By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The Seattle Mariners lost the first game of three to the Philadelphia Phillies in blowout fashion. The two ballclubs met for the first time since 2017, and Philadelphia gave Seattle the business. The Phillies performance was highlighted by the fifth and seventh innings, where the Phillies scored three runs both times. Among the notable stats that showcase how bad the loss was, Philadelphia recorded 17 hits, while the Mariners only had 4. The only positive from the night? It was bark at the park night, as 900 dogs visited T-Mobile Park.
Seattle struckout 12 times in the game (Photo Liv Lyons)
Flexen follows up his solid starts with dud
Mariners starting pitcher Chris Flexen has had a solid start to the season. The Seattle bats have just not done him any favors, as the Mariners have been shutout in three of Flexen’s’ appearances. Giving up two runs or less in his past three starts, it just seemed like Seattle wasn’t giving him any help. The script flipped a bit in this game for the 27-year-old, as Flexen allowed six earned runs on nine hits through five innings pitched. The outing is Flexen’s worst of the season, and the Mariner bats again fell silent for Flexen. Make that four starts that Flexen has pitched in where Seattle has been shutout.
Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez was Seattle’s best batter in the game, going 3-4. It was Julio’s 6th multi-hit game of the season (Photo Liv Lyons)
Mariner bats stay quiet, and continue to disappoint
The offseason moves, or lack thereof, drew criticism when Seattle failed to add another bat to their lineup. Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suarez, and Adam Frazier were solid additions to the ballclub, but Seattle still needs perhaps two reliable bats. Winker has struggled to begin the year, but a solid amount of that has been bad luck. Suarez has mostly been a three-outcome hitter, usually looked at as an out. Frazier has been solid at leadoff. Currently, with Dylan Moore getting at bats, JP Crawford out, and Cal Raleigh in with Tom Murphy injured, we are seeing a ballclub that cannot hit. Since Edgar Martinez stepped down from his role of hitting coach, Seattle has been in the lower half of the league in hitting stats. The Mariners need a new hitting coach, and probably two more bats.
The Mariners look to get back on track when they take on the Phillies in game two of the series on May 10th. First pitch is at 6:40PM PST, as Robbie Ray gets the start for Seattle, and Aaron Nola gets the nod for the Phillies. Two true workhorses will take the mound in this game, as the players that have pitched the 4th and 17th most innings duel.
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