Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Recapping the First Weekend of M's Baseball

Episode Date: July 29, 2020

What did we learn over the course of the first five games of the Mariners' season? (Other than that the host of this program procrastinates.) Well, some red flags popped up rather early, especially on the pitching side. D.C. talks about the final three games in Houston, and the first game in Anaheim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Well, gang, time to play catch-up. We have got four games to recap for you today on Locked-on Mariners. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting out that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast.

or any of the other programs here on the Locked-on Podcast Network or T-L-O-P-N-O-Tlopin. Follow the show on Twitter at L-O-U-U-U-U-N-R-Score Mariners, and follow me on Twitter as well at D-C-U-C-U-Lundberg, that is L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G for those scoring at home. Well, after dropping the opener in Houston by a score of 8-2, the Mariners promptly dropped the next one as well. And there's a recurring theme in these games that the Mariners have lost. Let's go back to Saturday, July 25th.

Second game in Houston. Taiwan Walker made his return to the M's against the Astros. Lance McCullors, the breaking ball specialist coming off Tommy John surgery. Astros drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single from Michael Brantley. Things were fairly quiet on both sides until the bottom of the fourth. Brantley flew out to begin the inning. He was followed by Yuri Guerriel, who hit a home run. Carlos Corre was then hit by a pitch.

Josh Redick singled. Kyle Tucker singled. to score Correa. Walker's Day was done, and he was pulled in favor of Brandon Brennan. First man he faced was Martin Maldonado, who hit a single of his own to score Reddick and Tucker. George Springer then grouted it into an inning-ending double play, but the damage had been done.

Four runs scored in the inning to give the Stroes a 5-0 lead. Leading off the top of the fifth, however, J.P. Crawford hit a sharp triple. He'd score on an RBI ground-out by the next hitter, Malix Smith. Long Jr. and Evan White would then both strike out. The M's were on the board, however. The Astros would answer right back, though. Jose Al Tuve led off with a walk, then Guriel walked following a pop-out and a flyout. Carlos Correa drove in Al-Tuve on a single to extend the lead to 6 to 1. After Kyle Seeger fanned to lead off the 6th, Kyle Lewis stepped up to the plate. He hit a line-drive home run to straightaway right field for his second home run of the

season. Folks, I've said it before, but it bears repeating. This kid is for real, and he is now firmly ensconced as the team's center fielder. He made a really good play last night against the Angels on a diving play with a catch probability of just 15%. That home run I just spoke of, however, would be the only run they'd score in the sixth inning on Saturday, and the last that they would score all day. The Astros would answer right back once again in the bottom of the six on a George Springer's solo home run, and the scoring was done for the day. A 7-2 victory by the Astros at the expense of the M's. A four-run fourth inning, pretty much being the Mariners undoing.

Crawford went three for four. Seeger went two for four. Walker wound up only going three and a third innings. They're giving up five runs, all of them earned. Seven hits, a home run, but only one walk. He did strike out a batter as well. Brennan went one and a third and gave up an earned run, and two hits and two walks. Nester Cortez also pitched an inning in a third, gave up an earned run on one hit, a solo home run, and struck out one batter.

Brian Shaw made his Mariner debut and pitched a perfect inning. Taylor Williams also made his Mariner debut and also pitched a perfect inning, including one strikeout. The next day, Sunday, the Ms would finally get off the Schneid. They get started in the very first inning, as a matter of fact, with two outs and the base is empty, Kyle Lewis. get used to hearing that name this season, gang. Singles. Kyle Lewis hit a two-out single. He was followed by Kyle Seeger,

who doubled to drive-in Lewis, Kyle driving in Kyle. Maybe we'll call this the Kyle connection, or not. Anyways, with the run-in and Seeger on second base, Evan White hit a single of his own to drive in Seeger, collecting his first Major League RBI.

Jose Marmaloels flew out to end the first inning, but two in the first against Zach Grinky, nothing to sneeze at. Astros would counter with one run in the bottom of the first. Kyle Tucker led off with a double. Then following two strikeouts, Michael Brantley hit a ground rule double to score Tucker. All the Kyle's doing their thing in this third game of the season.

Yusay Kikuchi did wind up striking out the side in the first, however. Things would again be pretty quiet until the fourth inning. In the top of the fourth, Tim Lopes hit a one-out double. The Astros then decided to change pitchers and brought in former Blue Jay Joe Biagini. Malix Smith promptly hit a double to drive in lopes. Joe Hudson, who was making his Major League debut, struck out. Shed Long Jr. then hit the third double of the inning to score the fleet-footed Smith.

Then the Astros did it to the M's again. Jose Al-Tube led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk. Michael Brantley singled. Then Alex Bregman walked to quickly load the bases. Yuleiguriel then hit a single to left. field to score Altova, bringing the score to four to two. Mariners' advantage. Next two hitters would strike out, but Josh Reddick then drew a bases loaded four-pitch walk to score Brantley and cut the M's lead down to one. Hot-hitting Martine Maldonado then stepped up to the dish and hit a two-run

single, scoring Bregman and Guriel to give the Astros the lead. Kikichi was finished, and in from the bullpen came Zach Groats. He hit George Springer with the pitch, but then induced a pop-out for Malthuvae, who led off the inning. It would be nothing doing until the top of the eighth when the Mariners would finally put together a pretty decent inning of their own, and they do so against Chris Devinsky, who is one of the Astros' more reliable back-end bullpen pieces. Tim Lopes led off the inning with a single.

