Tigers hold off Mariners in series opener, despite Seattle’s efforts to claw back
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – To begin their ten-game homestand and get back into regular season action after the All-Star week that they hosted in their ballpark, the Seattle Mariners opened a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers in losing fashion as their comeback attempt fell a run short. A few bad habits on offense returned for Seattle, including failing to capitalize on runners in scoring position and striking out 12 times on the night, digging themselves a hole that they’ve grown accustomed to this year. It isn’t the worst result in the world given how competitive Detroit has been as of late, but it’s disappointing considering that Seattle had opportunities to control the ballgame without outside help.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo allowed three runs on four hits in his first outing of the second half (Photos by Sage Zipeto)
Castillo’s changeups the lone issue with his outing
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher and All-Star Luis Castillo began the second half of the season on the mound and was largely back to his normal self. Castillo, who didn’t pitch in the All-Star game, didn’t walk any batters and only gave up four hits on the night. With some control “issues” in some of his outings leading into the All-Star break, it was good to see La Piedra avoid the free bases and stick to getting the Tigers batters to putting the ball in play instead. The only problem with that is, Detroit was able to take advantage of relatively well-placed pitches. Without the two homers allowed on changeups that were in nearly the exact same spot, Castillo throws only one-hit outing and potentially goes further into the ballgame. But that’s an if, and not actual reality.
The first instance of trouble took place in the first inning, as Spencer Torkelson singled with two outs on a blooper right over the head of a retreating Jose Caballero in shallow centerfield. The next batter, Kerry Carpenter, hammered a changeup low and inside into the first few rows of the centerfield seats to give the Tigers a two-run lead. From there, Castillo was strong through the next three and two thirds' innings, retiring 12 batters in order before Detroit left fielder Akil Baddoo slammed a changeup that was low and inside and sending it into the just a few sections over from where Carpenter’s homer landed. Immediately after the Baddoo blast, Tigers catcher Jake Rogers singled, but that was the last hit Castillo allowed. Somewhat tough to judge Luis poorly given how things played out, it isn’t particularly a bad outing for La Piedra.
The Seattle Mariners offense remains mediocre at best as the season continues (Photos by Sage Zipeto)
Inconsistency at the plate returns like a bad habit
To close out the first half, racking up three straight series wins in the process and having won seven of their last nine, the Mariners had been smart and patient at the plate to generate strong and quality offense against good opponents. Patience, running up pitch counts, and attacking the right spots were things that Seattle was able to do at the plate in those three consecutive series wins to close out the first half of the season. While some of those traits were present in places throughout the lineup, the Mariners didn’t do it enough overall and it resulted in a patch work offense that struck out 12 times and half of those were caught looking, which is something we’ll look at later. What remains throughout the course of the season to this point as we begin the second half is that the Mariners continue to fail to get everyone on board or even those who are on board lose track of how they should be attacking opposing pitching. Working pitch counts up, even if it means that the Mariners aren’t scoring runs that inning, means something to try and take the starter out of the ballgame. Waiting for the next pitch can be beneficial, but not when you’re staring at clear strikes in key moments.
Seattle Mariners designated hitter Mike Ford is doused with water in the dugout with the homerun trident after his pinch-hit solo shot in the bottom of the 9th (Photo by Sage Zipeto)
Staring problem
Seattle’s “starting problem” is a unique one in this ballgame, as the Mariners left seven runners on base and part of that is the six strikeouts that saw their batters lock their eyes on a pitch in the strike zone, at least for the most part. When I say staring problem, I’m not talking about the Seattle freeze, rather the situations in the ballgame that displayed the Mariners continued stagnant attack or when the line wasn’t moved along to generate more runs. At first, it was a tale of Eugenio Suarez and Teoscar Hernandez battling pitches across the zone off before getting called out on pitches that clung to edges of the zone like glue. That changed in the bottom of the fifth when Seattle got their first two runs of the ballgame and threatened for more with the bases loaded and two outs.
First baseman Ty France was up to the plate, looking to do more damage against Detroit starter Eduardo Rodriguez, fouling two balls inside the zone off before taking the next two inside and nearly hitting him. The fifth pitch was closer to the zone, but still outside of it, which France understandably didn’t swing at for what should have been ball three of the plate appearance to load the count. Instead, Homeplate umpire Marvin Hudson rung him up, which resulted in France slamming his bat straight down and sharing some choice words with the umpire. France, already frustrated with Hudson for a called swing on a check in the inning prior, let the Homeplate umpire hear it and as a result was ejected from the game, two decisions by Hudson that ultimately had an effect. The umpire show continued in this ballgame when Dylan Moore, moving to first base from left field thanks to the France ejection, was called out at first when clearly Detroit first baseman Spencer Torkelson had come off the bag and wasn’t close to recording the out, but that sadly doesn’t relate to our piece on staring at strikes.
Fast forward to the bottom of the eighth, where the Mariners are down by two runs and not three thanks to Jarred Kelenic’s double that scored Julio Rodriguez off his infield hit, and Eugenio Suarez is looking to score Kelenic from third. With two outs and another crucial run-in scoring position, Suarez swung at the first two pitches (the first one a clear ball inside) before taking a ball, and then staring at strike three near the middle of the plate. Instead of giving Kelenic a fighting chance by putting the ball in play, Suarez stared long and hard and the inning ended with Seattle still down by two runs. In the bottom of the ninth, Mike Ford’s pinch-hit solo shot brought the Mariners within a run with one out. Kolten Wong grounded out and it all seemed like it was coming to an end before Dylan Moore and JP Crawford walked in back-to-back plate appearances. With the tying run at second and the winning run at first, both with enough speed to score on a base hit deep enough, young Julio Rodriguez stared down strike one in the zone, swung at a curveball in the dirt for strike two, and stared at the third strike that sit at waist level inside the zone to end the ballgame.
