The Mariners will not go winless in 2020! That was a not likely result anyway, but starting on the road vs. the Astros followed by a journey to a renewed Anaheim team was definitely tilting the tables in that direction. Zack Greinke got the start versus the Mariners today, he who no-hit the Mariners into the ninth inning before Austin Nola broke things up the last time the Mariners saw him.
The Mariners made certain there would be no repeat of the near no-no right off the bat by getting on the board rapidly, making some two-out magic happen in the very first inning. Kyle Lewis revealed off some speed, vanquishing an infield single, and while the hit itself wasnt very impressive, Lewis hung difficult versus Greinke in the box, fouling off several tough pitches and setting up Kyle Seager, who stayed hot with an RBI double:
Evan White followed Seager with his first MLB RBI. In his very first seven MLB at-bats, White had struck out 5 times while facing Verlander and McCullers, so this was a welcome sight:
It was a motivating inning all around, as even the outs were hard-hit off Greinke:
Kikuchis first inning included him tossing all fastballs, with mixed results. George Springer assisted him out by grounding out on the first pitch, but then Kikuchi walked Altuve on four pitches, having a hard time to find the zone and seemingly not aided by catcher Joe Hudson, who wasnt able to secure Kikuchi top of the zone calls in the very same way Maldonado was for his pitchers.
#Mariners getting on Greinke with lots of tough contact early … Yikes
107.8 MPH99.1 MPH106.3 MPH98.8 MPH– Daren Willman (@darenw) July 26, 2020
The Mariners chased Greinke in the top of the 4th, when Tim Lopes inspected in with his very first hit of the season, appropriately enough a double (Lopes was a doubles device this spring prior to things got locked down). Mallex Smith then doubled in Lopes off brand-new pitcher Joe Biagini, and Shed Long followed with a double of his own to push Smith across and the Mariners out to a 4-1 lead. The excellent times would end there, when the BABIP gods were unsmiling upon the head of J.P. Crawford, who absolutely scalded a ball with a 110 mph EV, however right into the teeth of the Astros shift.
Kikuchi again today was a discouraging mix of apparently great things and bad results. The fastball was 95-98 (!) with a cutter-ish variation at 92-93, and Kikuchi relied almost exclusively on that combination, tossing his changeup only about 10% of the time (he threw the curve and slider just as soon as each, per Statcast). The outcomes off the modification were mixed: Kikuchi was able to use it to retire Gurriel on a soft groundout in the first, but was conserved by the protective play of Kyle Seager at 3rd in the second when George Springer heated an 89 mph change at 97.6 miles per hour exit velo to end the 2nd (an xBA of.820!).
Kikuchi tried the changeup again on Gurriel in the fourth inning, when Kikuchi was scuffling, having actually walked Altuve, quit a single (on the cutter) to Brantley, and walked Bregman to load the bases. In a 2-2 count Kikuchi tried to get Gurriel to roll over on the modification, but instead Gurriel got under it, driving a single to best field and driving in the then-tying run of the video game. After that, Kikuchi nearly appeared startled off the change, returning to exclusively fastball-cutter, striking out Correa on the cutter, and then preying on 6 7″ Washington state native Taylor Jones, making his MLB launching against his hometown group, on 95-98-98:
One could nearly feel the 5-4 loss in the air. Matt Magill pitched a completely cromulent fifth inning, consisting of making Bregman look silly on a slider diving into his toes, although again was bailed out of some potential hot water after permitting a base struck to Gurriel and strolling Correa when Seager nabbed a 94 mph EV ball out of the air off the bat of Abraham Toro. Carl Edwards Jr. chose to spice things up in his inning by enabling a leadoff triple to Josh Reddick, but then used his stringbean frame to squeeze right out of the jam, striking out Maldonado (lastly!) and getting Altuve to chase after a pitch in the dirt. More on that later on. Dan Altavilla pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning where he mowed down Brantley, Bregman, and Gurriel, with the emphasize being Bregman swinging through a 99 mph fastball. The Mariners players supplied little to no resistance to something called a Blake Taylor who definitely looked like he came out of the reliever factory.
