Kikuchi settles, but Mariners can’t climb out of early deficit in loss to Diamondbacks
The Mariners barreled up more than a few baseballs Friday night at Chase Field in Phoenix, but walked away from their series opener against the Diamondbacks their third consecutive loss.
Perhaps Dylan Moore described the frustrating 4-3 defeat, in which the Mariners managed only three hits despite consistently ripping the ball around the yard, best.
“It’s tough,” he said on a postgame video call. “That’s baseball. We’ll come back and maybe be a little bit more lucky tomorrow.”
They’ll need the luck to arrive quickly.
The Mariners (19-25) have now opened this short five-game road trip on a three-game skid — this particular loss coming against a scuffling Diamondbacks club that had lost 18 of its past 21 entering the night — and their playoff hopes might be slowly slipping away with little more than two weeks left to play and formidable opponents in the A’s, Padres and Astros due in town during the upcoming homestand.
“Frustrating night,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We hit so many balls hard tonight and really didn’t have a lot to show for it.”
Each of the Mariners’ three hits did drive in a run, but it wasn’t enough to erase an early deficit.
Arizona jumped on Yusei Kikuchi from the outset, hanging three runs on the Mariners’ starter in the first inning.
Tim Locastro opened the game with a single, promptly scored on a Josh Rojas triple, and that was enough to keep the Diamondbacks in front for good. Arizona scored twice more in the inning on an Eduardo Escobar sac fly and Nick Ahmed single.
“It took him a little while to settle in in the first inning,” Servais said. “They jumped on him there, they hit a couple balls hard in the first, they put up a three spot.
“After that I thought he was lights out. He really threw the ball well, he was ahead in the count most of the night … and really finished the game strong. I’ve often said the toughest inning for the starter is the first inning, and we saw it play out that way tonight.”
Kikuchi regrouped after falling into the early three-run hole, allowing just one more run in the third on a Kole Calhoun sac fly that made it 4-1. After the decisive first, during which he faced seven batters and threw 24 pitches, Kikuchi was solid his final five frames, allowing three more hits, but little otherwise, and retired the final 11 batters he faced, including striking out both Ahmed and Wyatt Mathisen to wrap up his six innings.
“I went out with a more aggressive mentality,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Kevin Ando of his approach in the later innings.
Kikuchi finished allowing the four runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts on 94 pitches, but was still tagged with his third loss of the year after winning his past two decisions.
The Mariners chipped away at the lead, but managed only three hits, and stranded three more runners who did reach base.
Moore reached to lead off the first, and stole his team-leading 10th base — which also ranks fourth in the majors — but he was left at second. Moore’s solo homer — his seventh — in the third was Seattle’s first hit, and trimmed the lead to 3-1.
“Can’t say enough about the type of season he’s had,” Servais said. “Just the overall skill set he brings it’s pretty exciting, and he’s just starting to figure it out, too. I think getting an opportunity to play every day this year, you’re starting to see him grow — and why not? That’s what we’re about is giving these young guys a chance, and he’s certainly taken advantage of the opportunity.”
Jose Marmolejos singled in a run in the seventh to trim the lead to two runs, and Ty France crushed his first homer as a Mariner in the eighth to make it 4-3, but that was Seattle’s final hit.
France’s 446-foot blast to left was the longest Mariners homer of the season, per Statcast.
“Really like what I’ve seen offensively out of Ty France,” Servais said. “He’s got power, he knows the strike zone, he makes adjustments. I like to listen to him talk about pitchers and his hitting approach and things like that. This guy’s going to hit. He’s always hit and he continues to make adjustments at the big league level.”
Yohan Ramirez and Anthony Misiewicz each tossed scoreless innings in relief to keep Seattle within reach, but the Mariners were retired in order in the ninth.
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 9:14 PM.
