5/30/2018 Safeco Field
The Mariners finished the month of March/April 17-11. They finished the month of May 17-11 and they currently sit one game back from first place in the American League West. Despite early injuries and losing Robinson Cano to an 80 game suspension, the M’s have literally surprised everyone. Houston has held their ground, though. With a two game set in Houston in the first week of June, that could easily be the momentum Seattle needs to catapult themselves into first place.
The Cano suspension has me thinking. I’ve talked to numerous baseball super-fans regarding the issue, and asked them what the M’s should do when Cano eventually comes back in August. Transitioning Dee Gordon to the outfield was a solid approach Seattle used to fill the needs of the team at the time. Without Cano being suspended, the Mariners would’ve not needed to pick up Denard Span. He has worked out so far in platooning the outfield. Heredia is solid and Haniger is coming around. So the question remains: where will Cano fit when he comes back?
The rumor has mill spun up around this one quickly. Nelson Cruz is a free agent after this season so that leaves the DH spot open. Ryon Healy is a solid hitter with exceptional first base skills. If Gordon goes back to the OF, someone has to leave. Will it be Span? He’s not a long term player for the Mariners, anyway. So there’s that option. Heredia will more than likely stay as will Haniger. Seattle might go to a Cano/Cruz DH spot for the remainder of the ’18 season, and put Cano in the DH spot and not re-sign Cruz. Those all seem like viable options. The Mariners will obviously be in the market for a slugger to fill the void that Cruz leaves if he doesn’t come back to Seattle.
A key point to keep in mind is that Cano is ineligible to play in the postseason. So that puts the Mariners in a severely tight spot. Cano has sort of flushed his leverage down the toilet with the suspension, and gives the Mariners every right to use him to their benefit and not really taking in consideration of what he wants. His Hall of Fame plaque hangs in the balance of the skeptics, and his future with the Mariners is uncertain at this point. So when he does come back to the team, depending on how the season is shaping up and how their playoff hopes look, Gordon just might stay at second base.
James Paxton was approaching a very important milestone of this career tonight. Coming into tonight’s game, he was sitting at 499 strike outs. He K-ed Nomar Mazara in the bottom of the 1st to record his 500th career strikeout. The James Paxton Maple Grove couldn’t have been more excited. All through the game I got to listen to the infamous “eh! eh! eh!” chant as Paxton sat on a two strike count. It was beautiful.
The Mariners drew first blood on a sharp ground ball to left field. Segura scored on the play giving Seattle the 1-0 lead in the top half of the third inning. The Rangers quickly answered back in the fourth with a Jurkison Profar triple that scored Mazara. Bad things and poor calls by the umpires during Mariners games seemed to always decide the outcome of the game resulting in a M’s loss. In all the games I’ve been to, it’s always been that way. Nothing ever went the Mariners way. So when Matt Moore threw a passed ball and then a wild pitch (both thrown while Gordon Beckham was batting) resulting in two runs for the M’s, I was dumbfounded. Seattle has always been on the receiving end of this sort of stuff.
The Mariners expanded their 4-2 lead after the crazy wild pitching bottom of the fourth and continued to beat on the Rangers through the sixth inning. Seattle took a 5-3 lead going into the seventh inning but the Rangers quickly started making progress to an eventual win. Tied at five apiece in the seventh, Robinson Chirinos doubled on a deflected ball by Ryon Healy that scooted into right field. That scored two runs making it 7-5 Texas. In the bottom of the ninth, Ben Gamel scored on a Nelson Cruz single putting the M’s within one to tie the game, but Healy grounded out to third and that was the ball game.
Texas Rangers 7 Seattle Mariners 6
Total Lifetime Games Attended: 165
Total Baseballs Snagged This Season: 19
Total Lifetime Baseballs Snagged: 383
Total Lifetime Foul Balls Snagged: 1
Total Lifetime Home Run Balls Snagged: 0
7th Inning Stretch Time 