The Mariners used bullpen arms Matt Festa, Gabe Speier, and Tayler Saucedo in tonight’s ballgame, amongst others (Photos by Sage Zipeto)
‘Pen report
After Castillo went five innings during his outing, Seattle deployed four of their relievers, largely who don’t typically see the high leverage situations for the Mariners. Gabe Speier, Ty Adcock, Tayler Saucedo, and Matt Festa represented the four innings that completed the ballgame for Seattle. outside of the trouble that Adcock got into in the seventh inning, the Mariners relievers were able to hold things down as the offensive attack scuttled along to try and get a comeback going slowly. Speier, Saucedo, and Festa were all able to put out scoreless outings of relief for Seattle, with Festa having to find his way out of his own jams as he walked three batters during his inning and a third.
Reliever Ty Adcock’s trouble took place in the seventh inning of the ballgame, a few frames after Seattle had climbed their way back into things with a two-run fifth. A two-run homer by Tigers second baseman Nick Maton extended the Detroit lead, basically erasing the two-runs that the Mariners had pushed across, but one of those runs wasn’t Adcock’s fault. On a groundball by Tigers shortstop Javier Baez, JP Crawford’s throw wasn’t completely caught by Dylan Moore at first base, who was filling in for Ty France who had been ejected three innings prior. That error by Moore put a runner on first, allowing Maton to represent the winning run when he crossed home plate on his homer. It’s a somewhat tough situation for Adcock, similar to how we discussed Castillo’s outing.
Quick notes
The Mariners dropped to .500 (45-45) with tonight’s series opening 5-4 loss.
The Mariners are now 16-14 in series openers.
The Mariners are 10-17 in 1-run games.
Seattle is 7-3 in July.
The Mariners are 17-29 when their opponents score first… the Tigers took a 2-run lead in the 1st inning tonight.
Mike Ford hit a pinch-hit home run in the 9th inning to bring the Mariners within one run.
Ford's homer was Seattle's second pinch-hit HR of the season (other: Dylan Moore, 6/21 at NYY).
It was Ford’s 3rd career pinch-hit HR...others: 9/1/19 w/NYY vs. OAK (walk-off) and 9/14/19 w/NYY at TOR.
Dylan Moore went 1-for-3 with a double which scored Seattle’s first runs in the 5th inning and a walk.
Moore recorded his first double and first multi-RBI play of the season in the 5th… he scored Eugenio Suárez and Tom Murphy who were on base with a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
Julio Rodríguez recorded his 31st multi-hit game of the season… he went 2-for-4 with 2 singles, 1 run, and a walk.
Rodríguez recorded Seattle’s first hit in the 4th inning with a single to center field…
He has hit safely in 9 of his last 10 games.
Jarred Kelenic went 1-for-2 after entering the batting lineup due to Ty France leaving the game during the 5th inning… his double in the 8th scored Rodríguez.
It was his 42nd RBI of the season and 4th in his last 4 games.
AJ Pollock went 1-for-3 with a single in the 5th inning.
Pollock has recorded a hit or more in 2-of-4 July games.
In 5.0 innings of work, Mariners starter Luis Castillo allowed 4 hits, 3 runs (3 earned runs), 2 home runs, no walks, and 5 strikeouts.
Tonight was the 6th time this season Castillo has not walked a batter through 5.0 innings or more.
In 167 career games, Castillo has only allowed 2 or more home runs 27 times.
The Mariners bullpen combined for 4.0 innings tonight.
Ty Adcock pitched 1.0 inning and allowed 1 hit, 2 runs (1 earned run), 1 home run, and 1 strikeout.
Adcock's streak of 9 games without allowing a run or walk was snapped tonight...the 9-game streak was tied for the 4th-longest to begin a career in Major League history.
Gabe Speier pitched 1.0 inning with no hits and 1 strikeout.
Taylor Saucedo pitched 0.2 innings with 1 hits and 1 strikeout.
Matt Festa pitched 1.1 innings with no hits, 3 walks, and 1 strikeout.
Seattle Mariners first baseman Ty France was ejected in the 5th inning for arguing balls at strikes with home plate umpire Marvin Hudson.
The Mariners challenged a called-out play at first base during the 7th inning, the call stood to end the inning.
The Mariners challenged a tag play on Julio Rodríguez at home plate in the 8th inning, the call was overturned and the score moved to 5-3.
Detroit Tigers reliever Jason Foley was ejected in the 8th inning.
Seattle Mariners reliever Matt Festa (pitcher) recorded a pitch timer violation in the 9th inning.
What’s next?
Following the series and homestand opening loss to the Tigers, the Mariners will get back to business and try to avoid an immediate series loss to open the second half when these two teams meet tomorrow, Saturday, July 15th with a first pitch time of 6:40PM PST. The Mariners will have their other All-Star pitcher, George Kirby, on the mound in the ballgame as he duels against Tigers All-Star Michael Lorenzen when the two teams meet for game two of the series. Following the struggles offensively with a somewhat rotated lineup, expect to see changes as Seattle aims to get back to the sort of offensive performance that gave them such great success before the break.