Mariners Slaughtered By Brewers, Lose Series in 10-2 Defeat
SEATTLE, Wash. – Bats asleep, gloves made of swiss cheese, and groove balls galore. The Seattle Mariners had an ugly game to finish off the opening homestand of the second half, losing 10-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday and dropping the series in the process. It’s their third blowout loss in four games, a run of form that makes Tuesday’s 1-0 win look like a fortunate fluke.
Every single Brewer in the starting lineup got at least one hit as the entire team totaled 17 base knocks. All 10 runs for Milwaukee came in the open field on successive hits put together against Mariners pitchers who gave away good pitches to hit far too many times at T-Mobile Park.
Teams Trade Second Inning Deuces
Both starters worked quick first innings for their respective teams, dotting their spots in the strike zone and getting swings and misses mixed with weak contact. Luis Castillo did this while leaning heavily on the four-seamer, while Milwaukee starter Quinn Priester utilized his strong cut fastball and mixed in his sliders and sinkers to good effect.
But each pitcher had a fair bit of trouble in the second. Milwaukee opened the inning by pouncing on some mistakes from Castillo. Isaac Collins got a first-pitch fastball out over the plate and chopped it perfectly between J.P. Crawford and Cole Young for a single. This seemed to rattle the Mariner starter a little bit, and the next at-bat didn’t help things: Castillo’s 1-0 to Tyler Black was another flat pitch down the pipe and Black knocked it over into right field for a double.
Castillo grooved another 1-0 heater to Blake Perkins – and once again got punished. Perkins drilled it to left center and neither Randy Arozarena nor Julio Rodriguez had a chance to catch it as it bounded off the wall for a run-scoring double and the third straight Brewers base knock.
Anthony Seigler was the third straight Brewer to get a 1-0 meatball, but in his case, it was a changeup. Seigler was just out in front of it and seared it into Luke Raley’s glove for out number one. Joey Ortiz flew out and then Castillo blew past Brice Turang to get out of the inning.
Seattle came right back in the bottom of the frame. Leading off, Jorge Polanco took advantage of a 2-0 meatball to crack a double down the right field line. Although Priester worked past the next two guys, Dominic Canzone blasted a line drive into right center to bring Polanco home and replace him at second.
The game became tied three pitches later as Ben Williamson made contact on a good low slider and sent a soft pop-up into the air in center. There was simply no fielder close enough to the ball’s landing spot as it dotted down onto the outfield grass and became a run-scoring single to knot the score at 2-2.
Crawford Drops Awful Defensive Game
I don’t know what’s been going on with Crawford in the past few games, but his second half to the season has not started well on either side of the ball. Wednesday’s performance was a stark – and awful – example of that.
In the top of the fourth, Collins opened his second rally of the game, but this time, his grounder wasn’t well placed at all. It went essentially right to Crawford, who only had to get in front of the slow grounder and make a routine out at first. But the Mariners shortstop raised his glove far too early and the ball skipped under it into center field.
Tyler Black lazily flew out to center and Blake Perkins struck out, but Collins made it to second on a wild pitch during the latter at-bat. Were it not for Crawford’s opening error, the inning would have already been done. But Castillo’s first pitch to Seigler completely lost him and landed on the batter’s back, and the Brewers had their second baserunner.
And then Joey Ortiz cracked a ball into right. Collins rounded third as Canzone picked up the ball and fired to the plate. The throw was on target, but Collins’ speed made it a close play. Mitch Garver spun around and gave a solid effort – much better than his recent non-tag against Houston – but it was late. Milwaukee was up 3-2. Ortiz got to second on the throw and one single later, it was now 4-2 in an inning that should have ended with the game tied.
On the next at bat, William Contreras sent off a hard chopper to short. Crawford got a slow jump, but even considering it, the play was still makeable for a big league shortstop. Yet it skipped off his glove and into center field.
Two runners got on to begin the fifth, but Black slapped a grounder a little to the left field side of Crawford. This was a very makeable play for a big league shortstop, but he slowed down and slid while the ball kicked off his glove into left. The next two at-bats were a strikeout and a double play, so again, a Crawford miscue was key in allowing the Brewers to cross the plate.
Crawford made another defensive gaffe in the sixth – turning what should have been an inning-ending double play into a base hit up the middle – but it was less severe and the game was already falling out of reach by that point. The seventh saw yet another misplay from the Mariner shortstop as he failed to get in front of a skipping grounder and let it go into center field for what at this point was the Brewers 10th run.
