Mariners lose to Royals 9-6 in radio drama featuring The J-Rod Show
The brightest stars on the most invisible stage.
My favorite absurdist statement to describe the importance of spring training numbers is to describe the numbers being penciled into the box score in invisible ink. Today, much more than just statistical importance seemed to fade. After getting excited about the lineup of mostly major league level players and a probable pitchers list with a similar feel, and seeing that today’s game would be broadcast on the Mariners website, I quickly found Surprise beyond the name of the town that hosted today’s game. The lineup card filled with players that could easily pass for a regular season roster had lulled me into forgetting that this was still in fact a spring training game. And since these games win-loss records will fade from memory faster than the ink of my metaphors in just a few weeks time, it was easy to enjoy the game for some big moments, despite the Seattle Mariners ultimately losing to the Kansas City Royals 9-6.
The big Texan Bryce Miller made the start for Seattle, and had a somewhat mixed outing in terms of results. Miller threw 37 pitches across 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, and striking out two and walking none. Only needing ten pitches to get through the first, he fell India and Witt Jr. on contact and capped it off by getting Vinnie Pasquantino to strike out swinging on a 3-2 slider at the knees. The trouble in the second started immediately with a threat Mariners fans will find familiar in Salvador Perez. After working a 2-2 count, Perez found a knuckle curve on the outside edge and smacked it 106.5 mph to right field for a lead-off double. Massey and Renfroe then grounded out and flew out, respectively, but the table was still set for MJ Melendez, and he only needed the first pitch inside edge cutter to put two on the books for Kansas City. Bryce escaped with a Maikel Garcia ground out, and would come back out to work the third. A Joey Wiemer strikeout on a 2-2 sweeper, and then back-to-back singles by India and Witt Jr., and Miller’s day was done, replaced in the game by Brandyn Garcia.
If Miller left the place a little messy, Garcia said “I think there just might not be any rules” and ripped everything off of the walls, with a wild sense of his command. India was caught stealing third base but Witt Jr. made it to second on the play, and then after a wild pitch from Garcia, Witt was on third. Pasquantino singled in Witt with the hardest hit ball of the night at 111.7 mph, and next Carter Jensen pinch hit for Perez and walked (the Royals catcher had been pulled while on defense after taking a bat to the face mask, and left with an apparent eye laceration). Michael Massey singled, and the bases were loaded. Garcia hit Renfroe with a slider, and the Royals now had four runs. This is where Garcia found his shirt brother, getting MJ Melendez to ground out to end the inning.
The rest of Kansas City scoring came in the fifth, where they stayed on theme and put up a five-spot. This time, the pitcher to start the inning was Tayler Saucedo, although he wouldn’t finish it. Pasquantino started things off with a hard hit double, but Sauce rebounded by getting Carter Jensen to strikeout. Then Sauce debounded by hitting Massey with a pitch, and walking Renfroe to load the bases. Another rebound with a three pitch strikeout of MJ Melendez, before giving up a two RBI single to Maikel Garcia. Saucedo made way for Tyler Cleveland, and Cleveland made way for a three run Joey Wiemer home run that brought the Royals to their final winning score of nine runs. Cleveland then worked India to a full count, and ended the inning by getting him to ground out.
Kansas City may have scored more, but it was Seattle that scored first. It came in the form of something M’s fans have been waiting to see all spring. A shame the game wasn’t televised, then, but luckily video has since surfaced. I’m talking of course about Julio Rodríguez hitting his first spring training home run, an 108.2 mph bomb to left off of a Michael Lorenzen fastball at the top of the zone.
After such a long-seeming and sour off-season I don’t think I realized how much I needed a Julio home run, even just hearing the radio call. It felt like the wait had been forever, but we wouldn’t have to wait that much longer for another one. In the bottom of the fourth, this time facing Chris Stratton and only needing the first pitch (a hanging slider), Julio went deep again and this time to the opposite field, 106.5 mph off of the bat and with a 24 degree launch angle. It was sweet music on the radio call just like the first one, but it would have been even better to see both home runs live, and as of yet video hasn’t turned up for this bomb.
The Mariners would score three more in the top of the fifth, but with a different known hero making an early spring statement. Kris Bubic came in for Chris Stratton, and a pair of Rowdy Tellez and Ryan Bliss singles along with a Victor Robles walk loaded the bases. A pair of strikeouts from J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodríguez in that mix made it so that it was bases loaded, but two outs. In came a mighty warrior by the name of Cal Raleigh, Big Dumper to his foes, wielding his mighty weapon Drought-Breaker. Raleigh deployed his catcher’s eye to start the count 3-0, and after sitting on a cutter towards the bottom of the zone didn’t hesitate when the next one arrived middle-middle, and the ball was swiftly struck 110.1 mph to right field for a bases-clearing double and the second hardest hit ball of the night. Cal had also crushed a ball 108.1 off the bat earlier in the fourth, but for a ground-out.
The Royals had some big innings, but Seattle relief corps members Andrés Muñoz, Gabe Speier, Trent Thornton, and Collin Snider all pitched in for a scoreless inning each. Muñoz only gave up one hit and struck out two, Joey Wiemer and Bobby Witt Jr, both swinging. Speier only gave up the one hit and struck out one, Cam Devanney looking. Trent Thornton had the best inning of the bunch, working a clean 1-2-3 and getting Tyler Gentry to strike out looking and striking out Drew Waters swinging. Finally Collin Snider worked the bottom of the eighth, not giving up any hits but walking Jac Caglianone, and striking out John Rave swinging on a full count.
Before the curtains could fall on this loss, the Mariners scraped one more across the board in the ninth against Junior Fernández. Miles Mastrobuoni started things off with a single, and Nick Dunn moved him along to third with one of his own. The run came from a hard hit ball from top 100 prospect and international signing Felnin Celesten, who worked it 2-2 before hitting the ball 104.9 mph to center field for the sacrifice fly.
Today was a loss, but it still felt like a great game, if for no other reason than the Cal and Julio heroics. It couldn’t be seen, but it was very much real, and present. Much like the growing feeling that baseball, and maybe even the Seattle Mariners, are so back.