Tonight’s game began with a raucous ceremonial first pitch from head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the U.S. Men’s National Team. Canada would own the rest of the night.
The first inning was the canary in the coal mine, as J.P. Crawford biffed yet another throw from the hot corner in the top half, and in the bottom half, Randy Arozarena blew both ABS challenges in just the Mariners’ second at-bat of the game. The saving grace was Luis Castillo, who looked like he might have another great night, hitting 97.8 in a strikeout of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and seeming to surprise himself with a little extra movement on his slider early on.
But the wheels came off in the third inning. The bottom of the Blue Jays’ order got things started with a leadoff single from rookie Sean Keys, who scored on an atypically well-struck double from Andrés Giménez (who I will always hate). I thought the Mariners might be alright when sentient red ass John Schneider demonstrated his strategic genius with a sac bunt in the third inning. Alas, Vladito got the ball in the air enough to get over the infielders to score a second run. Things were really stacking up when Kazuma Okamoto reached as well. But the damage was limited to those two runs when Colt Emerson came up with what I think was his first potentially game-saving play to get the Mariners out of it. Even if it wasn’t his first and didn’t end up saving the game, it was good enough to get him his first career Sun Hat Award in tonight’s weak field.
Two runs, yet I said the wheels came off? Well, yeah. This was one of those games that never felt as close as the score suggested. Luis Castillo, despite only giving up two runs on five hits while walking just one, was not his prime self. He gave up 12 hard-hit balls out of 21 balls in play and only induced with eight whiffs. The velocity mostly held, but the battery was too tempted by that apparent movement on the slider, which did not hold.
On the other side, Dylan Cease sliced, diced, and spiced the Mariners, eventually putting the whole offense on ice. He was still pumping 98 to strike out Colt Emerson in the sixth, and that wasn’t even his best pitch. He was moving all over the zone, with his four-seamer up, his changeup and curveball down, his sinker and changeup arm side, and his slider glove side. I know we’ve all been frustrated by the Mariners offense, but this was genuinely a master class. Cease’s seven innings felt hopeless. An inside-out swing from J.P. that dribbled down the line was the only real threat. Seattle had a better showing against Jeff Hoffman and Louis Varland in relief, but more of the noble-effort variety. Víctor Robles drew a hard-won walk, and Emerson and Crawford worked full counts against Hoffman. Dominic Canzone took Louis Varland’s 99 mph to school. (A single counts as taking a pitcher to school tonight.)
On the one hand, it’s not the biggest deal in the world for the Mariners to lose a game where the Jays threw their Cy Young candidate and the Mariners had their starter who’s struggled the most this year. On the other hand, the Mariners have scored one run since Tuesday.
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