Gonzales quality again, but bullpen stumbles late in Mariners loss to Dodgers
In the sweltering heat in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, Mariners ace Marco Gonzales delivered yet another quality outing.
It was perhaps his best of the season so far. A single run allowed on five hits, no walks and a sterling nine strikeouts against an imposing Dodgers lineup.
But, after Gonzales, competitive and reliable as always, left the game, a storyline that has become too familiar for the Mariners in this shortened season played out again.
The bullpen took over in a tie game, and the Mariners ended up on the wrong side of another loss, dropping their series finale at Dodger Stadium, 2-1. It was the seventh consecutive loss for Seattle (7-18).
This time, the lead unraveled with Dan Altavilla on the mound in the eighth. He issued a one-out walk to Austin Barnes, who then stole second and came around to score on a base hit from Corey Seager.
“It was going to come down to the one big hit late, and they got it,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “They found a hole, and we did not find a hole.”
Erased was another excellent performance from a Mariners starter on this disappointing road trip. The Mariners haven’t won a game since their 10-2 dismantling of the Rangers last Monday.
“Certainly would like to win a few more ballgames on this trip, but I couldn’t be any happier with the way we’re playing,” Servais said. “We’re competitive, we’re right there against some really good teams, so our guys are learning. I think you see it if you’re watching us every day. You see how they’re growing, and they’re getting more confident. ... So, a lot of positive things to talk about here, but again, just not enough to get the W today.”
Gonzales retired the first eight batters he faced, and struck out five straight in the middle of the Dodgers’ order during that stretch.
Los Angeles’ first hit came from Barnes with two outs in the third, but as the order turned over, Gonzales coolly worked a fly out from Mookie Betts, ending the inning.
After Seager doubled to lead off the fourth, Gonzales retired the next three without issue, and some help from his rookie center fielder. Justin Turner smoked a pitch deep to right center that would have at the very least scraped the top of the wall for an extra-base hit, and may have even cleared it for a two-run homer. But, then rookie center fielder Kyle Lewis came racing into frame, his glove hand outstretched as he leaped into the air, and hauled in the catch.
The Dodgers’ dugout was stunned. Lewis tossed the ball back in and smiled as he trotted back to center.
“That was really cool,” Lewis said. “I’ve been working on balls at the wall, trying to time my jumps.”
He said knew he would have a chance, based on the trajectory of the ball, and soared through the air as he made the grab.
“I want to be reliable when you put my name in center field in the lineup card,” Lewis said. “You know what you’re going to get, you’re going to get my best. I’m going to catch the balls that need to be caught, and make some special plays, too. I’m trying to just be reliable out there.”
The fly out was deep enough that Seager advanced to third, but Gonzales got a shallow fly ball to left for the second out and struck out reigning National League MVP Cody Bellinger swinging to strand the runner.
The Bellinger strikeout set off another string of four in a row for Gonzales, who struck out the side in both the second and fifth innings.
Gonzales’ struck out six of the nine players in Los Angeles’ order: Turner, A.J. Pollock, Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Max Muncy and Kike Hernandez. He struck out Bellinger, former Mariner Taylor and Muncy each twice.
“You can put any lineup in there and I’m going to stick with my Plan A, and pitch to my strengths,” he said. “It took me a long time to learn that in this league, to be on the attack, and be aggressive, and that puts guys on their heels. So yeah, they’ve got a good lineup, but I’m pretty good, too. I just wanted to find out what I had and go toe-to-toe with them.”
Gonzales also matched his career-high for strikeouts — set in his debut season with the Cardinals back in 2014 — with nine in the outing. It’s the third time Gonzales has matched that mark in two seasons, after hitting it twice last year.
Los Angeles’ only run came in the sixth. Barnes, who had two of the five hits Gonzales gave up, opened the inning with a soft grounder that barely left the box, and Gonzales threw wide of the bag. He got two outs, but a Turner single drove in the run to make it 1-0.
Gonzales returned for the seventh and got a quick fly out before Taylor knocked a single. J.P. Crawford then turned a highlight-reel double play when he scooped a grounder, put a tag on Taylor in the base line and whipped the ball over to first to wrap up Gonzales’ night at 102 pitches.
It was Gonzales’ third quality outing in his five starts, he mixed his four pitches equally and effectively — he threw his sinker 35 times, his curveball 23, his cutter 23 and his changeup 21 — and he pushed his season ERA to 3.34.
“You can’t draw it up any better than what he did today, and I just love the demeanor he has when he takes the mound,” Servais said. “Very, very competitive, and he does have that bulldog in him, and you can see it come out. He really wanted that ballgame today, and he really wanted to shove it against a very good team, and he shut them down. He really did.”
Seattle’s only run came in the seventh. Lewis drew a leadoff walk, and Betts misplayed a long line drive off the wall resulting in a double for Kyle Seager. Lewis later scored on a ground ball from pinch hitter Tim Lopes to make it 1-1.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 6:56 PM.
