Offense mid like Skyline Chili: Mariners continue to rely on the longball, Seattle drops first game in Cincinnati
By Charles Hamaker
Cincinnati, OH – The month of September hasn’t been a bridge to more success for the Seattle Mariners from their franchise-best August, as they have now lost back-to-back games for the first time in three weeks. After a rough start to the game from starter Bryan Woo, Seattle failed to do enough offensively to get them back into the game against the Reds on a day where Cincinnati had a bullpen game. Solo homers from Julio Rodriguez and Mike Ford got the Mariners on the board, and while a JP Crawford single in the top of the ninth dropped the deficit to three runs, it was simply too little and too late. With the loss and a win by the Houston Astros over the Texas Rangers in their series, the Mariners fall back into a tie for first place in the American League West.
Woo’s rough starts digs Seattle an early hole
Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo was coming off two strong outings, allowing only one earned run across those two performances, but ran into some trouble in this ballgame. In odd fashion, Woo hit three batters in the first two innings, giving up free bases to the Cincinnati hitters which led to trouble. The damage against the Bay Area native began in the first after hitting Reds centerfielder TJ Friedl with a pitch, before a single from Elly De La Cruz scored him. Another hit by pitch moved De La Cruz over, before he was scored through a Hunter Renfroe single. In the second inning it was similar, starting with a hit by pitch before a walk and error caused more issues. A Spencer Steer homer extended the lead and through two innings, Cincinnati had hung five on Seattle. After the first two frames, Woo was able to lock down and even got out of a jam in his final inning.
Looking at the stats of Woo’s outing, his low seven whiffs against the Reds lead all pitchers in the game. Over his 83 pitches thrown, he’s tasked with throwing his fastball, cutter, sinker all equally in addition to a sprinkle of sliders (three) and changeups (two). Notably, Woo’s velocity was down on every pitch except for that slider. But, interestingly enough, his spin rate was up in all pitches except for his slider and changeup. Of the 20 pitches that Cincinnati put into fair territory, only eight of them were hit hard. It is interesting to see Woo equally throw his fastball, cutter, and sinker, as it shows a leap in growth from where he was when he made his MLB debut, but there are still obviously things to learn in his young career.
Can’t rely on the long ball
At times during this season, and the past two, the Mariners offense has been far too reliant on the long ball. That means their hitters have been swinging for the fences, bringing a poor plate approach with them, as opposed to trying to knock the starter out of the ballgame with long pitch counts and a better eye. As mentioned previously, today’s offense largely (two of the three runs scored) came off homers and the same could be said for yesterday’s loss against the Mets in New York. There was little traffic on the bases for the Mariners to try and bring home, and when they did get runners on, they failed to do anything about it. While those opportunities did come in tough moments, excuses aren’t something you can rely on when chasing a division title.
Facing a bullpen day, the Mariners were unable to get a base runner until the third inning when Mike Ford blooped a single. The second hit of the day for Seattle was Julio Rodriguez’s 25th homer of the season, a deep blast to right-center field, which cut the deficit down to four runs. A Mike Ford solo shot to right-center cut that deficit down to three, but you’ll note that those were both solo homers and there was no traffic on the bases. In the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings, the Mariners had runners in scoring position and failed to drive them in for Ty France getting driven in during the top of the ninth. Granted that yes, there were two outs in all those three situations, but once again Seattle can’t afford to make an excuse in this team of the season. Your big-name hitters must step up, your lineup must keep that line moving if you want to lock up the division.
‘Pen report
After the start that Bryan Woo got off to, you would’ve thought that the Mariners were going to have to dip into their already-taxed bullpen. Thankfully, because Woo was able to finish out with five innings, Seattle didn’t need to continue to stress their relievers and were able to deploy only two arms out of their bullpen. Lefty Tayler Saucedo and righty Luke Weaver finished this game off after Woo’s day was done, with Saucedo getting the first two outs of the sixth before Weaver was used for his role as “long reliever” and pitched the rest of the game for Seattle. Saucedo only surrendered one hit on the day but did have a throwing error on a groundout back to him that allowed a second runner on base. Weaver allowed a run on three hits and a walk but was largely able to clean up considering the situation that he was put in and the workload he was asked to take. It’s hard to judge the bullpen negatively on a day where the offense didn’t do enough, and the starter dug a hole that the same offense couldn’t climb out of.
Quick notes
Julio Rodríguez is the first player in MLB HISTORY to reach 25+ home runs & 25+ stolen bases in each of his first 2 seasons.
The Mariners have lost consecutive games for the first time in three weeks
Seattle is back in a tie for first place in the AL West
What’s next?
Following today’s series opening loss to the Reds, Seattle will look to bounce back in game two of the series in Cincinnati. The Mariners and Reds will battle later in the day when they meet tomorrow, Tuesday, September 5th, as the first pitch time is 3:40PM PST. Seattle’s offense needs to avoid chasing and have a better plate approach to give starting pitcher Bryce Miller better run support than they gave Bryan Woo today, when the Mariners battle against a pitcher that used to be in their farm system. Connor Phillips takes the ball for a Reds team that has struggled to keep starting pitching healthy. You can watch that game on Root sports.
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Cover photo by Liz Wolter