A night after posting double-digit runs in Texas, Mariners bats cool off in loss
Perhaps the closed roof made the difference.
A night after the Mariners cranked out double-digit runs against the Rangers under the open air in Arlington, they managed just a pair in a 4-2 loss in their second appearance at the new Globe Life Field.
This time the roof was on, and the tables turned. Texas’ bats heated up in key moments, and Seattle’s cooled way off.
“I thought our at-bats were really good early in the ballgame,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said during a postgame video call with reporters. “We didn’t get the big hit, but we were running up the pitch count.
“The at-bats were really good. I thought we did a nice job controlling the zone, we just didn’t get that one big double or bit hit to kind of get us on the board early on.”
The four hits the Mariners (7-12) did manage — half of them by Kyle Seager, who finished 2-for-4 — were scattered across two innings. Seager singled in the first, and three Mariners walked in the first three frames, but the only runs came in the fifth.
Dee Gordon drew a leadoff walk, Tim Lopes singled behind him, and J.P. Crawford’s RBI single scored Gordon. Lopes then scored on a throwing error on a grounder from Kyle Lewis.
Seattle didn’t produce another base runner after Seager’s two-out single in the fifth the following at-bat, and the Rangers’ bullpen retired the final 13 batters it faced.
“I’ve got to give their bullpen credit tonight,” Servais said. “Their bullpen threw really well, had good stuff and then they executed. That’s going to happen on certain nights.
“Again, just one of those games where they got a few through the infield and we didn’t.”
Seattle’s slow night on offense didn’t do much to aid Mariners ace Marco Gonzales, who kept the game within reach despite allowing a season-high four earned runs on a season-high seven hits in five innings.
“I thought Marco really gutted it out and hung in there,” Servais said. “Wasn’t quite as sharp as we’ve seen him certainly the last couple times out.”
He walked one and struck out two in an 89-pitch outing, and yet, though not as efficient as usual, the four runs he allowed — two each in the first and third innings — shouldn’t have been insurmountable.
“We had a good plan going in and I felt like we executed pretty good for the most part,” Gonzales said. “A lot of ground balls just seemed to find a hole. So, not my night on that side of the baseball, but I felt good executing a lot of my pitches tonight.”
“A couple feet here, there we get a double play ball and he’s out of those innings without any runs scoring,” Servais said. “Marco’s a real pro. He hung in there, gutted it out, got through the fifth for us and gave us a chance. We just couldn’t muster anything against their bullpen.”
The Rangers wasted no time piecing together runs after Monday night’s lopsided 10-2 loss to the Mariners.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled on the fourth pitch of the game, Todd Frazier added a base hit and Gonzales hit Joey Gallo with a changeup at the end of his 10-pitch at-bat to load the bases in the first.
Nick Solak, who was 3-for-3 against Gonzales, singled to center to give Texas an early 2-0 lead it never lost.
“I was a little frustrated, bases loaded, one out, chopper up the middle,” Gonzales said. “I feel like in those situations, you make a pitch, you do everything right and the ball just doesn’t go your way.
“So, there’s lessons on resetting, and getting back on the hill, and making a quality pitch. I felt like I did that pretty well for the most part tonight. They fouled off a lot of good pitches, and we’re able to take some pretty long at-bats.”
Gonzales worked cleanly through the second, but Kiner-Falefa opened the third with a double, Gonzales hit Gallo with a sinker this time, and Solak knocked in another run with his second base hit of the game.
Willie Calhoun singled the following at-bat to push across another run, making it 4-0.
Gonzales made it through the next two innings without further damage, but was removed before the sixth after hitting the 89-pitch mark.
Matt Magill, the only Mariners reliever yet to give up a run this season — he’s allowed just one hit in seven innings across seven appearances with four walks to eight strikeouts — struck out the side swinging in the sixth.
“It’s the first time that Magill has gone back-to-back outings, and I thought he was better tonight than he was last night after coming off a couple days rest,” Servais said. “Matt’s really got two awesome breaking balls. He can throw the curveball, it’s a hard downer, and then the slider along with it. Haven’t seen the velocity that we saw at certain times last year, but the command of his breaking balls and the sharpness, the late bite to it, it’s really effective and he’s throwing them for strikes.
“So, he continues to roll along, and it’s good to see. We’re going to need him here as the season plays out.”
Dan Altavilla worked a clean seventh, and Bryan Shaw, who was recalled from the Mariners’ alternate site in Tacoma ahead of this series, struck out two in a scoreless eighth.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 9:07 PM.
