Mariners look past Giants to other orange team, lose 2-0

Not a traditional getaway day, but this one sure did.

These games have come and gone in this Seattle spring. The Seattle Mariners have drawn close, then slipped just past their quarry like an orca that’s decided it’s had its fill of fish after all. The San Francisco Giants had every intention of providing a surprising sweep, with shoddy contact and spoiled chances at big innings of their own, but the M’s were not able to capitalize at the plate thanks to a frustrating stretch of sequencing and genuinely stifling pitching by Alex Cobb, the Rogers twins, and Camilo Doval.

The script nearly followed the same critical path as Monday’s comeback stunner, with Seattle pressuring each strong arm, wrestling them nearly to a pin before being flung off. J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, and Jarred Kelenic each reached second base, but BABIP deficiency, great defensive plays like Casey Schmitt’s snag of a surefire RBI single for Crawford, and subpar performances at the dish like Kolten Wong’s pop-up-palooza made for a crypt-level silence from the bats and a 2-0 loss.

Had Seattle scraped a run across at all, a couple defensive miscues might’ve loomed larger, as both Julio and Teoscar had adventurous afternoons in the windy confines of San Francisco. For Julio, it was an unsightly drop of a ball on the warning track that could have easily been worse, but ultimately was no different than a 390 foot RBI single to center to end a solid 4.1 IP effort from spot starter and recurring Portlandia character Tommy Milone. That the drop wasn’t punished further, however, is a credit to Ty Adcock, who shut down the looming first and third threat and even worked past a one out triple the following inning due to Hernández’s dubious sliding effort to post 1.2 key scoreless frames.

The Mariners, unfortunately, posted 9.0 key scoreless frames at the dish, managing if nothing else a speedy exit from the Bay Area that leads into a rest-free four-game set at the Houston Astros, because MLB laid out the Mariners schedule by color scheme. 3-1 or 4-0 in Houston is a daunting task in any circumstance, but it would put the M’s back over .500 and right in the thick of the Wild Card, and even AL West race again. No pressure.