By Bel Garcia
Seattle, WA - Coming off a big series win in New York against the Yankees and a rest day, the Mariners welcomed the Los Angeles Angels to T-Mobile Park for the start of a four-game series. The last time these two teams matched up with each other was the day of the infamous brawl that caused several suspensions, and for the Mariners eventually sparked a 14-game win streak. It must be noted that Seattle is still playing without some of their key pieces coming into this one without Julio Rodriguez, Dylan Moore, Diego Castillo, and of course awaiting the return of Mitch Haniger. Not injured, but also not in the lineup tonight was Kyle Lewis.
Adam Frazier had a clutch double in the bottom of the 9th (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
The Mariners have had a daunting number of runners left on base throughout the season, tonight they faced the same issue. In the first two innings the Mariners would leave two runners on base. Abraham Toro with his second hit in the fifth inning gave Seattle a chance to come up with some offense. Adam Frazier got hit by Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval’s pitch and walked, but the Mariners would once again ground into double play, leaving two runners on base. In the bottom of the sixth, Seattle had the bases loaded and ended the inning with no runs, as they are now 16-91 with the bases loaded. They continue to struggle and strand runners on base, and today the offense was just not giving Robbie Ray any runs while he was on the mound.
Have a day, Ray!
The night started a bit rough for Robbie Ray, but after giving up one run to Luis Rengifo in the first inning he kept the Mariners in this game for seven innings. Seattle’s batters didn’t contribute much to his great performance tonight, with only three hits in seven innings, two by Toro and one by Crawford. Seattle really struggled to find a rhythm on offense. Robbie Ray had 106 pitches in seven innings, with a line of five hits, one earned run, and ten strikeouts. Four of those ten Strikeouts came from Angels star player, Shohei Ohtani, who would ultimately end the night with a Golden Sombrero. Ohtani coming off a solid performance against the Athletics, in which he had two home runs, just couldn’t handle Ray’s pitching tonight.
Seattle failed to provide starter Robbie Ray any run support (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
Running out of Time
Something sparked the Mariners in the bottom of the ninth, a comeback was looming as they were able to “TY” the game late. Jake Lamb, who recently made his homecoming in joining his hometown team, made his appearance at the bottom of the ninth with a single that advanced Jesse Winker to second base. In this situation the Mariners were able to convert runners on base to scoring runs, as Adam Frazier doubled to right and scored Winker, sending Lamb to third. A familiar face who remains consistent, tied the game. TY France singled to center scoring Lamb and Frazier to add extra innings to this one. It just wasn’t enough as the Angels regained the lead, scoring Magneuris Sierra, and Seattle wasn’t able to come up with anything in the bottom of the 10th, losing 4-3. A frustrating loss indeed, they shift their focus to two games tomorrow, 2 and 3 of the series in a Saturday doubleheader.
JP Crawford had one of the few Mariner hits (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
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