The Mariners lose game two, split series with Angels, despite Turner blasts and decent Woo outing
The Mariners could be two steps away from this year still mattering, and today was a half step in the wrong direction.
Very technically speaking, the Mariners might not need to win every game out from here. But, you know, they should. Beyond the multitude of reasons for the season such as winning just being fun, and potential playoff implications, there are reasons they should want to win these games against the Angels in particular. Reasons for revenge against the Angels and of course they are ever the rival, but after dropping the match in walk-off fashion to fall 5-4 and split the series, the Seattle Mariners will have to wait for the rubber match tomorrow to see if they can strike back and secure a would-be third series win in a row.
Those reasons for needing revenge? The 1-7 against them in July, including a sweep at home. And the first loss of six in a row against them came on the road, with Bryan Woo on the mound. That night, he only lasted 3.1 innings, giving up nine hits and four earned runs in that time. Tonight, he was much more efficient, but not without running into some damage. And when the damage came, it went deep. Tonight he went three more at 6.1 innings, throwing 69 pitches and 52 for strikes, scattering five hits and striking out three with no walks, but giving up four earned runs across three home runs.
Woo only needed ten pitches and fly outs to every outfielder to get through a 1-2-3 bottom of the first. The second inning he allowed a lead-off double to Anthony Rendon, who did make it to third on a Mickey Moniak infield fielder’s choice groundball, but that out of Moniak at first followed a Logan O’Hoppe strikeout and preceded a Brandon Drury pop out for Woo to escape without Rendon proceeding further. The bottom of the third Woo ran into trouble in the way that reaches the stands and the scoreboard, hanging an 0-1 sinker against Jo Adell he sent into left field 109 mph off the bat (but only a home run in 11/30 ballparks), and that brought the game tied at 1-1. Woo collected three outs with two fly outs and a grounder to not allow anyone else to threaten that inning, and was sitting at only 31 pitches when it was said and done.
The Mariners had done damage before that in the second inning, against former Mariner (and breaker off Crawford’s hand) Tyler Anderson, and thanks to an inning lead-off home run from Justin Turner, going 2-1 before finding the pitch inside and sending it 379 feet over the left-center wall 100.5 mph off the bat and a home run in 29/30 parks. Take that, Jo Adell. Of course they went down easily after that, with Luis Urías going 0-2 then striking out ont he third pitch changeup and Dylan Moore and Mitch Garver grounding out and flying out.
Woo would face the minimum in the fourth and the fifth, ending the fifth at a measly 47 pitches and collecting a second strikeout from O’Hoppe along the way, with all the other outs on contact.
Bryan would run into trouble in the sixth inning, but not before Seattle would come through with some run support, in the top of the fourth inning.
Justin Turner would need no help to keep the ball rolling, leading off a second inning with a home run in his second appearance on the night, and hitting his fifth career home run off of Tyler Anderson. This time it came 103.6 off the bat, traveled 385 feet, and would be gone in 27/30 parks. The only ballpark that would have contained both home runs would have been Camden Yards.
This time Turner would have some help in scoring, but not from next batter Urías who grounded out, but Dylan Moore did follow that up with a liner into left for a single. Mitch Garver was unsurprisingly and unfortunately flew out to bring it to two outs, and then DMo was able to reach second on a play that bordered on defensive indifference and also saw some chaos of the umpire getting in the way and knocked down a bit, despite being well off the bag. The stolen base would be nullified a bit as Victor Robles drew a four pitch walk, and JP Crawford thought it looked fun and did the same to load it up. Julio Rodríguez lined one over the glove of Zach Neto into left field for a single that scored Moore and Robles. A Raleigh fly out ended the scoring there for Seattle (not just for the inning), but it gave the Mariners a then 4-1 lead.
The trouble Woo faced in the sixth came in the form, of well, Jo Adell again, this time going yard with a no doubter to lead off the inning, 110.2 mph off the bat and out in all thirty, doing exactly what a hitter is supposed to against the middle-middle 96.3 four-seamer Bryan Woo left where he shouldn’t have, the Angels closing the gap to 4-2. Woo would get the next three batters to hit for contact and end the inning at only 58 pitches, and one of those outs included a pretty smooth diving catch from Victor Robles for the first out of the inning after the Adell home run.
On the Mariners side of hitting in the seventh, they went down pretty easily. The only batter to reach base being Josh Rojas, on a 3-1 walk after pinch hitting for Urías after he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. On the Angels side of hitting, they would lace another against Woo and chase him from the game. Anthony Rendon started off the inning with a single, but Woo was able get his third strikeout of the game from Logan O’Hoppe right after that, all three of his Ks against the young catcher. But right after that Mickey Moniak started out 0-2, but recovered on the third pitch, demolishing the hanging changeup from Woo and ending his night with the game tying home run. 105.9 off the bat and 391 feet but only out in 9 out of 30 parks, but with the Angels park in Anaheim being one of those nine, that is all that mattered to change the momentum in tonight’s game.
JT Chargois came in to finish off the seventh, getting Brandon Drury to pop out, giving up a walk to Matt Thaiss, then getting Jo Adell to ground out to end the inning.
Seattle would threaten again in the eighth, and the ninth, if somewhat toothlessly.
Mitch Garver worked a 3-1 walk to top off the eighth, and moved to second on a sac bunt from Robles. Then JP Crawford wore a pitch to put runners on first and second, but a Julio GIDP ended the scoring threat and the inning. The ninth saw Arozarena get on with a one out, 3-2 walk, and Justin Turner followed that up with a single and moving Randy to second. Rojas hit into a fielder’s choice but was the out at first to move the runners up, but a pinch hitting Jorge Polanco struck out swinging to end that threat there.
Collin Snider had worked his half of the eighth nearly clean, allowing the lead-off double to Taylor Ward but erasing that with the follow up double play on Jack López in a suicide squeeze attempt. Ward had advanced to third on a wild pitch from Snider, and when López made bunt contact on the 2-1 sweeper at the bottom of the zone, it went nowhere. Raleigh picked it up and made the tag on Ward sliding into home, and almost put the tag on López as he started to run to first but instead they easily got him with the throw to first.
Nolan Schanuel grounded out lined out to Julio to end the inning, and Snider could call it a job done. The Mariners had more work to do, and in the bottom of the ninth they called on Andrés Muñoz. Starting out well enough, Muñoz got Rendon to line out to Julio and O’Hoppe to go 0-2 before striking out a fourth time, this time on a third pitch slider diving away. Next up was previous and current threat Mickey Moniak, and after taking the first pitch for a ball and fouling off pitches two through five to sit 1-2, it was clear he was still in fight mode after his earlier home run. Pitch number six, a slider Muñoz had thrown every pitch in the at bat but one and catching too much of the zone on the inside corner, Moniak crushed for his second home run of the night (107.1 mph, 408 feet, 30/30), and walking it off for his team at home and evening the series.
The Mariners may not need to win every game for these last games to matter, but they might need to as well, and they should. They should because it is fun to win. They should win against the Angels because they owe them one, and well, several. And the most frustrating reason why they should is because even with these tough losses they remain close. Sometimes they flash improvement, like how they only struck out six times today. They remain what feels only two steps behind. With today’s half step back, they are now 5.0 games back of Houston and the division, and 4.5 out of a wild card spot that has a Twins team that is 3-7 in their last ten in the third spot and a Royals team 4-6 in their last ten in the second spot. Today was a half step back, and tomorrow, who knows, but a third series win in a row remains in their grasp, and a four game set against Oakland their reward if they can.