For what it’s worth, Crawford also looked horrendous at the plate today, going 0-3 with two weak groundouts and an uncompetitive strikeout. But it was far less important than the massive, massive egg he dropped defensively. It’s incredibly out of character for the normally reliable shortstop, but it continues a rough streak of really disappointing play from the Mariner shortstop. A team in a competitive playoff hunt can’t have its shortstop miss five makeable plays.
Crawford was subbed out of the game in the top of the eighth for Dylan Moore. That says a lot.
Castillo Struggles, Brewers Pile on Thornton
When we’re talking about 10 runs for the opposing team, there’s a little more wrong with how the team was playing than one shortstop. And outside of a couple innings, Luis Castillo took a big step back on Wednesday.
Let’s start with the good. The first inning was strong, as Castillo blew a bunch of fastballs by the top of the Milwaukee order on his way to two strikeouts. His best frame was the top of the third, as he painted the corners with four-seamers, sinkers, and sliders to get Contreras and Yelich looking before finishing with another easy out.
That’s about it for La Piedra’s positives today, however. The rest of the time, he found entirely too much of the plate with a fastball that had too little movement, and the Brewers were able to pounce. Although nothing left the yard, Milwaukee put some good wood on the ball and racked up 10 hits on the Seattle starter.
The fourth inning may have been extended due to Crawford’s error, sure – but if Castillo had gotten past Seigler or Ortiz, none of that would have mattered. Crawford’s missed play in the fifth let Chourio score, but it was on Castillo for leaving good pitches to hit for the first two batters.
With Seattle down 6-2 entering the sixth inning, Castillo was out and Trent Thornton was in. His role on the Mariners seems to have become the reliever who comes in when the team is down by quite a bit, and he’s definitely not the best man in the bullpen. But he still had his share of struggles against Milwaukee today.
The sixth saw Chourio knock a two-out single into right and the Brewers extend their lead, but it was the seventh where it really got off the rails. Although Thornton worked two quick outs, the next two batters singled.
Thornton battled with Brice Turang and the count became full. Then he threw a sweeper on the lower inside corner. Not a bad pitch by any means, but still catching a bit more of the plate than Thornton wanted. Turang belted it into the right center field gap. Both runners scored to make it 9-2. Then came Contreras’ hit that bounced off Crawford’s glove.
Seattle trailed 10-2 going into the Seventh Inning Stretch with the game basically already done.
Bats Still Without Pulse
10-2 is the way the game ended. Now, making up eight runs is a big ask for any group of guys, but the bats fell asleep in the third inning on Wednesday and never woke up. Now, I’m a deep sleeper, but this level of being passed out is something else.
The Mariners have now scored three runs in 32 straight innings going back to the middle of the last game of the Astros series. This continues to be an issue stemming from a bunch of hitters going cold at the same time.
Through six games in the second half of the season, Crawford is slashing .125/.160/.208 with eight strikeouts. Taking the scope down to the past four games (including today), Randy Arozarena is 1-14 with four strikeouts, Luke Raley is 1-10 with a walk and seven strikeouts, and Dominic Canzone is 2-12 with five strikeouts.
Catcher Cal Raleigh wasn’t in the lineup today, so Julio Rodriguez had no one directly behind him to follow up on his two hits. Polanco has been solid recently, but the aforementioned Raley and Arozarena production coming out of the break is… not good.
At the very least, Williamson had a good game at the plate, going 2-2 with a walk and an RBI. But there wasn’t anywhere close to enough offense again for Seattle in a series-ending defeat.
Brandyn Garcia Notches First Strikeout
One positive development we can take from this game was Brandyn Garcia’s outing. Any time someone gets their first big league strikeout, it’s a special moment. Garcia came on in the ninth after Casey Legumina worked a scoreless eighth.
Blake Perkins was the batter, leading off the ninth in a game that was already all but won for his team. The at-bat showed good pitch selection and location for Garcia, who worked both the inside and outside corners to get Perkins fishing.
Although Garcia gave up a pair of two-out walks, Contreras grounded out to end the Brewers ninth with no runs given up. It may not have mattered in the grand scheme of things, but his first clean inning in the Show is one good thing to take away here.
On Deck
The Mariners fell to 54-48 today and have opened the second half of the season with three wins and three losses against two very strong teams – but have been outscored 34-19 in the process and come out of it on an ugly loss.
The playoff picture is a little worse for the M’s than when the second half started, as the team is now six games back of the division. New York and Boston’s games are still ongoing, so we will have to wait until they conclude to look at the full wild card race, but one thing should be concerning: the Texas Rangers are now just two games back of Seattle and have won seven of their last 10.
Seattle has the opportunity to get some wins against lesser competition on the upcoming road trip, as they have four games against the Angels followed by three against the Athletics.
