Just as the Mariners were finally picking up steam – in the table for the past two weeks and on the field late Friday – they quickly snapped back to reality at the worst possible moment.
It was Ty France’s bat crack in particular that underscored the Mariners’ frustration at the 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers and opened the second half of the season in front of a crowd of 39,014 at T-Mobile Park.
When he was called on a borderline pitch at the end of the fifth inning and the bases were full, France raised his bat over his head and smacked it to the ground with both hands.
The bat cracked. The crowd cheered. And home plate umpire Marvin Hudson promptly threw France out after the Mariners first baseman angrily threw his helmet.
The loss spoiled the start of a crucial 10-game home round for the Mariners, who fell to .500 from a 45-45 score as they attempt to advance in a tight American League playoff pursuit. And now it’s time to do it, against the likes of the Tigers (40-50) and Twins (45-46) at home, with just over two weeks until the August 1st close.
“We hope things don’t go as we hoped,” said manager Scott Servais.
It would be easy to point to the strike-three call to France or Julio Rodriguez’s strike-three catch that ended the game with two runners on base at the bottom of the ninth inning.
Certainly critical moments.
But there are other key moments that the Mariners continue to hit, and situational hitting has been a top source of frustration for this lineup throughout the season.
Twice on Friday night — in the fifth inning and again in the eighth — the Mariners had a runner at third base with just one out.
In both situations, the Mariners failed to bring the runner home.
And with a one-run loss, these obviously play a big role.
“These are situational issues that we struggle with throughout the year,” said Servais. “…It’s an area that we’ve talked about a lot and just haven’t consistently brought these people into it. It will come back to bite you.”
The Mariners are now 10-17 in one-run games.
Pinch-hitter Mike Ford hit a clear home run into right field with an out at the end of the ninth inning ahead of Detroit closer Alex Lange, cutting the Mariners’ lead to 5-4.
After pinch-hitter Kolten Wong shot hard for first place, Dylan Moore hit a two-out walk to take the lead in the Seattle lineup.
JP Crawford then completed a five-pitch walk and put Julio Rodriguez to the plate 72 hours after he landed on the same field in much the same situation with the American League coming off a run in the All-Star Game.
Julio Craig patiently outpaced Kimbrel on Tuesday.
On Friday night, as the crowd chanted his name, Rodriguez was caught watching a 2-1 curveball by Lange down the inside half, which scored the third and ended the game.
“We did some good things on offense to get back into the game, but certainly not enough,” said Servais.
In the fifth inning, France was justifiably angered by the strike-three call: Detroit starter Eduardo Rodríguez’s 94-mph sinker was actually an inch or two inside at second glance.
didn’t matter. The evening was over for France and with it the Mariners’ last chance to come back from an early 3-0 deficit.
Moore had delivered the one big hit the Mariners had been waiting for from loaded bases, missing the grand slam by inches at the top of the wall in left field. He settled for a two-run double. This reduced the Mariners’ deficit to 3-2, with only one out and two runners in the scoring position in the fifth round.
After the infield moved in, Crawford followed up with a groundball to the right. Tigers second baseman Nick Maton made a jump stop to his left to initially make the out while third-place runner AJ Pollock notably didn’t try to run home, instead opting to go up Playing it safe and staying in third place.
“It’s a strange game,” said Servais. “You have a situation where Julio and Ty are next in line. Do you go to “Contact” there? … It was difficult reading. We had other chances throughout the game to decide the game or break away from it, but we just couldn’t make it.”
With first base open, Eduardo Rodríguez predictably threw a pitch around Julio Rodriguez, who made a five-pitch walk to fill in bases for France in the biggest spot of the game.
France earned a 2-2 count before the controversial strike-three call.
Eduardo Rodríguez had knocked out the Mariners in the first four innings and sidelined the first ten batters he faced.
Julio Rodriguez almost hit a punch in the right center on his first shot of the regular season since his dynamic performance in the home run derby here on Monday – only to watch as Detroit midfielder Matt Vierling jumped right in front of goal and robbed him. J-Rod Squad Fan Zone.
Julio’s 110-mph single in the fourth run was the game’s first baserunner for the Mariners.
Mariners ace Luis Castillo wasn’t particularly sharp, giving up three runs in five innings. He really only threw two bad pitches — a 3-2 substitution (down and in) that Kerry Carpenter pulled over the fence in right field for a two-run home run in the first inning, and a 2-2 substitution ( down and in) that Akil Baddoo pulled over the fence in right field.
“I give them (credit). The homers they hit didn’t get the balls right where I wanted them to go, but I think the location wasn’t bad,” Castillo said through team interpreter Freddy Llanos.
Detroit scored two more runs in the seventh inning after a mistake by Moore, who replaced France at first base. The next batter, Maton, followed up with a double home run against rookie reliever Ty Adcock, the first runs he was allowed in ten appearances early in his major league career.
The Mariners tried to collect themselves in the eighth round.
Julio Rodriguez hit an infield single and scored — narrowly — with a Jarred-Kelenic double to left center. After the play was canceled at review, Julio was initially safe. This reduced the Mariners’ deficit to 5:3.
Julio was upset by the game but he slowly made his way back to the dugout on his own and was back playing in midfield by the end of the ninth half.
With Kelenic in third place and an elimination, Detroit’s Jason Foley knocked out Teoscar Hernandez and Eugenio Suarez to end the threat.
BOX score