Seattle’s offense again finds traction early, but again can’t sustain it while pitching and defense continue to struggle
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Your Seattle Mariners have dropped their fourth consecutive game, falling to divisional rival Los Angeles by a score of 7-3 as the Seattle bats couldn’t sustain production, while the Mariners defensive issues and pitching struggles continue. Seattle starter George Kirby failed to get out of the fifth inning, and the Mariners bullpen couldn’t put out the fires as the Angels extended their lead in the last two innings. Seattle drops to a 1-4 record on the season, but the team doesn’t seem to be in an uproar just yet.
Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and the Angels offense had their way with the Mariners (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
It was no dreamland for Kirby
Mariners starter George Kirby, who delighted Seattle fans in the third game of the ALDS with a statement performance, struggled in his first outing of the season. Going against Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and this Angels attack, Kirby went four and a third innings, giving up nine hits and four earned runs. Ohtani ended up essentially putting the final dagger into Kirby’s outing, tanking a two-run homer to deep right-center field. The Rye, New York native was able to keep the walks down, but ended up surrendering some hard contact to the Angels bats.
“No, I came in. I’m not going to be scared of him. So probably just could have let that change up, go down a little bit more, left it up much, but I thought I tacked well tonight. Just a couple of pitches I’d like to have back. ”
“Yeah, I would have liked to been more down on the play with the curveball. I left some up that Rengifo won. I wish that one was down, but, yeah, there’s still some things I’ve got to work on, but a lot of good things to take out of day one.”
Seattle starting pitcher George Kirby only made it through 4.1 innings (Photo by Bryan Saldana)
Offense starts well, and then...
Seattle’s offensive attack saw some sporadic success throughout the first five innings, all kicked off by a deep double from the bat of Eugenio Suarez that scored Julio Rodriguez with ease. The Mariners offense continues to squander opportunities with runners on base, even displayed in that first inning following Suarez’s double as AJ Pollock walked, but Sam Haggerty lined out. The issues with the Seattle bats isn’t a new thing, the Mariners have seen their hitting hold them back for the last few years, with the number of homers they hit potentially putting a blanket over the bigger issue. Seattle must be able to string things together and score those runners that are in scoring position. If they can’t figure out how to do that going forward, this team is in deep deep trouble.
Seattle saw some offensive success early, but it didn’t materialize into enough (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Quick notes
Eugenio Suárez went 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in two of the Mariners 3 runs tonight.
Suárez’s double in the bottom of the first inning scored Julio Rodríguez for the first run of the game.
Suárez has recorded multiple hits in back-to-back games, including a double in both games.
Each of his 3 battled balls tonight registered as hard-hit (95+ MPH).
Julio Rodríguez reached base 3 times (2 BB) and has now reached base multiple times in 4 consecutive games…during the 4-game stretch, he is batting .353 (6x17) with 4 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 2 RBI and 2 walks.
Ty France recorded his first career stolen base tonight.
Entering today’s game, France had been on base 570 times without a stolen base, 2nd-most in the Majors trailing only Omar Narváez (716 TOB).
France doubled in the third inning for his 3rd extra-base hit of the season…he has hit safely in 4 of 5 games on the year.
George Kirby made his fifth career start against the Angels, his most against any opponent…he tossed 4.1 innings and allowed 4 runs (4 ER) on 9 hits and 1 walk with 5 strikeouts.
His home run allowed to Shohei Ohtani in the fifth inning was only his second home run allowed over his last 16 starts (7/2-c)…Kirby did not allow a home run in 14-consecutive starts from July 2-Sept. 28, 2022, which was the longest streak in the Majors during the 2022 season.
The Angels have recorded 11 hits in 3 consecutive games.
Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run home run in the top the fifth inning to give the Angels a 4-2 lead.
Has homered in back-to-back games for the 16th time in his career (last: Aug. 28-29, 2022).
Mike Trout reached base 5 times (1B, 3 BB, HBP) tonight…dating back to July 20, 2019, Trout has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games at T-Mobile Park, including 12 games with at least 1 hit.
Entering tonight’s game, he held a .428 career OBP at T-Mobile Park.
Has reached base safely in each of his 4 games this season, including 3 games with a hit.
Jake Lamb’s went 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored, 1 double and 1 walk.
The double was his first of the season and opened the Angel’s scoring in the top of the 2nd inning.
What’s next?
Game two of this three game slate against the Los Angeles begins tomorrow, Tuesday April 4th, against the Angels with a similar first pitch time of 6:40PM PST. Seattle starter and ace Luis Castillo takes the mound for the second game of this series, set to duel with Los Angeles starter Jose Suarez. The Mariners will need to put together a consistent, all-around effort to get the cogs of their offense moving and find a rhythm.