Mariners drop series opener to Astros after Yusei Kikuchi is scratched from his start
It all started with a rare catcher’s interference call.
George Springer, after seemingly flying out to right field to open the first inning, took his base.
Then, the Astros did what the Astros do when given even the slightest of opportunities — score runs. So many runs. Nine of them, to be exact. In one inning.
They burned through two Mariners relievers, filling in after scheduled starter Yusei Kikuchi was scratched, and sent 14 batters to the plate.
Seattle’s pitchers gave up the nine runs (seven earned) on seven hits, including two home runs, and walked three in that first inning, while the defense chipped in three errors.
When the inning mercifully ended, the Mariners were trailing by eight.
When the game ended, more than three hours after it started, Seattle was starting down an 11-1 loss Friday night in their series opener in Houston. It was their fourth, and worst, loss in five trips to Minute Maid Park so far this season.
Not exactly what the Mariners (7-14) were looking for, or expecting, following their first day off Thursday.
“Obviously not a lot of positives in that ball game tonight,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said during his postgame video call with reporters.
The night started trending downward even before that first inning.
Nestor Cortes Jr., one of the club’s multi-inning bullpen arms, wasn’t supposed to make his first start in a Mariners uniform — and only his second in parts of three seasons in the majors — in Friday’s tilt.
Less than an hour before game time, Kikuchi was scratched with neck spasms, and Cortes tapped to replace him.
Servais said he didn’t have a clear idea yet of Kikuchi’s status moving forward, but it was clear during pregame work the left-hander would not be able to make his fourth start of the season.
“I know it was bugging him when he came in,” Servais said. “He tried to get some treatment on it and actually went in the batting cage tried to throw, and he just wasn’t going to be able to post. ... I hope he’s able to maybe bounce back, and we can slide him in the rotation, and don’t have to wait a whole another week before he pitches. That’s what we’re hoping for, but we’ll probably know more tomorrow.”
Cortes said he was informed he would be starting about an hour before first pitch, when he was shagging fly balls in the outfield.
Having not pitched in a game in more than a week, the sudden switch in routine didn’t do him any favors, especially against this punishing Astros lineup. He allowed eight runs (seven earned) on five hits, including two homers, while allowing two walks and striking out one in a third of an inning.
After Springer reached on the catcher’s interference call, Josh Reddick singled to center, and a fielding error by Kyle Lewis gave Houston runners at second and third.
Cortes then managed a swinging strikeout of Jose Altuve, but it ended up being the only out he would get.
Alex Bregman followed up with a single that scored a run before Yordan Alvarez, in his first at-bat of the season, crushed a three-run homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field. That made it 4-1.
Yuli Gurriel went back-to-back with Alvarez, mashing his own solo homer to left.
Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker each walked on four pitches. Martin Maldonado ripped a double to left two score both of them and make it 7-1.
Cortes was pulled at 41 pitches at that point, and was evaluated later by medical staff dealing with soreness in his triceps area.
“Kind of inflammation,” he said. “Go day by day. See how it feels, and we’ll go from there.”
The first inning only got worse for the Mariners after Cortes’ outing was over.
Shaw came in from the bullpen for the Astros’ second go-around through the batting order and gave up a single to Springer and a run-scoring double to Reddick that made it 8-1.
Altuve reached on an error when shortstop J.P. Crawford slipped fielding a ground ball, and another run scored to make it 9-1.
Shaw walked Bregman before Alvarez grounded into a double play to finally end the frame.
“It was a struggle finding out about an hour before game time that Yusei was not going to be able to go,” Servais said. “Obviously we needed to go to some of our length guys in the bullpen and it got away from us in the first inning, and we didn’t play great defense, and a couple soft hits early, and then they banged a couple there later in the inning, and it certainly got away from us at that point.”
Despite Kikuchi being scratched and Cortes lifted in the first inning, the Mariners did manage to only use four pitchers in the game, getting three innings each from Rule 5 Draft pickup Yohan Ramirez and newcomer Brady Lail.
“You’re trying to manage the game best you can and give yourself the best chance to be competitive and win the ballgame the next day, so it’s not a fun situation to be in,” Servais said. “It happens throughout the course of the season, you’re going to have a game or two like that. You lose the starter, there’s not many teams that are going to be able to rebound and have somebody step in and give you five innings. Just hoping to take it an inning at a time, and just couldn’t get through that first inning.”
The Astros tacked on another run in the second against Shaw when Gurriel tripled to open the inning and scored on an infield grounder.
They added one more in the fifth when Ramirez hit Alvarez with a pitch with the bases loaded.
But, even in a game as deflating as this, there were still a few moments that fit into the pluses category.
Crawford extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the fifth, and has reached base in all 20 games he’s played in.
Rookie first baseman Evan White, who was just 7-for-67 entering the game, ended a long drought at the plate with a double in his third at-bat in the seventh. He also continued to flash his trusty glove, leaning over the railing of the Astros’ dugout for a tough out to open the sixth.
Despite loading the bases in the fifth and giving up the one run, Ramirez completed three innings, allowed three walks and struck out four pitching against his former club.
In his Mariners debut, Lail, who was claimed off waivers earlier in the week from the White Sox, tossed three scoreless innings with a walk and three strikeouts.
Seattle’s only run came in the first inning when a walk, a balk, a stolen base and a Kyle Seager sacrifice fly scored Dylan Moore.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 9:20 PM.
