Mariners briefly forget how to field, consistently forget how to hit, lose 2-1

M’s can’t quite scrape it together in close game

I spent today in Cowen Park in Ravenna playing in the inaugural Seattle Wiffleball in-season tournament. It was a casual, small team double elimination tournament and the whole thing was very casual. The sun, accursed amalgamation of nuclear catastrophe that it is, baked us all day. As I sit here writing this my back and arms are badly sunburned, my knees are scraped up from sliding, and all of my joints ache from overuse.

Nevertheless, I am satisfied at the end of the day. My games were close and my team played as solid fundamental ball as can be expected with dealing with hollow plastic ones. If you’ve never played wiffleball before, it’s basically baseball except smaller fields, smaller teams, and worse balls. The balls take wild hops, are too light to throw with any power (for me; I’m not very good), and don’t carry in the air. The result of all of this is that wiffleball games manifest as barely controlled chaos. Though my team dropped the final game of the day by one run (I was thrown out at home trying to tie the game. I am not fast), we can all be satisfied that we played well in Seattle’s best impression of the Moab Hellmouth.

The Mariners, however, can take no such satisfaction, although the box score may bely that fact. The game, like all the others this series, started well, with J.P. working an 11 pitch PA and walking to lead off. A pair of solid base hits from Cal and Julio after him gave the M’s a quick one run lead. The Mariners then did what they did best and ended the inning without picking up another run.

George Kirby then came out and got two quick outs before giving up a double to Taylor Ward. It came to naught, however, as Kirby bounced back to strikeout Brandon Drury with a 97 mph sinker. It was in the bottom of the 2nd innings, however, when the wheels started to come off the proverbial SS Mariner (bring it back, btw).

Mickey Moniak squared up a fastball down the middle and pulled it into right field for a one-out single. After Keston Hiura grounded out it seemed like Kirby would escape this inning as well. But he was battling. Unlike the usual George, he had trouble getting the first pitch strike, actually going as far as to walk Neto. And then Jo Adell got a hold of a middle-middle sinker and pushed it the other way. What happened next was very wiffleball.

Raley’s relay bounced on a short hop, taking J.P. by surprise, and the ball bounced off his glove. Josh Rojas backed up the throw about as well as I back it up in the club, and let the ball get past him too, allowing Neto to score and Adell to reach third safely. That second run got charged as a throwing error to Raley, so Kirby’s official line only has one earned run. But regardless, the damage was done. Kirby went another 4 innings, giving up no more runs or hits and striking out a further 5 Angels.

But it’s a shame he can’t hit. Maybe he’d be able to give himself his own run support. His teammates aren’t. Twice tonight the Mariners loaded the bases against Anaheim, scoring on neither occasion. Worse though, to me, was when Victor Robles checked in with his 3rd hit of the night with a leadoff double in the 7th. The top of the order — J.P., Cal, and Julio — followed him up by striking out 1-2-3. It was not pleasant to watch.

All in all, the M’s were 1 for 8 with RISP, and they left 8 runners stranded on base. The fates (read Garver, who walked twice, and three hit Robles) gave the Mariners ample opportunity to win this game. They simply refused the call.

In the words of General Martok: “My deterioration is proceeding apace,” and not just because my sunburn is starting to hurt more. Watching the M’s have this game given to them on a tray and still come away with a loss is brutal. It is not dissimilar to watching them squander their largest division lead since 2001.

And yet, the fates smile on Seattle, even while the sun sneers. The Astros lost tonight in extra innings, and in doing so guaranteed that the Mariners will go into the All-Star break with the division lead. With the only two Seattle All-Starts being Logan Gilbert and Andrés Muñoz, the bats will have plenty of time to rest and come into the second half recharged and ready to rake. We can only hope.

Now does anyone have any aloe I can borrow?