SEATTLE - The Mariners came home with a little momentum after taking two of three at Fenway Park, but Thursday night at T-Mobile Park brought a familiar kind of frustration. A 7-4 loss to the A’s not only spoiled the start of a crucial homestand, it also dropped Seattle to six games behind the first-place Astros in the American League West after Houston beat the White Sox.
It was the kind of night that left Dan Wilson searching for answers. His evening ended in the sixth inning after he was ejected by home-plate umpire James Hoye, and afterward he called it, “Tough one to start the homestand with,”
Seattle got a promising burst early. The lineup ran Jack Perkins up to 40 pitches in the first inning and scored three times, but that was about as good as it got. The Mariners finished with nine hits and eight walks, yet they also struck out a season-high 18 times, went 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 runners while the A’s bullpen covered the final six innings.
“We just weren’t able to find barrels in those situations, and that’s what you need to do,” Wilson said. “Sometimes, you start to look for too much and you get away from what you do.
That’s what can happen in those situations. I know we’re pushing, and sometimes you try to do too much.”
The night also turned into another learning experience for Kade Anderson, who was pitching on normal rest for the first time in his professional career. The Mariners’ No. 1 prospect gave up runs in three of the five innings he worked, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks. He also finished with eight whiffs, including just three on his secondaries, and five of the hits against him came off the bat at 103.5 mph or harder.
“I don’t think it holds up to the standard I put on myself and my teammates put on [me],” said MLB Pipeline's No. 5 overall prospect. “Just unacceptable tonight, and I look forward to going out there again.”
Seattle has talked about keeping Anderson on a soft 80-pitch limit, and Thursday was the first time he finished below that number. Even so, the rookie once again ran into trouble the third time through the order.
Anderson opened by allowing a first-pitch homer to Zack Gelof in the first inning and gave up another run in the second, but he settled in enough to get through four innings on 57 pitches. After recording two quick outs on seven pitches in the fifth, the trouble returned when Henry Bolte drew a four-pitch walk to start the A’s third look at him. Gelof followed with a double into the left-field corner, putting runners on the corners, and Anderson then let Gelof steal second without a throw before Lawrence Butler’s next pitch single to center brought both runners home.
He finished with 11 first-pitch strikes to 22 batters, spending too much of the night behind in counts. His slider also didn’t cooperate, producing just two whiffs and one called strike across 23 pitches.
“It’s just an ongoing process,” Anderson said. “Stuff’s not always going to feel perfect at all times throughout an outing.
You’ve got to understand that in certain situations, you’ve got to go with something else. I would say that I could lean on the other three in that situation.
I wasn’t commanding the slider great tonight. But at the same time, just trying to get the other ones.”
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