(David J. Phillip / The Associated Press)
The Seattle Mariners finally got off the schnide and beat the Houston Astros who treated the Mariners to a 15 game losing streak going back to last year. Seattle in fact went 1-18 against the Astros last year, showing how far they really have to go to get into contention. It is no surprise that this team is still in rebuild mode and wont be in contention for another couple years. Then again in the COVID era, 16 teams will make the playoffs so who knows?
Many wondered if the M’s would throw at the Astros; there was a hit batter but given the circumstances with a man on 1st and 3rd, it was purely accidental. For those hoping for retribution and bodily harm, you will have to wait some other time to fulfill your revenge fantasies.
https://twitter.com/AsteriskTour/status/1287477349559173121?s=20
7/25 @ Astros L 8-5
Seattle’s Kendall Graveman made his first appearance in 807 days against Josh James. Graveman last pitched on May 11, 2018 and missed the rest of that season and last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. James returns to the rotation after spending last season in the bullpen. Graveman pitched a strong 2 innings until it all went off the rails in the 3rd inning as the Astros scored 4 runs, eventually running him off an inning later as he gave up 6 runs on 6 hits.
The M’s would make short work of James sending him off in the 3rd inning after 3 runs. In fact the offense looked decent on the day as Shed Long and JP Crawford would walk twice a piece and the young guns Kyle Lewis would go 2-4 and Evan White would go yard for his 1st major league home run.
Ultimately Alex Bregman would hit his 100th home run, a 3-run shot and Jose Altuve would add a solo dinger to power the Astros to the victory.
“We had a lot of really, really good at-bats,” Servais said. “We scored five runs and left something like 10 guys on base, so we had a chance to get even more than that. That’s a positive — our young guys — our offense and lineup is starting to churn a little bit.”
Of note, relief pitcher Brandon Brennan would be placed on the 10 day DL and lefty Taylor Guilbeau had an inning of relief when he went 1 inning with 1 run allowed.
If Evan White shows this power over 60 games, that, along with his defense, will make him a strong AL Rookie of the Year candidate.
And with the Kyle Lewis start, he might not be the only one on the #Mariners. https://t.co/6MqjenOSID
— Sam Dykstra (@SamDykstraMiLB) July 28, 2020
7/24 @ Astros W 7-6
The losing streak finally was broken. The Mariners were lifted on the back of Kyle Lewis who had 2 RBIs in the 8th to lead the True to the Blue to their 1st 2020 win. The M’s trailed by 1 entering the 8th before Shed Long’s run scoring single tied it at 5 with one out. Long stole a base (irritating Sabermetricians no doubt) and then Kyle Lewis came up to bat. Kyle would club his 3rd homer of the year into right field and put the M”s ahead.
Tension built as the 8th inning saw Dan Altavilla pitch a scoreless 8th. But then in the 9th the Astros’ Michael Brantley would hit an RBI ground rule double off of M’s reliever Taylor Williams. Luckily Williams would reach deep down inside to strike out Alex Bregman for his 1st career save.
7/23 @ Astros L 7-2
This game started off bad and got worse. Taijuan Walker made his return to the Mariners but was touched in the 1st for a run then lit up in the 4th for four more runs. Walker would get tapped 7 times for hits and eventually be pulled after just 67 pitches.
Houston’s Lance McCullers had a quality start allowing 2 runs, one a solo shot from Kyle Lewis. And though the M’s would get 8 hits on the day, they could manage just 2 mere runs.
7/22 @ Astros L 8-2
This one was fun for a little while, unfortunately, the Astros are a really really good team. Kyle Lewis and Kyle Seagar touched Justin Verlander for solo shots; however, Verlander struck out 7 Mariners on the way to a victory. Note: Verlander would end up injuring his elbow and his season remains in doubt.
Marco Gonzales hung in for a while until the 5th inning when the Astros headed up and scored 5. Defense in this game was suspect as the M’s were awarded an error but could have easily seen 3 more assigned to them.
https://twitter.com/Starting9/status/1286836407009509381?s=20
SSU Player of the Series
Kyle Lewis the new Mariners center fielder was awesome! Kyle would have 2 homers, 4 RBI, earn 3 walks, and hit 6-15 in the 4 game series. He is one of the few reasons to watch this team. Lewis is one of 10 M’s to hit a home run in their MLB debut and his shot over the train tracks impressed many who hadn’t had the chance to see him as an Everett AquaSox.
All he does is crush homers. 💪
Kyle Lewis goes deep again for the @Mariners! pic.twitter.com/VY01AuVPA7
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 25, 2020
