Poor offense dooms Mariners, who fall to Milwaukee in extra innings
The outcome came in the bottom of the 11th when Julio Rodriguez stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th and his team down a run. His hard ground ball to shortstop Willy Adames was flipped to second base for the final out of the game in what would be a 6-5 win for the Brewers.
But really the game was lost long before the game even went into extra frames when the Mariners were nonexistent. Seattle went six-plus innings without recording a base hit in the game.
It’s indicative of a lineup that is flawed with struggling hitters and consistent producers and three or four players having to carry the offensive load.
The Brewers were able to pick up a run in the 10th. With Garrett Mitchell as the automatic runner on second to start the inning, Victor Caratini ripped a hard one hopper to first baseman Ty France. Instead of just letting Mitchell have third, France fired across the diamond, but his throw was just off and Eugenio Suarez couldn’t make the tag in time. Milwaukee scored moments later when Brice Turang hit into a double play.
The Mariners were able to tie the game when automatic runner Kolten Wong advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on France’s sac fly to center off right-hander Bryse Wilson.
Seattle kept the inning alive with two outs. Eugenio Suarez reached on an infield single — the Mariners first hit since two outs in the third inning. Cal Raleigh followed with a single to left-center. But with the winning run on second base, Teoscar Hernandez struck out looking on three pitches to end the 10th inning.
Seattle got an eventful start from Logan Gilbert, who pitched six innings, allowing four runs on five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.
His battle with Christian Yelich was an indicator of how things would be for much of the early innings. Gilbert got up 1-2 but wasn’t able to put away the one-time National League MVP. He fired a pair of wayward misses and then left a 3-2 fastball in the middle of the plate that Yelich deposited into Edgar’s Cantina for his fifth career leadoff homer.
While Gilbert would retire the next six hitters in a row, he went to full count with five of them. He threw 28 pitches in the first inning and 20 in the second inning.
Milwaukee pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third inning, taking advantage of some pitches in the strike zone. No. 9 hitter Owen Miller doubled into the left-center gap and immediately scored when Yelich singled to right. Willy Adames capped the scoring with a double into the left-field corner.
In their second time through the order against Milwaukee starter Colin Rea, the Mariners finally started to generate some offense. Rodriguez ripped a one-out single into left field for his second hit of the game and France followed with a ground ball through the left side. The Mariners got a bit of a scare when Suarez took a 91-mph fastball off the point of his elbow and crumpled to the ground in pain. He remained in the game.
With the bases loaded, Cal Raleigh doubled into right field to score a pair of runners and Hernandez launched a fly ball deep into center for a sac fly that tied the game at 3.
Tommy La Stella gave the Mariners the lead with a soft single to left field just in front of a diving Yelich. It was the first RBI from the designated hitter position this season. It was also the last hit the Mariners would register until the 10th inning.
Given a one-run lead, Gilbert reset his outing. He worked a 1-2-3 top of the fourth and retired the side in order in the fifth.
But with one out in the sixth, he fired a 94-mph fastball at the top of the strike zone that Adames was able to stay on top of, driving it over in the right field for a game-tying solo homer.