On the negative side, the Mariners dropped this match, 8-0. Positively, considering home plate umpire Doug Edding’s wildly inconsistent strike zone, which cost the Mariners their manager and shortstop midway through the game, this is a rather simple loss to overcome. It is also easier to take when you consider that the Mariners were starting their number five starter, Bryan Woo, while Cleveland had their ace, Tanner Bibee, on the mound. Woo is still a young pitcher who struggles to consistently put up long innings in games and is very much this team’s number five pitcher. That doesn’t change the fact that the Mariners went back to their high-strikeout tactics during the contest. So let us swiftly wrap up so you can return to your sunny evening.
Beginning the game with a walk to end a run of 86 consecutive hitters faced without a walk, Bryan Woo looked a little rusty. He missed hard up and out to his first batter. Despite having a well-thought-out strategy to start on the plate and work her way out of the zone in an attempt to create chases and weak contact, Woo’s contact-hungry opponents managed to make contact and foul off ball after ball. Against Woo, José Ramírez faced nine pitches, attempting to mimic Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and reaching bad ball after poor ball. inning concluded with Ramírez roping a sinker that Woo mishandled at the plate for a single, loading the bases with one out for runners at first and third. The Guardians took a 1-0 lead when Josh Naylor, facing Woo again, worked a deep at-bat, falling into a 0-2 count early but managing to snag a fastball at the top of the plate that he was able to wrestle into right center. Considering how close Woo has been to the pitch restriction this season, it took 30 pitches for Woo to end the first inning.
Woo’s night in Cleveland ended there, sadly, as the Mariners limited him to 65 pitches. It was a hot night in Cleveland. That left the rest of the game in the hands of the bullpen, which gave up five more runs to score: three off Mike Baumann, who again deserves thanks to Doug Eddings, should have been out of the inning before most of that damage happened; one off Cody Bolton; and one big-boy Josh Naylor bomb, his second of the game, off Eduard Bazardo, who came in for mop-up duty in the seventh. Having worked two innings, allowed just one home run, and struck out three, Bazardo deserves today’s Sun Hat award for saving the remainder of the bullpen.
Mitch Haniger grounded into a double play to set up a clean inning for Scott Barlow, who entered the game in the seventh and recorded a 3.7% walk rate on the season despite walking Luke Raley. Mitch knows that sometimes you just have to get by and regroup for the next day. Hunter Gaddis similarly recorded a perfect eighth inning, however this time with some assistance from Doug Eddings:
I suppose the 8-0 lead was seriously in doubt, so the Guardians brought on Emmanuel Clase to finish the game. That just strikes me as absurd hubris, therefore I’m hoping tomorrow’s game is close and he’s unavailable. Luis Castillo will face the ball tomorrow, and let’s hope the Mariners return furious from tonight’s defeat on a number of fronts.
