(Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)
The Seattle Mariners and LA Dodgers had a four game split series and for several of the games, the M’s put up a good fight against one of the elite teams in baseball. Unfortunately, a couple good pitching efforts were undone by quiet bats and an offensive outburst was sunken by a bullpen meltdown. The Mariners continue to dwell in the cellar as they work to rebuild for 2021.
8/20 vs Dodgers L 6-1
In the final game of the series, an outclassed Mariners lineup could not keep up with Clayton Kershaw. The Dodger pitcher mowed down 11 Mariner batters via strikeout and allowed just 1 run in 7 innings. That run being a solo Kyle Seager bomb in the 4th inning, his 5th on the year.
The M’s Yusei Kikuchi lost his second game of the year dropping 5 runs in just 4 2/3rds innings. The Silent Assassin, LJ Newsome came out of the bullpen for his MLB debut. The former Everett AquaSox pitcher would go 3 innings and 45 pitches before serving up a solo bomb to Cody Bellinger. An injury to Erik Swanson paved the way for Newsome to come to the big league squad to try and make a name for himself.
8/19 vs Dodgers W 6-4
The Mariners stunned the Dodgers off a monster 4 RBI game from utility man extraordinaire Austin Nola. Nola launched a 3 run homer and 1st inning RBI single to help get the Mariners off a 7 game losing streak.
Taijuan Walker allowed just 4 hits and struck out 8 on the way to a victory. Walker did allow 3 home runs, but luckily each were minimal in damage and allowed the M’s offense to ramp up and earn the victory. Of note, Taylor Williams earned his 4th save of the year.
“The last time that Taijuan was a Mariner here a few years ago, he couldn’t have made that adjustment mid-game,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He’s learned. He went to some changeups, a lot of curveballs, got the cutter going, and it really slowed things down, slowed them down in the batter’s box.”
Bad news fell on the M’s though as 1st baseman Evan White took a foul ball off his knee cap knocking him out for the foreseeable future. X-rays were negative, but expect to see Dylan Moore take over 1st for the vacated position due to Daniel Vogelbach’s demotion.
8-18 @ Dodgers L 2-1
The Mariners wasted a great performance from Marco Gonzales on Tuesday. Going 7 innings with 9 strikeouts and just 1 run allowed, Marco was betrayed by a bullpen that melted down. Danny Altavilla was to blame this time as in the 8th inning he surrendered a Corey Seager RBI single that scored Austin Barnes to win the game.
The M’s bats were rather quiet as they managed just 3 intermittent hits and 2 walks. The M’s showed some fight when Kyle Lewis scored from 3rd on a Tim Lopes ground ball in the 7th. Unfortunately, the LA bullpen came up quieting the M’s bats throughout the game.
8-17 @ Dodgers L 11-9
Neither Seattle nor LA wanted to play defense or pitch as this shootout kicked off the series. The battle of the brothers in Kyle and Corey Seager played out in their 1st matchup against each other. Excitement ensued as the Seagers became the first brothers in 19 years to homer as opponents in the same game.
“It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it,” said Corey Seager, who had two hits and three RBI as the Dodgers won their sixth straight. “It was hard to almost stay focused at times because you want to go out there and talk to him. It is one of those things you want to remember for a long time.”
Kyle Lewis homered and had three hits for the Mariners and was a catalyst for a 5-run 3rd inning that put the M’s ahead. Evan White got off the snide with 2 home run night that saw him break out of his devastating slump.
Unfortunately, an epic 5-run meltdown by Matt Magill in the 7th undid the Mariners lead. The new MLB rules that require a pitcher to face 3 batters turned ugly for Magill as he floundered allowing run after run and ending the M’s chances to win this game.
