After a 12-run explosion yesterday, the Mariners couldn’t summon up a ton of offense, and their pitchers gave up three homers in a 6-1 loss against the White Sox.
Luis Castillo couldn’t wiggle out of some first-inning trouble after giving up a leadoff single to Sam Antonacci on a fastball that came in at 95 but right on the plate. Castillo was a pitch away from getting out of it when Colton Montgomery turned on a fastball in his lefty loop zone, squeaking it just 367 feet over the right field fence for a 2-0 lead the White Sox would never surrender.
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Meanwhile, the Mariners couldn’t solve Anthony Kay’s changeup. He struck out three hitters on the pitch in the first two innings alone, while throwing a bunch of other soft stuff that the Mariners hitters just couldn’t make solid contact on. They got a little something going in the top of the third, getting two runners on without a hit, but couldn’t convert the gifts of free baserunners.
Castillo gave up his own gift in the bottom of the inning, grazing Sam Antonacci in a two-strike count and serving Miguel Vargas a first-pitch sinker right on the plate that he yanked into center field for another two-run homer. Castillo settled after that, limiting the damage to the two two-run homers, although with a little help from Cole Young:
The Mariners finally got a run back in the fifth, again without a hit: Mitch Garver led off with a walk, and Young reached on a fielding error by Munetaka Murakami. Leo Rivas sac bunted the two over into scoring position, which, sure, and Rob Refsnyder got the job done with a sac fly. That brought up Cal Raleigh who, to his credit, battled Kay for seven pitches but ultimately took a called strike three, fooled on a sinker that wound up right on the plate.
The White Sox then immediately took that run back, again with two outs, as Vargas – again – won an 11-pitch standoff with Josh Simpson, homering on yet another sinker that got too much plate. Sinkers are stinkers.
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From there it was a bullpen battle for both teams. The Mariners threw the B-side of their bullpen: following Simpson was Nick Davila, who gave up a double but worked a scoreless bottom of the sixth, and José Suarez made his Mariners debut in the seventh, working around some trouble from a single and a walk but not able to get out of the eighth cleanly, striking out the side but also loading the bases on a hit and two walks and giving up the lone non-homer run for the White Sox. The White Sox bullpen fared much better, throwing four scoreless innings with an additional four strikeouts to add to Kay’s five. The Mariners will try it again tomorrow to secure a second series win in a row.
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