Seattle Mariners loss to Miami is a microcosm of 2023 season
Although they put up a fight in the 9th inning, the Seattle Mariners lost 4-1 to Miami. The game summed up Seattle's 2023 season so far.
Although they put up a valiant effort in the ninth inning, the Seattle Mariners found themselves on the short end of a 4-1 decision. The game summed up Seattle’s 2023 season.
Wednesday night, the Seattle Mariners had a chance to make magic in the ninth inning. Instead, they once again fell short of the mark.
With bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Seattle Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez came to the plate. He hit a 372-foot drive to right-centerfield, which Marlins right fielder Jesus Sanchez made a leaping grab over the wall to pull back a potential grand slam.
Instead of a walk-off, the at bat turned into a long sacrifice fly and a tip of the hat to Sanchez for his outstanding play. Anyone who thinks that at bat decided the game wasn’t watching closely.
For example, an inning earlier, Miami scored on a sac fly to take a 4-0 lead. The Seattle Mariners got the run back, but they should have had more.
Cal Raleigh led off the bottom of the eighth by reaching second on a fielding error. That was followed by an AJ Pollock whiff, Jose Caballero pop out to the first baseman (in foul territory), and a weak ground out by J.P. Crawford. None of the three hit the ball out of the infield, stranding Raleigh at second.
Back to Suarez. He shouldn’t even have been in a position to win the game. The only reason Geno got a chance to be the hero was because Miami second baseman Luis Arraez botched a pair of ground balls.
Not good enough
The connection was good, but not good enough. Suarez, like the Seattle Mariners this season, came up short.
Adding insult to injury, his final at bat became part of Major League history. Suarez became the seventh player in the statcast era to hit three balls over 372 feet and record an out on each. He was good, but not good enough.
Winning teams seem to find that foot when they need it in clutch situations. It’s what separates them from teams like the 2023 M’s
Additionally, Seattle Mariners pitchers gave up four earned runs. It’s almost impossible to beat that number when the team gets 4 hits, 1 walk, and strikes out 9 times.
Trickle Down Effects
Seattle pitchers also yielded eight walks. When a team struggles to score runs, the pitchers feel more pressure to succeed because they know their offense won’t pick them up.
It causes them to press and leads to overthrowing. For some of them, the strike zone must look like the size of a bag of chips from 60 feet, 6 inches away.
Beat Themselves
Once again, the Seattle Mariners batter’s lack of strike zone control was their undoing. Seattle struck out over twice as much than they got hits. It’s a recipe for failure and something that’s happened far too often this year.
Turning this ship around will take a team effort from all 26 men on the Seattle Mariners. One that includes putting the ball in play and using base hits (and walks) to score runs.
The “go for a long bomb, and we can win” philosophy isn’t working. Hopefully, the hole they dug for themselves isn’t too deep to climb out of.