Mariners: 3 takeaways from series win over the Oakland Athletics

The Seattle Mariners finally returned to winning ways, as they took two out of three games on the road versus the Oakland Athletics.

As we’ve written before, the 2021 version of the Seattle Mariners is extremely unpredictable. There was nothing in the latest series against the Oakland Athletics to change this take.

The Mariners headed into Oakland on a season-high six-game losing streak and having won just one of their previous six series. In addition, they were taking on an Athletics ball club which was leading the AL West.

Let’s also not forget the COVID-19 situation that compromised the bullpen, which has been the strongest part of the roster so far this year. As such, Seattle were not expected to do well against their divisional rivals – so of course, they won the series.

The first two contests were tight affairs, with the Mariners winning 4-2 and 4-3 respectively. The 6-3 loss in the series finale may have been disappointing, but at least it was made bearable by the two previous games.

Seattle now returns home to face the Texas Rangers in a four-game series. Before then however, here are our takeaways from the three-game set in Oakland, together with some other notes:

3) Kikuchi avoids disaster in excellent outing

As has often happened to the Mariners throughout their history, even when things go right they still seem to go wrong. (Exhibit A being their failure to reach the World Series in 2001 after setting the all-time AL record for regular season wins.)

It looked like this was going to be the case yet again on Monday night, when Yusei Kikuchi was forced to exit in the bottom of the seventh inning. Up until then, he had been enjoying an excellent outing.

Kikuchi came out after grabbing at his back with what looked like a serious injury. He had been doing various exercises since earlier in the game, leading to fears he had pushed his luck and aggravated whatever issue he had.

Losing the 29-year-old was the last thing the Mariners needed after all the setbacks they’ve already encountered with their rotation this season. Fortunately for the ball club though, he apparently avoided any major damage.

Speaking to the media after the game through his translator, Kikuchi explained what had happened. He said:

“I was actually cramping not in my back but in my hands, probably mid-game from the fourth inning on. Then there at the very end during my last few pitches, my back started to cramp up pretty good.

“Today was just cramps, but I decided to come out of the game because I have experienced something very similar to this over in Japan before. My back cramped up and I kept going and that led to an injury, so I wanted to play it safe.”

Understandably, this led to the question of if Kikuchi expects to recover in time to make his next start. He said:

“Yes I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to make my next start as scheduled. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal.”

What was a big deal was how well Kikuchi had performed on the night prior to leaving the game. His command was good and his fastball was as strong as it had been all year. (About a mile per hour faster that his season average.)

As a result, the southpaw only allowed four hits – including one in the seventh before exiting – and just a single earned run. His three strikeouts were tied for his second-fewest of the season, but it didn’t matter due to his excellent control throughout.

Kikuchi also allowed just two walks, while 59 of his 88 pitches went for strikes. As a result of it all, he had his team-leading seventh quality start in nine appearances this year and finally picked up his second win of the campaign.

To give some idea of the Japan native’s progress, he has now equaled the nine starts he had during last season’s shortened campaign. As a comparison, his stat line is essentially improved across the board this year, with him on course for a host of career bests in the Majors.

Of course, most important at this stage is to make sure Kikuchi does indeed make his next start, scheduled for this coming weekend against the Rangers. Manager Scott Servais said the pitcher will be monitored in the coming days to make sure he’s fine.

NEXT: OFFENSE TAKES A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION