Mariners get bats going, but can’t seal victory as Guardians win in 10th inning
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – In the fourth and final game of their Opening Series against the Cleveland Guardians, the Seattle Mariners dropped their third straight game as they fell in ten innings. The Mariners got far more offense than they had in yesterday's game when they got shutout, plating five runs and tripling their hit total from the loss just a day ago. Starter Marco Gonzales struggled in the second inning, allowing a three-run homer to former Mariner Mike Zunino, but otherwise pitched a solid game. Seattle stands at a record of 1-3, with 158 games ahead of them.
Julio Rodriguez’s day in photos (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Julio’s Sunday afternoon blast gets Seattle going
Mariners' superstar Julio Rodriguez has started the 2023 season, his sophomore campaign, off with some quality games. The Dominican-Republic born outfielder three consecutive multi-hit games after today’s two-for-five performance. The highlight came in the bottom of the first, when Julio blasted a first pitch sinker at the top of the strike zone, sending it off to the seats in right field to give Seattle instant offense. The superstar has provided offense for the Mariners when the rest of his teammates go quiet, recording two of the team's three hits yesterday, and seems primed for an encore performance following an electrifying rookie year. As was the case last season, Julio continues to be a highlight for Mariners fans, regardless of the result of the game itself.
Marco Gonzales’ game through photos (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Second inning struggles mar otherwise solid outing by Marco
Seattle starting pitcher Marco Gonzales, often heavily criticized by the Mariners fanbase, had a decent outing today against Cleveland. The former Gonzaga Bulldog began his first outing of the season strong, quickly and efficiently retiring the top of the Cleveland lineup in order. Following the excitement that Julio Rodriguez’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning brought, the (insert attendance) fans inside of T-Mobile Park were brought down to Earth when Gonzales failed to get out of the top of the second inning unscathed. Marco had gotten two outs but walked Josh Bell and given up a single to Andres Gimenez to give former Mariner Mike Zunino a chance to respond. With two outs, on a 1-0 count, Zunino tanked a cutter in the middle of the zone to left-center field, giving Cleveland the lead just as fast as Seattle had gotten on the board.
Teoscar gets his first hit as a Mariner
Right fielder Teoscar Hernandez has struggled offensively to begin his tenure as a Seattle Mariner, but it isn’t as if he’s striking out or not making contact when he comes to the plate. The former Toronto Blue Jay has hit the ball hard, notching two of the highest exit velocities and farthest hit balls of the day, but hasn’t gotten a lot of luck to go his way when it comes to actual results quite yet. Hernandez got a bit of a break in the eighth inning, when he hammered a double off the top of the wall in left field on a laser. If he had gone just a foot or two higher, it would’ve been not only his first hit as a Mariner but also his first homer, but he happily settled for a double. When the air gets a little less chilly and when bad luck isn’t holding him back, expect a lot of excitement from Hernandez at the plate.
Mariners take only one of four against good Guardians team
It’s always tough to see your team drop three of four in any series, let alone the Opening weekend slate of games. There’s obviously a ton of excitement around this team, as there seems to be every year in Seattle, as well as heightened expectations since the team finally broke through the longest playoff drought in North American sports. New additions Teoscar Hernandez and Kolten Wong are getting used to the conditions here in Seattle, and some are already overreacting over their performances. The team has played four games, and to some it’s somehow already the end of the world. As I have mentioned previously, be patient with these guys. They didn’t come out of the gate firing off last year. The 116-win team in 2001 didn’t go undefeated to start their season either, if you want me to bring up wild years. Have some patience, enjoy the struggle. It makes the reward more worth it in the end.
Quick notes
The Mariners lost 6-5 and fell to 1-3 on the season.
Last year the Mariners went 11-5 in extra innings.
Julio Rodríguez went 2-for-5 in today’s game, with his leadoff home run marking the 150th hit of his career…he is the 2nd-fastest Mariners player (136 G) to reach 150 career hits, trailing only Ichiro Suzuki (102 G).
Rodríguez has recorded multiple hits in 3 consecutive games, tying his career high (last: 8/19/22 - 8/21/22).
He hit his first home run of the 2023 season in his first at bat of the day. This was the 7th time in his career Rodríguez hit a leadoff home run (last: 10/5/22 vs. DET).
It was Rodríguez’s 3rd-career home run on the 1st pitch of a game and is the 14th leadoff home run on the first pitch by a batter in club history.
With 7 leadoff home runs, he now has the 2nd most in Mariners history. He trails only Ichiro Suzuki (37).
Cal Raleigh went 2-for-5 in the game and recorded his first multi-hit game of the year…has hit safely in each of his 3 starts this season.
Raleigh caught Josh Bell stealing 2nd to mark his first of the season. He led the American League in runners caught stealing last year with 25, trailing only JT Realmuto-PHI (30) in the Majors.
Eugenio Suárez recorded 2 hits to mark his first multi-hit game of the year.
Last season Suárez had the 5th most multi-hit games for the Mariners.
Teoscar Hernández picked up his first hit of the season, a double to left, and recorded the hardest hit ball of the game at 112.6 MPH.
His hit today is also the hardest hit ball for the Mariners this season (previous: Cal Raleigh, 111.7 MPH on 3/31/22).
Marco Gonzales made his season debut and tossed 5.0 innings, allowed 4 earned runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.
AJ Pollock made his Mariners debut today.
Sam Haggerty recorded his first stolen base of the season, swiping 3rd with 1 out in the 10th inning.
The Mariners bullpen combined for 5.0 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 ER): Trevor Gott (1.0 IP), Matt Brash (1.0 IP), Andrés Muñoz (1.0 IP), Paul Sewald (1.0 IP), Penn Murfee (0.1 IP), Gabe Speier (0.2 IP).
Today’s game was the first game of the 2023 season to go into extra innings
Today was Seattle Kraken Day at the ballpark. Kraken mascot Buoy and head coach Dave Hakstol were in attendance, Hakstol threw out the first pitch.
What’s next?
The Mariners look to turn the page tomorrow when they begin a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels that will round out the Opening homestand. Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and divisional rival Los Angeles come to town with a 2-1 record, having taken the series against the Oakland Athletics. Seattle will look to climb out of the basement of the AL West if they’re successful in this series against the current second spot in the division. Young starter George Kirby will get the ball to begin the series on Monday, April 3rd with a first pitch of 6:40PM PST as he faces off against Angels starter Reid Detmers.