Walker’s start unravels, Mariners can’t overcome early deficit against Angels
For three innings Thursday afternoon, Mariners starter Taijuan Walker sailed through the Angels’ lineup.
He retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, notched three strikeouts and appeared on his way to another solid performance, much like the gem he threw in seven scoreless innings in last week’s home opener against the A’s.
But, this outing turned as quickly as the weather.
Walker saw eight batters in the fourth on an uncharacteristically chilly, rainy August day at T-Mobile Park, walked three, hit another and gave up three runs on two hits before he was lifted well below his planned pitch limit.
The Mariners never recovered, eventually dropping a 6-1 loss to the Angels in their series finale, and falling to 5-9 two weeks into this shortened season.
It hasn’t been an ideal start to their opening homestand — the Mariners have won just two of six in their first two series, and have the red hot Rockies coming to town for a three-game set Friday.
“Certainly not what we were hoping for today,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said during his postgame video call with reporters.
“I thought Taijuan was throwing the ball really well early and then just got in a funk there in the fourth inning.”
Walker’s only mistake in the first three frames was leaving a splitter up to Shohei Ohtani for a solo homer in the second. But, his start unraveled two innings later.
“Honestly, for the most part I felt good,” he said. “My arm felt good. For three innings I was attacking the zone, getting ahead and just making them put the ball in play.
“I felt like I just kind of beat myself today, just getting behind. I mean, three walks in one inning, a hit by pitch — that’s not going to get the job done. But, I felt good, I know what I did wrong, and I know I can fix it and just get ready for the next start.”
Mike Trout — who finished the series 4-for-12 with three homers, a walk and scored four runs — opened the troublesome fourth with a single, and Walker loaded the bases with no outs after issuing back-to-back walks.
Tommy La Stella then poked a single to right to score a pair of runs. A sac fly from Max Stassi pushed across another to make it 4-0.
Walker hit a batter and gave up his third walk of the inning to load the bases for a second time before he was pulled. He threw just 69 pitches, and struggled to keep the ball down.
“I think it was a little bit of rustiness,” Servais said. “Taijuan has not pitched a lot in the last couple years, and the days when you don’t feel 100%, and you kind of get out of whack, at that moment, how do you fix it? How do you get back on the rails again?
“Sometimes it’s as simple as, ‘I’ve got to get this ball down and do it externally and aim lower.’ Other times it’s mechanical. But, that was the big issue there in the fourth.”
Walker couldn’t get his sights down, he said, and despite managing to drive a few pitches lower in the zone, couldn’t reestablish the rhythm he had early.
“I just got too quick,” he said. “I just kind of felt like I was disconnected from my body. My arm was just away from me, and just really didn’t get back in there driving the ball like I was in the first three innings.”
But, he felt the adjustment would be easy to make in his usual bullpen work before his next projected start Wednesday on the road in Texas.
“Next time around I feel like I’ll probably do a better job of getting back into it, and just settling down and getting my timing back,” he said.
Rookie reliever Joey Gerber was impressive again in his second appearance in as many days.
The 23-year-old needed just one pitch to clean up Walker’s jam in the fourth, getting a grounder from David Fletcher to end the inning. Gerber also threw a scoreless fifth, and faced Trout — and got him to ground out to short — after he was disappointed not to see the Angels slugger in his debut inning Wednesday night.
“Joey doesn’t get too high, too low, it’s a very calm heartbeat,” Servais said. “He’s just going to do his thing, and I like it a lot. I think he’s got a bright future ahead.
“Not an easy spot to put him in today. One pitch, got out of it and then came out there and threw a zero up after that, so he’s off to a really nice start.”
Taylor Guilbeau and Dan Altavilla tossed scoreless frames for Seattle in the sixth and seventh.
But, the Angels tacked on two more runs in the eighth to push the Mariners out of reach.
La Stella opened the frame with a leadoff double against Nestor Cortes, and Stassi added the insurance three batters later by crushing a two-run homer to left.
Daniel Vogelbach, Seattle’s home run leader last season with 30, checked in with his first long ball of the year in the fourth, after entering the game hitting 2-for-20 without an extra-base hit.
“That’s what my job is — get on base and hit homers,” he said. “The early scuffling I really wasn’t panicking at all too much. I mean, it’s 20-something at-bats into the season. I’m walking, getting on base.
“So, just trying not to panic, just keep taking it day by day, and doing my work, and believing if I put the work in that at the end of the year everything’s going to be taken care of.”
Vogelbach’s solo shot was the only run Seattle managed. The Mariners logged just four hits against Angels starter Dylan Bundy, who recored his first complete game of the season.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 3:35 PM.
