Burnes torches through Mariners lineup as Seattle falls 7-3 to Brewers
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The four-game winning streak came to an end for the Seattle Mariners, as they dropped game one of their three game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The former Seattle Pilots had Corbin Burnes on the mound, and despite his poor start, was able to neutralize what little juice that the Mariners bats were able to muster. Solo homers by Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez weren’t going to get it done for Seattle unlike yesterday’s 1-0 victory over Colorado. The Mariners fall below .500 again, as they continue to search for consistent offense.
Flexen has second tough outing in a row
Mariners starting pitcher Chris Flexen was part of that ugly and infuriating 9-14 loss to the Cubs on the road that saw Flexen give up eight earned runs on ten hits. Flexen, taking the place of Robbie Ray in the Seattle rotation until he returns from a left flexor strain, was able to lock back in after a three-run second inning, but allowed a fourth run in the sixth. Flexen had trouble with his location on the night, offering up too many meatballs in the middle of the plate in the second that Brewers batters were happy to gobble up. Milwaukee made solid contact, racking up four hits to score those three runs.
“Yeah, I mean, very frustrating. Sucks putting the team down in a hole like that and having to climb back like that. It’s back to back outings that’s happened and not doing a good job of putting us in a position to win...it went from giving up eight to down to four. So it’s a little better now. All jokes aside, it’s hopefully trending in the right direction, still got some work to do. Slider was pretty decent at night, but it also got me in trouble missing up in middle and just hanging a few. But, been there before and like I said, not going to stop competing.”
Flexen was able to settle down a bit as we mentioned until the sixth, when he began the inning by giving up a single (Adames) and walk before a Brian Anderson single scored Adames from second. Interestingly enough, the balls in play against Flexen on the two singles in that inning were both balls that were under or near the bottom of the strike zone. In his time as a Mariner, Flexen has been serviceable as a starter. These past two starts aren’t good for him or Seattle, but the team doesn’t have much of a choice until Ray gets back, which should be soon.
Mariners starting pitcher Chris Flexen had a tough outing again (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Limited Mariners offense not nearly enough
The issues that the Seattle offense have seen over the last few years haven’t gotten much better, hence the reasoning behind Mariners fans cries for the team to add established hitters in free agency. Acquiring Teoscar Hernandez in a trade was solid addition to the lineup considering the pop that he brings, but the team still didn’t improve enough offensively, and their DH spot has been horrid when it’s been any of the players that they’ve brought in to rotate through that role. The Mariners brought in players like Hummel, Pollock, and La Stella for them to have versatile depth that can step into multiple positions (those three batters can fill numerous spots if needed) in the case that injuries arise. While that’s nice to have on this ballclub, none of those three have done enough at the plate outside of AJ Pollock’s two homer game, which actually came when he started in left field.
Seattle centerfielder Julio Rodriguez’s solo homer through pictures (Photos by Liv Lyons)
The Mariners bats continued their inconsistency today, only mustering four hits for much of the game and two of those being solo homers by Raleigh and Rodriguez. A problem that Seattle struggled with last season was their reliance on the long ball, and that sort of success cannot be seen as a pillar to lean on again this season. Many of the Mariners top hitters were able to make loud, hard contact, but it mostly ended up around the warning track. That sort of thing may be sorted by the warmer air returning when the weather changes in the summer months, but again Seattle cannot rely on things like that. The Mariners offense must improve on a day-to-day basis that can be counted on without relying on differing circumstances. Where that starts is an interesting conversation but considering that the same hitting coaches have been in place the last few years as the teams' bats have struggled and haven’t shown enough improvement, that may be a starting point.
Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh celebrates his solo homer with teammate JP Crawford (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Pump the hate breaks
The booing that happened mildly throughout this game and the incredible hate tweets on twitter to trade certain players has become ridiculous. While the Mariners have struggled in different areas to begin this season, they’re only 17 games into the 162-game season and are playing without a few notable faces that are dealing with injury. Factor in Seattle’s cold weather in the early months of the season, and the slow starts make season. They happen all the time for the Mariners, no matter the roster.
