The Mariners found themselves on the wrong end of another ugly afternoon Sunday, and Julio Rodriguez was in the middle of one of the stranger moments.
In the top of the sixth inning of Seattle’s 19-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs, the Mariners were hit with a pitch clock violation before Pedro Ramirez even got settled in against Jose Ferrer. Ferrer had already fallen behind 1-0, but the call wasn’t about anything he did. Home plate umpire ruled a violation after Rodriguez tossed a ball into the stands just as the at-bat was about to begin.
Seattle argued the call, but the umpire stuck with it.
That kind of lapse has already hurt Rodriguez and the Mariners once before. Last week, he lost track of the outs and threw a ball to fans during Milwaukee’s 22-0 rout of Seattle, an error that opened the door for two more Brewers runs.
This time, the mistake didn’t directly lead to runs. But it still came at a bad moment for a Mariners team that badly needed cleaner baseball. Chicago’s leadoff hitter later singled to left on a 1-1 count, moved along, and scored to make it 7-2 Cubs after six.
Seattle’s night only got worse from there. The Cubs piled up 12 runs over the final two innings, turning the game into another blowout.
For Rodriguez, the lesson was clear: with the Mariners trying to keep pace in the postseason race, there’s no room for those kinds of distractions.
In Other News...
Mariners Now Face A Kade Anderson Question They Didnt Expect
Kade Andersons first taste of the majors gave the Mariners a little of everything they could have expected from a debut and a little more than they probably wanted to sort through afterward. The pitching prospect was steady through four scoreless innings, then worked into the fifth and sixth before finishing his day after 5 2/3 innings with three runs allowed on five hits and two walks, while striking out five.
For Seattle, the outing came in a game it still managed to win 5-4 on a walk-off home run, which only sharpened the conversation around Andersons place in the rotation picture. The debut showed enough poise to matter, but it also left the club with a real decision to make about how quickly to keep leaning on a young arm that was tested once the lineup saw him a second and third time. [Read more 🡒]
Bryan Woo May Have Given Mariners A Huge Rotation Sign
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The feedback around him was encouraging, too, with pitching coaches and teammates sounding upbeat about how the session went. Woo said the challenge now is striking the right balance between rest and what the club needs as the season continues, which leaves his next steps important for both his own workload and the Mariners plans on the mound. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Offense Keeps Raising A Frustrating Question For Seattle Fans
The Mariners keep running into the same uneasy truth about their lineup: once players arrive in Seattle, the offense often seems to lose some of its edge. A number of hitters have posted lower OPS+ marks after joining the club, and the broader picture matches the eye test for anyone who has watched this group grind through too many quiet nights at the plate. Randy Arozarena has been one of the exceptions, holding steady or even improving, but the lineup around him has not made life easy.
There is at least one reason for optimism hidden in the numbers, because Seattle sits among MLBs biggest negative gaps between actual wOBA and expected wOBA, which points to a fair amount of bad luck in how the offense has been converted into results. The problem for the Mariners is that unlucky does not score runs on its own, and until the club turns more of those missed chances into production, fans are left with the same frustrating question every time the bats go quiet. [Read more 🡒]