Graveman battles, but bullpen gives up lead again as Mariners come up short against A’s
Mariners starter Kendall Graveman didn’t deliver as overpowering an outing Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Park as the three members of Seattle’s rotation who pitched ahead of him this second go-around.
But, he battled.
Dealing with neck discomfort he said has troubled him for a while, Graveman still churned out 4 2/3 solid innings before reaching his pitch limit, and though he was pulled with two runners on base in the fifth, he did leave with a one-run lead.
Only, for the second consecutive game, the Mariners couldn’t hold onto it. Much like the outcome a night before, when Yusei Kikuchi’s six dominant shutout innings went by the wayside, the Mariners’ bullpen served up the winning run minutes after a quality effort from their starter.
In Graveman’s case, the blow came four pitches after he exited.
Rookie reliever Anthony Misiewicz was brought on in relief after Graveman walked Tony Kemp and a slow-rolling infield hit by Marcus Semien extended the inning, and promptly served up the go-ahead three-run bomb to Ramon Laureano.
Oakland’s bullpen, which has the lowest combined ERA in the American League, coolly kept that lead in tact over the final five frames, eventually handing the Mariners, again much like the night before, another 3-2 loss.
Mariners manager Scott Servais commended how Graveman fought through the outing, but seeing the “tank was empty” after Graveman reached 96 pitches on the Semien hit, opted to make the call to the bullpen.
But, Laureano was ready to strike, like Chad Pinder did a night earlier with a two-run homer off Nick Margevicius that wiped out the possibility for Kikuchi’s first win of the season.
“We’ve got young guys, putting them in situations, and they’re learning,” Servais said. “He made a mistake. Kind of like last night’s ballgame, it kind of came down to one pitch.
“But, we’re playing good baseball and that’s the key with this group is we’re going to stay upbeat, positive and we’re learning along the way.”
Seattle’s bullpen with its varying levels of big league experience and loosely defined roles has been one of its weaker points through the first 10 games of the season. In contrast to the A’s, the Mariners have the highest combined bullpen ERA in the AL.
Though the Mariners have 11 relievers on hand, they haven’t yet found consistency in high-leverage spots, and this homestand that’s cost them two possible wins.
But, Graveman, even operating at less than 100% continued the recent trend of Mairners starters putting the club in good position. Against his former club, he put up four clean innings before the traffic in the fifth.
Graveman said the neck issue did have an impact, but he still made pitches when he needed to.
“He just wasn’t as free and easy as he was over in Houston the other day,” Servais said. “Certainly it’s something we’ll get checked out, and hopefully get him feeling back to 100%. I give him a ton of credit. He did battle and he kept them right there.
“Inches away from walking out with five scoreless innings on a day that you don’t feel anywhere near 100%. He’s a pro. He did really battle and gave us everything he had today.”
Graveman said his neck initially started bothering him during his first start last week against the Astros, and will continue to seek out answers Monday.
“Halfway through the Houston start it kind of gave me some trouble,” he said. “This week was OK. But, getting out and competing, you just try to bear down and make pitches, grit your teeth.
“I’ve been told it can’t get any worse than what it is, so just praying for hopefully healing, and seen a lot of doctors for it, but continue to move forward and hopefully get some answers.”
With the two runs charged to him from Laureano’s homer, Graveman finished the 4 2/3 innings allowing the two runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
The homer ended a streak of 23 1/3 consecutive innings in which a Mariners starter did not allow an earned run.
Seattle’s offense did little to help on its end. The Mariners took an early 1-0 lead on a hard-hit RBI single from Daniel Vogelbach, who was just 1-for-13 in five games entering the day, but the bats were mostly quiet.
Rookie outfielder Kyle Lewis accounted for Seattle’s only other run of the game when he crushed a fastball from A’s reliever Yusmeiro Petit over the wall in left center in the eighth. It was first run Oakland’s bullpen has allowed this series.
The homer extended Lewis’ hitting streak to 10 games after a pair of strikeouts and a groundout in his first three at-bats.
“He doesn’t get too far ahead or look behind at what’s happened,” Servais said. “Even today, they made some good pitches against him, he was a little off. But, kind of put that aside, walk up there have a really good at-bat, hit the tar out of the last one to kind of keep it rolling.”
Lewis continues to lead the majors in hits with 17, but his solo shot was the last run the Mariners managed.
This story was originally published August 2, 2020 at 4:32 PM.