Look, I understand the frustration. I grew up coming to Safeco Field. I had to watch Dustin Ackley, Chone Figgins, Taylor Motter, and other legends (ha!) of this ballclub. My point is that this team has too much talent in most of it’s roster to not start succeeding. Could that be a horrible jinx? Yes. Do I believe that the bats will find some life, especially as the weather warms up? Also, yes. The defensive issues (JP Crawford made a bad, bad error in this game) are discouraging, but the pitching mostly has been solid. Please, just don’t be a clown and boo these guys.
Seattle first baseman Ty France had an RBI double in the game (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Quick notes
Cal Raleigh’s home run in the 2nd inning gave the Mariners their first run of the night and was Raleigh’s 10th RBI this season.
Raleigh has reached base safely in the last 5 consecutive games and walked in 4 out of the 5.
Julio Rodríguez hit his 3rd home run of the season during the bottom of the 8th inning.
Eugenio Suárez extended his on-base streak to 14 games (4/2-c) after a single to left in the 4th inning.
Of his 14-game on base streak, Suárez has hit safely in 12 of the last 14 games.
During his on base streak he is batting .316 (18x57) with 18 hits, 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 13 RBI.
Ty France extended his on base streak to 13 games (4/2-c) on an RBI double in the bottom of the 6th.
Of the 17 games this season, he has reached base safely in 16 of 17 and hit safely in 14 of 17.
During his 13-game streak, France is batting .321 (18x56) with 18 hits, 7 doubles, 8 RBI and 7 walks.
Teoscar Hernández went 2-for-4 on the night picked up his first hit of the game on a single in the 2nd inning.
In the last 8 games he is batting .343 (12x35) with 3 runs, 1 double, 1 home run and 5 RBI.
After a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the 6th inning, J.P. Crawford has now walked at least once in the last 6 straight games.
Entering tonight’s game, Crawford was tied for 12th in the Major Leagues with 12 walks on the season.
In his first career start (4th appearance) against the Brewers, Chris Flexen threw 6.0 innings, allowed 6 hits, 4 runs (4 ER), 1 walk and struck out 5.
He threw just 5 pitches to get out of the 1st inning tonight, the second time he has done so in his career as a Mariner (last: 7/25/22).
The Mariners bullpen combined for 3.0 innings tonight.
Penn Murfee entered the game in the 7th inning and threw 0.2 innings, allowed 2 hits, 2 runs (2 ER), 1 walk, 1 strikeout and 1 home run.
He allowed his first earned run of the season on a home run to the Brewers Brice Turang in the top of the 7th inning.
Gabe Speier pitched 0.1 inning to close out the 7th, followed by Diego Castillo who threw 1.0 inning, allowed 1 hit and 2 walks.
Darren McCaughan made his season debut and tossed 1.0 inning, allowed 1 hit, 1 run (0 ER), 1 walk and 1 strikeout. He is the 33rd player and the 19th pitcher the Mariners have used this season.
Entering tonight’s game, the Mariners were only 2nd behind Atlanta (33) in the most players used in the Majors in the 2023 season.
Tomorrow’s game against Milwaukee (6:40 pm PT) will be telecast live on ROOT SPORTS Plus.
The roof was closed for tonight’s game, the 4th time this season.
What’s next?
A keynote to pay attention to for tomorrow’s game is that the Mariners game will be broadcast on ROOT SPORTS plus, as the Seattle Kraken round one Stanley Cup Playoff game will be taking place at that time and will be broadcast on the main ROOT channel. The Mariners will look to bounce back and get back to business tomorrow, Tuesday April 18th when they host the Brewers for another 6:40PM PST first pitch time. Seattle will have Logan Gilbert on the bump to try and start a new winning streak, as he will face off against Milwaukee’s veteran Colin Rea.