Sandoval’s infield single, Dee Gordon’s error and Mariners have A's breathing down their wild-card neck
When it’s Pablo Sandoval, at 5-foot-11, 268 pounds, vs. Dee Gordon in a foot race, that’s always Gordon.
Except when Sandoval hit the ball just soft enough, with Gordon playing well back at second base – winner Sandoval.
And Gordon rushed the throw to first trying to get the final out of the top of the ninth, it got by first baseman Ryon Healy and Steve Duggar scored the go-ahead run from second base.
That means it’s really starting to turn into a foot race in the American League wild card chase, with the Mariners trying to hold off the on-fire Oakland Athletics with no help of the A’s Bay Area counterpart. The San Francisco Giants took a 4-3 victory against the Mariners on Tuesday at Safeco Field.
Seattle (60-41) saw its lead in the AL wild card dwindle to 1.5 games over the A’s. That was a 7.5-game lead earlier this month, but the Mariners are 7-10 in July and the A’s scored 11 unanswered runs in a wild 13-10, 10-inning win over the Rangers on Tuesday, improving to 13-5 in July.
All with Sandoval, equipped with his “Kung Fu Panda” nickname, slapping an infield single against Edwin Diaz in the ninth inning.
“Certainly Sandoval is not a fast runner and Dee is playing very deep,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Dee is an extraordinary athlete. He can cover a lot of ground and make up for plays like that. He’s trying to make a tough play.”
“Maybe Healy tries to come off the bag and say, ‘Hold it, hold it, hold it’ instead of staying on the bag (though it appeared Healy did do that). There’s a lot that plays into that. If Healy catches the ball we got first and third and we go get the next hitter.”
Mike Zunino, Ben Gamel and Gordon went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning.
“It’s baseball, it goes back and forth,. When you’re riding the wave you want to ride it as long as you can,” Servais said. “And when you don’t you got to figure out a way to get it back going again.
But really this came down to two critical mistakes.
First Gordon rushing his throw to first base on Sandoval’s hit. It was likely a single, anyway, with how far back Gordon was playing. The sense would have been to eat it and reset with two outs and runners on the corners.
Instead, Gordon’s throw went into Healy’s reaching glove and out before heading toward the Mariners’ dugout.
And earlier the Mariners had runners at first and second on Mike Zunino’s hard single to left field. Third base coach Scott Brosius waved in Kyle Seager as he rounded third, but Seager was out well before he reached home plate in the fourth inning.
“(Brosius) had a feeling. You read scouting reports on guys’ arm strength and accuracy and all those other things and we took a chance,” Servais said. “Their guys made a good play. A really good throw and cost us a run at the plate.”
Then combine that with the Giants scoring two runs on two bizarre infield singles.
“Just bad luck for us today,” Diaz said. “I thought I came in today, made good pitches, got out quick. We just got the bad luck today.”
Let’s reset.
The Mariners started without their ace, James Paxton, because his back, which sent him to the disabled list just before the All-Star break, unexpectedly stiffened up. .
So they called on left-hander Roenis Elias.
Elias was serviceable in his first start since two years ago with the Boston Red Sox, even rekindling some memories of his first two big league seasons when he was starting every fifth day for the Mariners before they traded him in a deal that brought forgettable right-hander Wade Miley.
“I felt good,” Elias said, with Mariners batting practice pitcher Nasusel Cabrera interpreting. “I was trying to get the breaking ball in the strike zone. That’s a pitch I’ve been working on. So I felt good.”
The Giants got their first run in the third inning after Kelby Tomlinson hit a triple and Chase d’Arnaud responded in kind with an infield pop up … that landed on the infield grass between Elias and shortstop Jean Segura. Neither could get to it in time, so Tomlinson crossed home plate.
They had two outs in the fourth when Tomlinson, the Giants’ No. 9 hitter, won an eight-pitch battle with Elias for an RBI single.
Hunter Pence launched a solo home run on Chase Bradford in the sixth off the facing of the upper deck past left field. That was Pence’s first homer of the season for a 3-2 Giants lead.
Shortly after, the score from Arlington, Texas, between the Rangers and Athletics switched to final. The A’s had rallied from a 10-2 deficit to beat Texas.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Heredia with a HR for <a href="https://twitter.com/Mariners?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mariners</a> to get them on board. Join us for finish on <a href="https://twitter.com/ROOTSPORTS_NW?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ROOTSPORTS_NW</a> <a href="https://t.co/F94hSEaIzM">pic.twitter.com/F94hSEaIzM</a></p>— ROOT SPORTS™ | NW (@ROOTSPORTS_NW) <a href="https://twitter.com/ROOTSPORTS_NW/status/1021960674023432192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
These A’s, who are 24-7 since the middle of June, are essentially what the Mariners were when they went streaking after Robinson Cano’s 80-game drug suspension was announced. Seattle went 23-8 in 31 games after Cano’s suspension.
