Mariners fall to Red Sox in extra innings in rubber match

After an offensive revival in the previous five games, the Mariners lineup comes back down to earth in a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday.

The Seattle Mariners lineup had been on a roll recently, with the arrival of Randy Arozarena and then Justin Turner coinciding with a scoring barrage over the past five games. With 39 combined runs, the offense had helped the ball club go 4-1 and keep pace with the Houston Astros.

So of course, with a potential pivotal series win on the line in Wednesday’s matinee, the Mariners lineup decided to come back down to earth and produce just two runs. As a result, they lost the rubber match 3-2 to the Red Sox in extra innings, after Rafael Devers’ walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th.

It was certainly a frustrating outcome for the Mariners, who had their chances with seven hits, five walks and a hit by pitch in the top of the 10th. Speaking postgame to the media, manager Scott Servais said:

“We had a lot of opportunities to bust it open. In a game like this, you’re just like one big hit away from getting on the good side of this thing, but not for lack of effort. I like the way we’re playing; the at-bats are better. We just didn’t come through with runners in scoring position today.”

Kirby has an action-packed outing

The Red Sox opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, with a wild pitch by George Kirby allowing Masataka Yoshida to come home. In this respect, it would prove to be an eventful day in general for the righty.

Kirby had started the game with a nice tribute to Tim Wakefield, with a first-pitch knuckleball. The former Red Sox pitcher died of cancer in October last year, at the age of just 57.

The 26-year-old has thrown out a knuckleball once before in honour of Wakefield. Speaking about the significance afterwards, he said:

“I loved watching him. I started throwing knuckleballs because of him. I’m a Yankees fan at heart, but just watching him do his thing all the time, it was incredible. I’m just honored to be able to do something like that.”

Kirby would shut the Red Sox down over the next four innings, as the Mariners responded to the early 1-0 deficit with two runs of their own. Dylan Moore hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth and then Josh Rojas blasted a solo shot an inning later, for a 2-1 lead.

Then the Mariners’ 2023 All-Star got into another spot of bother in the bottom of the sixth. A one-out double was followed by an RBI single from the recently acquired Danny Jansen, to tie the game at 2-2.

A frustrated Kirby exits the game

This would prove to be the end of Kirby’s day, as he finished with a stat line which included 5.1 innings, seven hits, one walk, two strikeouts and two earned runs. The 5.1 innings ended his run of consecutive quality starts at nine, which was the longest such sequence by a Mariners pitcher since Félix Hernández had 16 straight back in 2014.

The 2019 20th overall draft pick was clearly angry when he was removed from the game, with 95 pitches thrown. However, this was more about frustration with his outing than anything else, given how much he demands of himself.

However, you know just how good Kirby is, when Wednesday can be perceived as an off-day for him. On the season he is ranked 12th among all qualifying starters in ERA, tied seventh in WHIP and first in strikeout-to-walk ratio.

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Mariners bullpen suffers another potential injury

The Mariners’ bullpen picked up the slack nicely until Gregory Santos had to leave the bottom of the eighth inning after two outs, with a right biceps issue. Service said the reliever would undergo an MRI when the team got back to Seattle.

Ultimately it would be Jhonathan Diaz who gave up the winning run, in just his second appearance of the year in the Majors. After beginning this season 19-8 in one-run games, the Mariners are now on a streak of 0-7.

With the loss, the Mariners fall to 57-53 and .001 percentage points behind the Astros at the top of the AL West. They now have a day off before facing a Philadelphia Phillies with the best record in the Majors at the time of writing, beginning on Friday night at T-Mobile Park.

The Phillies might have the best record in the Majors at the time of writing, but they have also lost four straight. What is your prediction for the Mariners will do versus them at home in the upcoming three-game series? Let us know in the comments section below.