The Mariners found a way to turn a winnable start into a 6-1 loss to the Rays on Saturday, and the missed chances came fast enough to set the tone early.
They had the kind of opening inning that can change a game. Griffin Jax couldn’t locate the zone, Randy Arozarena walked, Dom Canzone poked a single into shallow right, and Cal Raleigh worked another walk to load the bases with one out.
But the big hit never came. Josh Naylor struck out on a middle-middle changeup, and Luke Raley went down on three pitches.
Seattle did cash in in the second. Cole Young opened with a hustle double into the left-center gap, Victor Robles bunted him to third, and Colt Emerson lifted a sacrifice fly to center to bring him home. It wasn’t pretty, but it gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
That edge didn’t last long. Logan Gilbert opened his night by picking up his 1,000th career strikeout, freezing Jonny DeLuca with a slider at the knees after getting him to chase high fastballs. But Chandler Simpson singled on the next pitch, Ben Williamson worked through a long at-bat and then lined a hanging curveball down the line for a double, and the Rays tied it at 1-1.
Gilbert kept surviving, but the pressure kept coming. Yandy Diaz led off the third with a double to deep center, Jonathan Aranda followed with another double to put Tampa Bay in front 2-1, and Gilbert had to pitch around Junior Caminero before escaping again.
That was the story of his night: escape after escape. He allowed a runner in every inning he worked, but he held Tampa Bay to two runs through six innings on 86 pitches.
He came back out for the seventh and got two quick lineouts, then Aranda came up again. Dan Wilson went to the mound, Gilbert argued through his glove to stay in, and Wilson kept him there.
Aranda doubled immediately, Caminero was intentionally walked, and Wilson finally turned to Gabe Speier. The first pitch he threw was enough to tilt the game to 5-1 Rays.
Seattle still had one more chance to make it interesting. In the eighth, Cal Raleigh walked and Naylor doubled with two outs, but Mitch Garver came off the bench and struck out on three pitches, a rough at-bat that ended the threat. Tampa Bay added another run in the bottom of the inning when Michael Rucker threw away a bunt into right field.
Victor Robles did give Seattle one more spark in the seventh with a double just fair down the left-field line, and Cam Booser was sharp in relief for the Rays, striking out four and five Mariners hitters in another dominant outing against them. But the Mariners never found the hit they needed with runners in scoring position, and the game slipped away for good.
It was close enough to feel there for a while. It still ended the same way.
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