Mariners open series in Toronto with loss to Blue Jays
TORONTO – When a team loses in baseball, the clubhouse is usually a quiet place with players dressing quickly, having a few conversations and devoid of music, which is considered a reward for winning.
But in the visiting clubhouse of the Rogers Centre, where they had doused each other with beer and champagne in celebration in their previous stay, the sound of music, softer than the earsplitting decibels after a win, started to play in the moments after the Mariners’ 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Shortstop J.P. Crawford perhaps sensing the moment, and the audience of media entering the room, put on a specific song to play. The opening chords of “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley and the Wailers started to play.
And when the seminal lyrics to start the song started to play, Crawford sang a along.
“Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.”
Eventually others quietly joined in, nodding to each other. Perhaps it wasn’t as much a message to those outside the team, but to those on it after their third straight loss on this road trip to drop them to 11-15.
“Singing ‘Don’t worry ’bout a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.’ ”
Maybe it’s too early for the Mariners to be worrying about their play and their results. And maybe everything will be all right.
But at some point, it isn’t about saying they have a good team, but showing it.
The last time these teams met in the now-renovated Rogers Centre, they delivered two games of brilliant and exciting baseball in the first American League wild-card series.
In the first year under the newly expanded playoff system, the Mariners rolled into Toronto, riding the wave of emotion from clinching their first postseason appearance since 2001, and won the first two games to advance to the American League Division Series.
Both teams have expectations for a return to the postseason in 2023 with an improved showing.
But only one is performing like a postseason caliber team – and it isn’t the Mariners.
“We play so many close games,” M’s manager Scott Servais said.
“We’ve done it the last three, four years. We’re just used to coming through in big spots. It hasn’t happened yet. It will. We’ve got a really good offensive club. We’ve got guys that have track record of being able to hit in this league. We’ve got power. We’ve got a lot of things. It’s just not happening right now.”
It hasn’t happened enough this season.
The Mariners are 3-8 in one-run game games and 0-10 when trailing after the sixth inning.
In a rematch of starters for Game 1 of last season’s wild-card series, featuring Mariners ace Luis Castillo and Blue Jays big right-hander Alek Manoah, runs were expected to be scarce.
The pitching duel featured plenty of velocity and movement but not much in the way of consistency or command.
Failing to capitalize on a passel of base runners with ineffective situational hitting approaches and results – a seasonlong problem – the Mariners scored two more runs than they did on Thursday, which is an improvement.
The Mariners were all over Manoah, getting traffic on base every inning, fueled by six hits, four walks and a hit batter.
Cal Raleigh gave Seattle a brief 1-0 lead, golfing a pitch over the wall in right field. Raleigh also homered off Manoah in that wild-card game.
It should have been more. Seattle loaded the bases for Ty France with one out, but he hit into a double play to end the inning.
The Blue Jays tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Alejandro Kirk smashed a solo homer to left off Castillo.
The Mariners retook the lead in the third. Jarred Kelenic led off with a single, stole second and scored on Raleigh’s ground ball through the right side.
Toronto answered in the bottom half. Vlad Guerrero Jr. worked a two-out walk and scored from first on Matt Chapman’s double off the center-field wall.
Manoah made it through five innings, aided by seven strikeout and the double play.
“We had him on the ropes, and we needed to knock him out,” Servais said.
The Blue Jays’ bullpen pitched the final four innings, not allowing a base runner while striking out eight batters.
The Mariners were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, stranding seven on base, including four on second base with two outs.
They’ve scored two runs over their past 25 innings.
“We know that guys on this team are kind of struggling a little bit, myself included,” Raleigh said. “We’ve just got to keep stringing together good at-bats. That’s the big thing. We can’t give away at-bats or have those easy three-pitch or one-pitch outs. We’ve got to grind through the at-bats, especially when things aren’t going our way.”
Castillo wasn’t quite as sharp as his wild-card performance against Toronto, but that would’ve been difficult to replicate.
He allowed two runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Tied at 2 in the sixth, Toronto scratched a run out against reliever Trevor Gott. With two outs and Whit Merrifield on first, Gott hit No. 9 hitter Kevin Kiermaier with a pitch to move the go-ahead run into scoring position. George Springer made the free base hurt with a run-scoring single to center.