ahead of them shrinking that number by one. Houston, Kansas City, and Minnesota all lost on Wednesday but the Mariners couldn’t take advantage. Seattle remains five games back of Houston who will open up a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. In the Wild Card, the M’s are three games back of Minnesota and 4 1/2 behind Kansas City with Detroit also 2 1/2 games ahead of Seattle. Both Kansas City and Detroit are off on Thursday while the Twins will finish up their four-game series in Cleveland.

Seattle will try to avoid being swept by the New York Yankees on Thursday afternoon as they complete their ten-game homestand. Taking the mound for Seattle in the finale is Logan Gilbert who has had a shaky month of September so far. In three starts this month, Gilbert has an ERA of 4.50 while allowing four home runs in 20 innings pitched. For the Yankees, Clarke Schmidt will take the hill. While Schmidt won’t go deep in his starts, he doesn’t allow opposing offenses to do much against him. He is coming off the IL and this will be his third start since his return and he has only allowed two runs in 10 1/3 innings since his return. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm.

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