Three takeaways from the Mariners’ 11-4 loss to Texas
The Seattle Mariners (24-33) dropped a forgettable 11-4 loss to Texas on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
1. CRAWFORD INJURED
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford, a key piece of their rebuild who has been a bright spot during a frustrating month, sharply turned his ankle in a rundown in the eighth inning, with Seattle trailing by seven runs.
“J.P. is playing great, and not just tonight,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Tonight might have been one of his best games since he’s been up (from Triple-A Tacoma), so very disappointing. Unfortunately he rolled the ankle, is what he did. He’s getting X-rays right now and we’ll know more in the morning. Hopefully it’s just an ankle sprain, and he’ll be back soon, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
After rookie second baseman Shed Long recorded his first major league RBI with a single in the eighth that scored Omar Narvaez, center fielder Mallex Smith promptly hit a grounder to first, and beat it out for a single. But, Long overshot second base on the play, causing Crawford to start inching toward home to try to avoid a rundown.
Crawford switched directions to go back to third when Asdrubel Cabrera started chasing Long to second, but Cabrera swung back and beat Crawford back to the bag. Crawford turned his ankle trying to avoid the tag, fell to the ground in pain, and had to be helped off the field. He had two hits in the game, including an RBI single, and a walk, and is hitting .279 since his call-up from Tacoma earlier this month.
“Can’t say enough about the way he has been playing,” Servais said. “You can just see the confidence starting to come out of him. Made a couple of really nice plays at shortstop tonight. Swung the bat great. Just unfortunate. He’s trying to dodge, get out of the way of a tag there, trying to get back to the base on the base running error in that inning. (Stuff) happens. There’s no other way to explain it.”
2. GONZALES WINLESS IN MAY
Mariners ace Marco Gonzales (5-5, 3.96 ERA), who recorded five straight wins without a loss in March and April, has now recorded five straight losses without a win in May.
He will end the month without a win, after struggling through his second-shortest start of the season Tuesday night. Gonzales allowed a season-high eight runs (and season-high six earned) in four-plus innings, leaving partway through a disastrous seven-run fifth, during which Texas sent 10 batters to the plate, without recording an out.
“He just looks like he’s a tick off mechanically, and getting some balls typically where he doesn’t in the middle of the plate,” Servais said. “Marco is a competitor, and it drives him crazy when he’s not able to get deep in the ballgame.
“He’ll take a look at some video, and hopefully tighten it up and get back to what he’s normally capable of doing. Living on the edge he’s using all of his pitches and just wasn’t able to repeat pitches tonight and sequence them up like he typically does.”
After allowing a pair of unearned runs in the first, Gonzales pitched two scoreless frames in the second and third. But, he allowed six earned runs during the next two innings.
Joey Gallo opened the fourth by ripping a liner to right before Nomar Marzara cranked an 0-2 fastball over the center field wall to make it 4-0. In the fifth, Gonzales loaded the bases with no outs, including hitting Elvis Andrus with a pitch. Hunter Pence broke the game open with a double to left center that scored two more runs.
Gonzales was pulled after throwing 80 pitches, but tagged with two more runs when Asdrubel Cabrera singled off reliever Brandon Brennan, pushing across Andrus and Pence.
The eight runs Gonzales allowed matched a career-high.
3. MALLEX BACK ON TRACK
Center fielder Mallex Smith, who spent two-plus weeks with Triple-A Tacoma earlier this month improving his offensive and defensive production, and had time off in Oakland last week to work out more kinks, seems to be finding a rhythm.
“I feel like myself, a lot more confidence,” Smith said. “I’m confident in my glove, I’m confident in my ability, and I’m having fun, so that’s the biggest thing right now.”
He made a pair of impressive catches in center — one diving in the third, one leaping to end the fourth — and finished 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. He is 5-for-8 since the Mariners returned home.
“Mallex had a really good night again offensively, and he made some nice plays in the outfield as well,” Servais said. “A couple of rangy plays, diving for a ball. Again, his confidence, you can see he feels better about himself, and he should. He’s put a lot of work in, he’s starting to get some results and we’re starting to see the player we know he is.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2019 at 11:33 PM.
