Engine Sputters in Mariners’ 3-1 Loss to Mets
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Two steps forward, one step back. The Seattle Mariners dropped the second game of the series in Citi Field thanks to the bats frustratingly falling silent for nearly the entire game. Bryan Woo had some struggles but still provided a strong quality start that gave the M’s a good chance to win.
But in the end, Woo got the King Felix treatment from the Mariners offense, who were unable to score a single run until the ninth inning and went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position — that one hit being a hard liner that didn’t allow the runner on second to score.
Nolan McLean Excels in MLB Debut for Mets
On the mound for the Mets was Nolan McLean, the Mets’ top pitching prospect. McLean has a six-pitch mix, with a four-seamer, cut fastball, sinker, changeup, curveball and sweeper. The stuff was there from the get-go on Saturday afternoon, though he struggled with his location a little bit, especially struggling with early releases trying to hit the outside corner against left-handers. But the movement on his curveball and sweeper — plus the Mariners’ lack of familiarity — left the visitors on the back foot.
The Mariners’ first three baserunners were left-handers who drew walks. Cal Raleigh in the first inning got the benefit of a bad-control spell from McLean, but Crawford saw nine total pitches in his appearance and Cole Young laid off some decently close deliveries. With the lineup turned around back to Randy Arozarena, the Mariners had their first good chance, with runners on first and second and nobody out.
Arozarena swung through a high sinker for the first out. McLean painted the corners against Cal Raleigh, getting to 0-2, but Raleigh kept a good eye and knocked a single to right for Seattle’s first hit. The bases were loaded for Julio Rodriguez, but the Mariner center fielder chopped one right up the middle and McLean helped himself with a behind-the-back grab to initiate a 1-4-3 double play.
McLean looked like an old pro in the fourth, striking out two, but he quickly found trouble in the top of the fifth. Dominic Canzone put an inside-out swing on the ball and cracked it into left field for a leadoff single and got to second on a wild pitch. No matter for McLean, who got three quick outs to keep his shutout intact.
The last pitch of the game for the rookie was a filthy 1-2 sinker against Julio Rodriguez. The ball looked like it was headed well off the plate, but ran like Usain Bolt onto the outside corner for a called strike three. He finished the game allowing just two hits and no runs on 5 ⅓ innings pitched, all while striking out eight batters. His one weakness was his control, as he walked four. But overall, not a bad way to start your MLB career.
Woo Grinds Through Six
Despite a whole lot of traffic on the basepaths for the Mets, Bryan Woo put up another excellent start, going six full innings while giving up just a single run. He struck out eight men in total while walking two. Saturday’s game was the 24th start of the season for Woo — and the 24th time Woo went six or more innings.
The Mets were sitting fastball in the first inning against Woo, getting some hard contact to put two men on with one man out. But Woo adjusted, tossing just enough breaking balls to plant enough pitch selection doubt to regain the upper hand and get out of the inning with no damage.
Although the second went well, Woo faced more trouble in the third. Brett Baty grounded a single about four inches under the diving glove of Cole Young and Francisco Lindor blasted a hanging sweeper into the right field corner for the run-scoring double. Woo got a stroke of luck when Juan Soto decided to bunt on a fastball down the middle, and so a ball that would have landed in Connecticut instead went foul and Soto struck out a few pitches later.
The jam continued with a nine-pitch Brandon Nimmo walk, but Woo got the next two guys to hit it where the Mariners were. Once again, Woo got out of a big jam with limited damage. But he had already thrown 54 pitches and was already having control issues against a team that was consistently punishing fastballs over the plate.
But Woo got back on his feet once more and eased through the fourth and fifth innings. The sixth started with two quick outs, but as his pitch count rose over the 90 mark, he started making some mistakes. Two singles made another jam for the Mariners starter as Cedric Mullins walked to the dish, action starting quickly in Seattle’s bullpen. Woo got to 2-2 against Mullins, but he missed two attempts at inside corner sinkers to load the bases for New York.
Dan Wilson stayed put, giving Woo one more chance to continue his streak of six innings pitched, which the Mariners starter did, getting a popout from Ronny Mauricio to end the inning. The decision to leave him in probably had something to do with the streak, but it also happened because Woo had pitched well against Mauricio earlier in the game.
“Bryan, as we knew, was going to empty the tank on that at bat,” Wilson said. “That was a favorable matchup for him.”
Arozarena Limits Damage in Seventh, Positioning Gives Run Back
New York started quickly against Caleb Ferguson as Brett Baty and Francisco Lindor led off with singles and Lindor stole second. Both men were in scoring position for Juan Soto, who knocked in Baty with a sacrifice fly to double the Mets’ lead.
It was kept at a two-run lead because of Randy Arozarena. Brandon Nimmo shot the ball into left field and without much deliberation, the Mets sent Lindor to the plate. But a seeming miracle happened. For the first time in a long time, a Mariners outfielder fired a scorching fastball home and the Mariners got the out at the plate.. Lindor flashed a smile as Raleigh landed the tag.
But just after the Mariners’ defense saved one run, the Mariners’ positioning ceded another. Eugenio Suárez was positioned about 15 feet in front of the outer edge of the infield as a Pete Alonso grounder zipped past him for a run-scoring double. Had Suárez been further back, he would have been able to at the very least stop the ball from leaving the infield and prevent the runner from scoring.
Now, if you have an out at third, it does make sense to push the third baseman in — but when the batter is Pete Alonso, basically anything that doesn’t make the outfield will be an out at first.
Mariners’ Bats Don’t Leave Harbor
There wasn’t much action in the rest of the game. Edwin Diaz pitched a six-out save, his only blip being a home run by Suárez in the top of the ninth that, at the very least, knocked away the Mariners’ goose egg. On the other side of the ball, Casey Legumina took care of business in the bottom of the eighth.
But a pattern does seem to be worryingly emerging, and it’s not one that the Mariners are very used to. The team is having trouble hitting on the road. Three of the last four games on the road have seen Seattle score three or fewer runs, and taking into account the pre-deadline trip, that extends to seven of the last 11 away games. The M’s have won just two of those seven.
During that 11-game timespan (all of the road games so far in the second half), the M’s have just a .213 batting average. Take out Friday’s game, and you get a .195 average. Batting average isn’t the best stat to determine what’s going on, but when it falls below the Mendoza Line, that’s usually a pretty good indicator. In any case, a .378 slugging percentage during second-half road games is quite a bit below league average. Again, taking out Friday’s game lowers that slugging percentage to .337.
On Deck
Seattle’s loss on Saturday dropped the team’s record to 68-56 and fell into a tie with the Red Sox for the first American League wild card spot. The M’s are still ahead of the Yankees, who are in the third spot, and still behind the Astros for the AL West.
The Mariners are traveling to Williamsport for the Little League Classic on Sunday, as the third and final game of the series will be played at a neutral location. This marks the second straight year the Mariners will be playing on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball — after having gone eight years without appearing on the network.