Oh, and later the Astros beat the Rockies, 8-2. The Mariners are six games back for the AL West lead.
It was about time for the Mariners to get back to what got them here.
It started with clutch at-bats. Denard Span and Mike Zunino drew back-to-back two-out walks before pinch-hitter Ben Gamel followed with a looping RBI single to left field.
Not bad from the Mariners’ No. 9 spot. Guillermo Heredia hit a solo home run earlier in the game – his third of the season and first since April 10.
“Coming into the ball game you think if you’re in a tie game in the seventh, we really like our chances,” Servais said. “I thought our intensity was good. We did grind out a bunch of at-bats. We’ll be back out here tomorrow and get right after them.”
Some takeaways:
Send him?
The Mariners had the bases loaded and no outs when Denard Span hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score their first run.
Mike Zunino followed with a sharp single to left field with Kyle Seager at second base. You know, Seager – who is playing with a small fracture in his toe and wasn’t the most fleet of foot in the first place.
But third base coach Scott Brosius waved Seager in around third. He was thrown out with considerable room to spare.
Instead of bases loaded, again, with one out, Guillermo Heredia grounded out the next batter in the third inning.
“He made the play,” Servais said of Giants left fielder Austin Slater. “We’ve taken some chances on the bases this year and (Brosius) has done a really good job. They just made the play tonight.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Somehow A's did that. They're now 2 games back of the Mariners. <a href="https://t.co/t2jxyrE5RA">https://t.co/t2jxyrE5RA</a></p>— TJ Cotterill (@TJCotterill) <a href="https://twitter.com/TJCotterill/status/1021973033026605056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Starters first
Roenis Elias and Scott Servais had as brief a conversation as could be over the phone to talk about Elias’ first start for the Mariners since Oct. 3, 2015.
“I called Roenis this morning at home and said, “Oh, by the way, you’re going to pitch tonight,’” Servais said. “And he’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m ready.’ I said, ‘No, you’re going to start tonight.’ He said, ‘Yeah? … well thanks for the call.’
“And that was it,” Servais laughed. “That’s just how he rolls.”
Tuesday’s game harkened back to 2014 and 2015, when Elias was starting every fifth day in the Mariners’ rotation before they sent him to the Red Sox with Carson Smith for pitchers Wade Miley and Jonathan Aro. Elias hadn’t started a big league game since June 16, 2016, against the Mariners.
Servais said he was expecting 3-4 innings from Elias in this one, making a spot start for James Paxton (back). Elias was solid through the first three innings, even though the Giants scored a run on Kelby Tomlinson’s triple followed by Chase D’Arnaud’s bloop single that landed on the infield grass just between Elias and Jean Segura.
Elias exited after 3 2/3 innings. He allowed two runs and six hits with five strikeouts on a season-high 75 pitches.
“I appreciated the opportunity to start,” Elias said, with Mariners batting practice pitcher Nasusel Cabrera interpreting. “I didn’t know until early this morning, so I just needed to be ready.”
Heart and Hustle
Heart, hustle – and flexing muscle.
Guillermo Heredia earlier in the day was announced as the Mariners’ recipient of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association’s Heart and Hustle Award, honoring players who demonstrate a passion for the game and best embody its values, spirit and traditions.
Then he hit a solo home run to straightaway center field in the bottom of the third inning, his 10th career home run and third this season – first since April 10 against the Royals.
Heredia is often lauded by Mariners manager Scott Servais as their best defensive outfielder, he certainly looks the most comfortable of any of their players in center field. But since transitioning into more of a full-time role in Robinson Cano’s absence, Heredia entered Tuesday batting .180 in the 47 games since Cano’s 80-game drug suspension.
Play of the game
Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval pinch-hit in the top of the ninth inning with Steve Duggar at second base and two outs.
Dee Gordon is as fast as they get at second base, but he was playing too far back and not even he could get to the ball in time to beat Sandoval.
That wouldn’t have been all terrible, runners at the corners and still two outs for one of the game’s best closers. But Gordon’s lunging throw to first deflected off of Ryon Healy’s glove and to the Mariners’ dugout for what would be the game-winning run.
Top pitcher
Typically these 2018 Mariners have figured out a way late in games to win these. That’s why Servais felt so confident with the game tied in the seventh inning.
But after the Giants took that 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the ninth, the Giants’ Will Smith sat down Mike Zunino, Ben Gamel and Dee Gordon 1-2-3 with two strikeouts to end the game.
What probably shouldn’t go unnoticed is that Juan Nicasio had one of his better outings of the season, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the seventh.
Top batter
How about the Mariners’ No. 9 hitters?
Guillermo Heredia hit a rocket of a solo home run out to center field in the third inning. Ben Gamel entered as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth and looped a two-out RBI single to left field to score the tying run.
Quotable
“Sandoval puts a ball in play off the end of the bat and it’s a tough play,” Servais said. “Everybody knows that Dee is going to go all out and try to do everything he can to make that out.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2018 at 10:14 PM.