Seattle’s bats stall, and their playoff hopes fade after 2-1 loss to Angels Friday

A sellout crowd of 44,169 packed up their belongings and left the ballpark. Thousands of yellow “Believe” signs that scattered T-Mobile Park were in hand, but the belief that their home Mariners could end a 20-year postseason drought had stalled.

Needing a win over the Angels to keep pace in a packed AL wild card race, the Mariners offense mustered only five hits, and lost 2-1 on Friday night despite a gutsy, keep-you-in-the-game performance from Marco Gonzales.

For a crowd that had erupted for every Mariners hit and Angels out, Jarred Kelenic’s game-sealing flyout butchered the noise. Many fans elected to skip the post-game fireworks and head for the parking lots.

Before Friday’s loss, Seattle’s clubhouse echoed with music chosen by J.P. Crawford.

“It’s quiet tonight,” manager Scott Servais said. “It should be quiet. Guys are disappointed. We feel like we let one slip away a little bit that we should have had.

“But again, it’s baseball.”

With the crowd on their feet, Seattle drew first blood, but quickly lost their short-lived lead. With two outs in the second inning, Kelenic roped a double down the right field line that scored Abraham Toro at first base.

Toro’s scamper home was an aggressive send call from base coach Manny Acta, who could have held up a stop sign. Instead, he tested the arm of David Fletcher, who led catcher Kurt Suzuki off the plate with his throw.

“I thought it was very aggressive,” Servais said. “I’m glad (Acta) did it. Early in the game, we were trying to get some momentum going, so we took a shot. It was a great send. It worked out.”

But even as the Mariners grabbed a 1-0 advantage, Gonzales and the Mariners hit choppy waters in the third. It took the left-hander 34 pitches to end the inning, and it took a double-play groundout from Suzuki to avert further damage.

Luis Rengifo singled to left field off Gonzales to kickstart a two-run third inning for the Halos. Next was a 10-pitch walk to David Fletcher, and Brandon Marsh followed with a double beyond the reach of Dylan Moore’s glove in left field that scored a pair.

Gonzales intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani, and with two runs in and two runners on, the Angels still had no outs.

“We misplaced a couple pitches here and there,” Gonzales said of his third inning that ultimately scored the winning runs. “I’d like to have Marsh’s at-bat back certainly. But other than that, we were able to get the train back on the tracks and finish off strong, which was a huge, huge boost.”

Between the fourth and sixth innings, both teams hit an offensive dry spell. The Mariners went hitless, and the Angels mustered only a two-out single off the bat of Juan Lagares in the fourth.

Gonzales went on to throw six innings of two-run ball, allowing just three hits and two walks. He struck out five, and walked to the dugout as Seattle’s crowd awarded him a standing ovation.

As the innings dwindled and the offense continued to sputter, T-Mobile Park’s volume diminished. Luis Torrens changed that with one swing.

The designated hitter cranked an opposite field triple in the seventh inning that nearly cleared the fence and put Seattle’s tying run 90 feet away. With a chance to tie the game (or take the lead), Toro walked. The leading run was now on base.

Jose Quijada entered to pitch for Los Angeles. Kelenic was up next. He struck out on eight pitches. Tom Murphy struck out on four.

With a full count, Dylan Moore appeared to take ball four, but home plate umpire Jeremie Rehak called it strike three. The Angels retained the lead.

Paul Sewald struck out Brandon Marsh for strikeout number 100 on the season, and whiffed Ohtani on his next at-bat that ended the eighth and kept the deficit within one.

Angels reliever Steve Cishek needed only eight pitches to retire J.P. Crawford, Ty France, and Mitch Haniger in the home half of the inning.

Seager led off the final frame with a double, but the offense failed once again to bring the run home. Seattle’s playoff odds took a hit, and the crowd fell silent.

“We stubbed (our) toe tonight,” Servais said. “It happens. Like I said earlier, we’ll show up ready to go tomorrow. We’ll wash this one away.”

Seattle now sits one game behind Boston for the final wild card spot with two to play. They’re tied with Toronto, which finishes the season against Baltimore. Boston plays two more with the Nationals.

“We’ve come too far at this point to change who we are and the character that we have in this clubhouse,” Gonzales said.

“These are my brothers, my family, in here and I know that we’re going to come out with some fire tomorrow, for sure.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 11:15 PM.