In the top of the 5th, the Astros trotted out yet another reducer with 70 speed and 40 control, this time Bryan Abreu, which at the very least was a chance for Kyle Lewis to practice some patience in the box (he did, and took a walk, yay!). Abreu also hit Tim Lopes with a pitch, packing the bases with 2 outs, however Mallex grounded out to stop any risk.
Chris Devenski began in the 8th, seemingly to grind the Mariners down prior to another member of the Astros bullpen might fully whack them in the ninth, however Tim Lopes wasnt having any of that, striking a difficult single off Devo and after that swiping 2nd for great procedure (off Maldonado, who made a best toss! And specifically useful since Mallex, after a particularly bad PA, set out). Devenski then seemed afraid of Astros No-Hitter Killer Austin Nola, in as an offensive replacement, and walked him to raise … Shed Long?
Inexplicably, Kikuchi followed up this program of dominance with a completely non-competitive AB against Josh Reddick, whom he walked on 4 pitches, none of which were particularly close, notching a run for the Astros, and following that up with some misfortune of his own, spotting a 95 mph heater on the outside edge that Maldonado– who has in some way progressed into a Mariners-killer? Which I dislike?– squeaked simply fair down the left-field line to give the Astros a 5-4 benefit. Zac Grotz came in for mop-up responsibility and put George Springer however then got Altuve to fly out harmlessly to end the inning.
It wasnt a Shed Long Dong, however it got the job done, as Lopes stolen base showed to be type in binding the video game. Then it was, and I like stating this, Kyle Lewis Time:
When you can make a batting title winner look silly, constantly a great day.
Anthony Misiewicz, in a high-leverage scenario, was charged with hanging on to the Mariners two-run lead in the 8th, and did so admirably, cleaning out the bottom third of the Astros lineup, and after that Taylor Williams was handed the ball in the ninth for his first chance at a big-league save. We joke a lot around these parts about not knowing who the Mariners reducers are, but if you do not know TWilly, its reasonable– he was claimed by the Mariners on the eve of Spring Training after being dropped by the Brewers, and just had a few looks with the group before landing in this very high-leverage spot.
Its hard to overemphasize how exceptional this AB was by Lewis, who fell behind 0-2 in the count after taking the very first two pitches (both breaking balls with late movement) for called strikes. Lewis battled back, spitting on a slider away then fouling away that very same pitch right on the edge of the zone before taking a fastball up out of the zone. Devenski then tries to go fastball to that same spot away and Lewis reaches out to just muscle the pitch into ideal field, somehow handling an 83 mph EV on the pitch in spite of hardly tapping it. The kid is Strong with a Superman S. Also, shoutout to Shed Long there getting it done– he stole 2nd throughout Lewiss AB, then was able to recreational vehicle with an exceptional slide around Maldonado. Watch the little bit of additional oomph Shed gets on the last step of that slide and his best goal to the back corner of the plate. After years of enjoying the Justin Smoaks and Richie Weeks and Seth Smiths flop around like fish out of water, it sure is good to have some legitimate professional athletes on the basepaths.
Williams ran into trouble right away when he tried to sneak 95 down the middle previous Kyle Tucker, in as a pinch hitter, who immediately smacked a double into one of the deepest parts of MMP, missing out on a house run by mere feet. Tucker would make it home anyway on an RBI double by Michael Brantley, but not before he struck out Springer and Altuve on his nasty slider.
And an even better day when you can end the game, making your first-ever MLB conserve for your hometown team, by making an MVP appearance silly:
Method to go TWilly, way to go Mariners.
The Mariners will not go winless in 2020! Zack Greinke got the start versus the Mariners today, he who no-hit the Mariners into the ninth inning prior to Austin Nola broke things up the last time the Mariners saw him.
The Mariners chased after Greinke in the top of the 4th, when Tim Lopes inspected in with his first hit of the season, appropriately enough a double (Lopes was a doubles machine this spring prior to things got locked down). Mallex Smith then doubled in Lopes off new pitcher Joe Biagini, and Shed Long followed with a double of his own to press Smith throughout and the Mariners out to a 4-1 lead. Chris Devenski came on in the eighth, seemingly to grind the Mariners down prior to another member of the Astros bullpen might totally knock them in the ninth, but Tim Lopes wasnt having any of that, hitting a tough single off Devo and then swiping second for excellent measure (off Maldonado, who made an ideal toss!