Malix Smith would strike out, and Austin Nola would pinch hit for Joe Hudson. Lopes would steal second base during Nola's plate appearance, which wound up being a walk. with Lopes and Nola aboard on second and first respectively Shed Long would drive in Lopes on a ground ball single to right field which also moved Nola along to third. Crawford fouled out. Long stole second base during Crawford's at bat

and then that man, Kyle Lewis, singled in both Nola and Long to untie the game and give the Mariners a 7 to 5 lead. Kyle Seeger would then ground out but the M's came away with three runs against the usually strong Davensky. And unlike other innings in which the Mariners scored during the series, the M's shut the Astros down the next inning, with Anthony Mosevic tossing a seven pitch, one, two, three inning.

M's would not score in the ninth. Taylor Williams came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth against the top of Houston's lineup. Kyle Tucker would lead off with a double. George Springer and Jose Altuvae would both strike out, but Michael Brantley would hit you. yet another ground rule double to score Tucker and bring the Astros to within one run once again. Next batter, Alex Bregman would strike out, though, giving the Mariners their first win of the season

and also giving Williams his first Major League save. Lopes went three for four, and Jose Marmolyos would collect his first Major League hit, going one for five. We will pause for the Mariners trivia question before wrapping up this series and taking a brief look at the first game in Anaheim. Kyle Lewis was drafted by the Mariners in the first round in 2016. He was the 11th overall pick. Who was the number one overall pick that year? Answer following a word from Rock Auto.

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Answer to the Mariners trivia question. Kyle Lewis was drafted number 11 overall by the Mariners in 2016. The first overall pick that year was Mickey Moniac. No, I don't remember that either. gang, the Phillies selected high school outfielder Mickey Moniac number one overall. Last year, he hit 252 in AA ball. More locked on Mariners following a word from CBDMD. It does not matter if you're a professional athlete, a stay-at-home parent, a daycare teacher

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Now time for the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Once again, your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thanks, Joey. Second half of Locked-on Mariners is about to begin, talking about, well, we got four games to cover since I got so far behind. I apologize for that, ladies and gentlemen. We spoke about Saturday's game. We spoke about Sunday's game.

We're going to go into Monday's game right now. The Mariners closed out the four-game series in Houston on Monday. Kendall Graveman got the start for the M's, and he was opposed by Josh James. James. Neither pitcher would last very long, James going three innings and Graveman only four. Scoring would get underway in the top of the third. Josh James loaded the bases with walks to the first three hitters, Shed Long, J.P. Crawford, and Kyle Lewis. Kyle Seeger then hit into a double play erasing Lewis, but Long scored on the play.

Next batter was Evan White. With Crawford on third, White took a low outside change-up and drilled it to straightaway left field, way above the big giant garage doors and near the train atop the stadium. Very impressive first Major League home run, which also gave the Mariners a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Astros would answer right back in the bottom of the inning, as they had done in almost every other time the Mariners scored throughout this series. Kyle Tucker led off, and he reached on a fielding error. After he stole second base, Dustin Garneau walked, George Springer then fanned, but Jose Altuve doubled the left field to score Tucker and San Darno to third. With those runners at the corners, Alex Bregman homered to give the Astros a four to three lead. Houston would add one more in the fourth, a Dustin

Garneau RBI triple to score Kyle Tucker, then three more in the fifth. A Jose L two of a solo home run, a Michael Brantley RBI double, and a Josh Redick RBI double. Score at this point was eight to three Astros. The Mariners would score two in the top of the seventh with Kyle Seeger and Evan White, driving in the two runs on a ground out and a single respectively. But that would be all she wrote, as the Astros would win 8 to 5 and take the series 3 to 1. Evan White did go 2 for 5, but he also struck out three times. Kyle Lewis went 2 for 4, but also struck out twice.

The M's would strike out 13 times in this game. One recurring theme during this series that almost reared its ugly head in the first game in Anaheim is that the Mariners look like they're going to be prone to giving up the big inning. That's pretty concerning. Prior to yesterday's game in Anaheim, the M's took Taylor Gilbo off the active roster

and sent him to the team's alternate training facility in Tacoma. To take his place, they activated catcher Joe Odom from the taxi squad. And it's a good thing they did, because about an hour and a half prior to game time, Austenola had to be scratched from the starting lineup.

Odom was immediately installed into the starting lineup, and he made his major league debut at the age of 28. Ladies and gentlemen, honestly, I'm glad this show is running a little long because yesterday's game was simply an utter disaster, and I'd rather not talk about it. It was a 10-2 defeat in Angel Stadium, and the Mariners could only muster seven hits, and they committed two errors. Daniel Vogelback pinch hit in the top of the ninth inning and struck out. He has now begun the season 0 for 8, ladies and gentlemen. That's also a little concerning. What was also concerning was the third inning in which Justice Sheffield

through 39 pitches. First inning was fine. Second inning was fine. Third inning was not. He did not look that sharp. He got hit a little hard. And he ended with the bases loaded. So it actually could have been much worse

than it actually was. He gave up two runs in that third inning. It could have been a lot worse. That is enough of that. Next time on Locked-on Mariners, I will be joined by guest panelists, Oliver Douglas, Sprocket, and a grilled cheese sandwich.

We'll recap tonight's Mariners game in Anaheim. hopefully not as disastrous as last night. That's a great panel, ladies and gentlemen, so be sure to download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, so you never miss an episode of Locked-on Mariners. Also remember to follow this program on Twitter

at L.O. underscore Mariners, and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Also, check out Monday's episode of Locked-on Angels, where I appeared as a contestant on Taylor Blake Ward's Locked on Angels Jeopardy. I always have fun participating in these trivia episodes, whether it be hosting Diamond Quiz on this show or if it's as a contestant on other people's shows.

They are always a blast, and I hope you enjoy them also. Again, we'll be back tomorrow morning, and until then, I hope you have a great day. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.