Wins become more elusive when a starter is forced to depart a game due to injury. However, it is also difficult to win games when your offense fails to capitalize on chances when they do have runners on base (0-for-3 with RISP and seven runners left on base) and strikes out 14 times.Though it’s also very 2024 Mariners, it’s weird that 14 strikeouts feels like an average number for this team. What’s more troubling is that the Mariners should have scored more runs based on their seven walks, but strikeouts were sticking like a bothersome fly in the way.
The Mariners’ strategy for 2024 is to battle against the starter, wait to exploit the bullpen, and hope that their starter can sustain them until then. Up to the point where he was forced out of the game in the fourth inning due to tight hamstrings, Bryan Woo fulfilled his half of the bargain. However, Woo had to maneuver around a lot of activity on the bases, occasionally missing Cal’s goal and leaving pitches in the upper-middle that were intended to land on the top rail. The Mariners are hopeful that Woo’s hamstring injury is all it is, but they will take photos tomorrow to be certain. It is unfortunate because Woo had a pretty nice fastball tonight, consistently hitting 97 mph despite a few mishaps with the location. When he left the field, he had a very sad expression.
Thanks to their backstop, the Mariners were holding onto a 1-0 advantage when Woo left the game. Taj Bradley was being flayed by the Mariners. a starter against whom they had previously had some success, but Cal Raleigh obliterated this fastball: They unfortunately surrendered that advantage back almost instantly when Tayler Saucedo entered with a man on base and promptly threw a wild pitch to score the tying run after putting a runner on third with no outs. Trent Thornton, who also threw a scoreless fifth inning, helped the Mariners escape that inning without suffering any further harm. However, with their offense having such trouble scoring runs, they cannot afford to give their opponents a free run.
Despite the negative sentiments, it appeared as though things would improve when Ryne Stanek took care of the top of the lineup in the eighth inning and Mike Baumann followed up his excellent performance from yesterday with a 1-2-3 sixth. As all of this was going on, the Mariners were able to make progress against their longtime friend Chris Devinski, who walked Dominic Canzone before allowing Seattle’s backup backstop to score another home run:
Things began to feel a little more at ease with a 3-1 lead and Austin Voth facing the bottom of the Rays lineup, but it is precisely the moment when the 2024 Mariners fan needs to be most alert. In the ninth, Voth recorded two fast outs before walking a batter with two outs, an unforgivable act.
After the game, Cal Raleigh—who also stole a base before being left stranded at second by two consecutive strikeouts; we don’t deserve Cal Raleigh—complained that the Mariners simply didn’t handle the little things enough, citing the two-out walk in particular. While it is true that they made a number of insignificant errors that cost them the game today, they also neglected to address the most important issue, which is that they should have been getting hits—of which they only had three—and scoring runs—of which they also only had three because all of their runs came from home runs. I realize work stinks, but fans are sick of waiting, seeing, and commiserating (note the emphasis on the -mis).
