Mariners make Dolly proud, crush Angels 9-5

On a night where the rest of the league was entirely uncooperative with their longshot playoff bid, the Seattle Mariners declined to contribute to their own catastrophe. With the aid of the Los Angeles area Angels, they waltzed to a 9-5 victory, stomping out repeated opportunities to banana peel their way back into a competitive game. It was a relaxing, delightful game offensively that afforded an off night from George Kirby the grace of being forgotten.

The fun started early, with SS Zach Neto olé-ing a Jorge Polanco line drive with Julio Rodríguez on third following a Randy Arozarena double. With a two-run hole, rookie southpaw Samuel Aldegheri, the first born-and-raised Italian pitcher in MLB in over half a century, got lost in the sauce. Consecutive hit-by-pitches loaded the bases with two outs for Mitch Garver, whose two-hit night had to be a relief, coming up with a corner pocket single to knock in a pair. Victor Robles got his hands through on an elevated heater for another RBI single, and a 5-0 lead was Seattle’s.

Yes, Kirby’s command yo-yo’’d all evening, allowing three big flies that kept things close. But his line might’ve looked different too, had J.P. Crawford been able to snag a tough chopper up the middle, or on the other end had Julio Rodríguez not chased down multiple balls in the gap and against the fence. A warm summer evening in Orange County is a nice environment for hitters, and fortunately the conditions were right for the second straight night for Julio to look exactly as the M’s have to hope he can be for their fleeting final flurry.

Despite the understated enthusiasm from the Apple TV broadcast, a collective sigh of relief might as well have pushed this ball over the fence. You yourself may have played a role with the proper direction of breath, as fans should always be considering while watching the M’s play. Breathe deep and with reassurance, then, as Seattle’s offense looked exactly as it should for them to continue holding themselves in orbit of contention. Julio walked thrice, while Arozarena, Robles, Polanco, Garver, and J.P. Crawford all reached base at least twice. As much as anything, a night crowning Seattle in victory that allows Andrés Muñoz a moment’s rest is worthy of celebration. For me, until tomorrow night, I’ll be tuning in to a show I’m finally making my way through properly. Perhaps it’s trying to tell me something too...