Mariners by any other name still can’t find a clutch hit, lose to Giants 4-3

Bats can’t get enough going against an unintentional Giants bullpen day

Today is the anniversary of the Seattle baseball club officially being christened “Mariners.” In 1979, the organization ran a contest to name their nascent team: over 15,000 entries were submitted, several of them “Mariners.” However, the team opted to give the prize—season tickets and an all-expenses-paid trip to see the team play on the road once—to a man named Roger Szmodis, saying they liked his explanation the best:

“I’ve selected Mariners because of the natural association between the sea and Seattle and her people, who have been challenged and rewarded by it,” wrote Szmodis in his prize-winning entry.

As denizens of our beautiful region know, the sea does offer both challenges and rewards: storms blow in over our waters, bringing destructive winds and rising tides on the same waterways that bring goods and jobs to our area. But maybe Szmodis didn’t know how much the baseball team bearing his seafaring-influenced name would also bring challenges and rewards.

Last night the Mariners, mired in one of the most unpleasant stretches in franchise history and making drastic, painful personnel choices as a result, delivered a rewarding, exhilarating win for new manager Dan Wilson and his squad. Today was much more on the challenges side of the coin, starting almost immediately: Tyler Fitzgerald led off against George Kirby with a bunt base hit, and two batters later, Heliot Ramos reached on a rare hit by pitch, and Michael Conforto reached on an even rarer walk. Matt Chapman then brought home the first run of the game for the Giants with a sac fly that missed being a hit thanks to a stellar effort by Randy Arozarena:

But Arozarena knocked the wind out of himself diving after this ball, leading to a scary few moments. The Mariners’ injury troubles didn’t end there, either: as the first batter of the game, Victor Robles was hit on the hand trying to bunt and had to leave the game (x-rays were negative according to the Mariners, who are calling it a “right index finger contusion.”

Despite the rewards of a walk by Julio and a ten-pitch battle by Justin Turner, the Mariners couldn’t do any more than ding Blake Snell’s pitch count in the first. Meanwhile, the Giants were able to add on another run in the second inning thanks to some more lousy batted-ball luck against Kirby, pitching in a game that seemed designed in a lab to put him directly on the path of Mad George: Fury Road, as they dinked and dunked their way into base hits.

The Mariners were able to create some frustration of their own against Blake Snell, torturing him with their newfound plate discipline in the second. Without recording a hit, the Mariners worked five walks, scoring two runs—their first five-walk inning in seven years (May 10, 2017)—to draw the game even and hasten Snell’s departure, as he left after just three innings, with five strikeouts but six (!) walks.

George Kirby also had one of his shortest outings of the season, although he managed to make it into the fifth before he was again felled by some terrible batted-ball luck, a two-out double off the bat of Yastrzemski that just snuck inside the first base line; he’d then surrender a 2-1 RBI single to Thairo Estrada for the go-ahead run. Postgame, Kirby didn’t spend much time bemoaning his poor batted-ball luck; rather, he was matter-of-fact, shouldering the blame for falling behind too often and not executing to the standard he expects.

“That stuff [the weakly-hit balls] didn’t matter. I didn’t throw strikes. I didn’t get ahead. So anyone can do that against me when I’m not getting ahead,” said Kirby.

JT Chargois took over after Kirby gave up the go-ahead run and was able to get the final out of the fifth. He returned for the sixth to face the top of the Giants lineup and issued a one-out walk to Tyler Fitzgerald, who stole second, although Chargois was able to shut things down after that. The Giants were brutal on Mitch Garver behind the plate: they stole four bases, including a double steal, and Fitzgerald himself had two stolen bases.

Not as fortunate was Austin Voth, who got his first two outs but got unlucky on a curveball to Mike Yastrzemski at the bottom of the zone, who was able to lean on it just enough to get it over the fence to extend the lead to 4-2. For all the talk about T-Mobile not being a hitters’ park, that right-field fence is pretty friendly to lefties: T-Mobile is one of just three parks where the 343 foot poke would have been out, with the others being notorious bandboxes Minute Maid and Yankee Stadium.

The Mariners got one back in the seventh, loading the bases against noted disgruntled Boras client Jordan Montgomery With two outs but in a 3-0 count, Arozarena chopped into a ball that was initially ruled a double play, but on review was ruled safe. Bob Melvin—after buying some time by challenging the slide at second—brought in Camilo Doval, recently returned from the minors, to get the final out, getting Mitch Haniger to roll over a ball easily against his former team.

Trent Thornton and Tayler Saucedo were both able to hold things down in their innings, but the Mariners couldn’t get get a run across against recently-returned closer Camilo Doval and actual closer Ryan Walker, working back-to-back appearances after pitching two innings the night before. Despite coming up with a double earlier in the game, Arozarena made yet another crucial final out, chopping over a fastball to end the game, as the sea of orange-clad Giants fans that flooded the stadium celebrated wildly.

If you’re looking for the bright side, the Astros lost to Baltimore today, so the Mariners didn’t lose any ground. But they also didn’t gain any ground, and they’re running out of time to take advantage of these opportunities. They are back to .500 ball, 65-65, balancing once again on that tipping point of challenge and reward.

Roger Szmodis, christener of the Mariners and the one to most elegantly illustrate the two sides of the coin, delight and despair, of both sea-dwelling people and their baseball team, never showed up to claim his prize. The organization—first director of public relations Hal Childs and later SVP of Communications Randy Adamack, after whom the press box is named—tried for literal decades to track him down, with no success. Finally, with the aid of the internet and other newfangled tools, KIRO was able to make a connection in 2023, only to be respectfully asked to end their attempts at correspondence with the family. Having created the Mariners name, the challenges perhaps outweighed the potential rewards of being forever visibly associated with this team. Understandable, really.