Mariners limp into All-Star break after bullpen blows lead to Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Since the early days of the season, when it became noticeable that they weren’t using the long-held number of 100 pitches as a pull or push decider for their starting pitchers, the Mariners have made it clear that it was part of their strategy to maintain the long-term health of their rotation – the obvious strength of the team.

As other teams lost starting pitchers to injuries early in the season and then struggle to fill those rotation slots with competent performers, it only made the Mariners more resolute about not pushing pitchers too much in the first “half” of the season.

But that philosophy, to which they’ve held steadfast despite criticism and second-guessing from the fan base and even a few starting pitchers, has also come with some difficult moments, blown leads and lost games due to the inefficacy of the Mariners bullpen.

Sometimes it’s difficult to understand the 10,000-foot view of a plan for overall success when watching the daily results and seeing leads and wins turn into deficits and defeat, particularly after missing the playoffs by one game last season.

Sunday’s stunning 3-2 loss to the Angels will serve as one of those examples where the long term can’t be seen or felt in the disappointment of defeat int he moment.

“Rough finish going into the break,” manager Scott Servais said.

Rough might be an understatement. The Mariners dropped 3 of 4 to a team that’s using bubble gum and duct tape to put together a starting rotation and whose best player has been out with a knee injury and next best player doesn’t really like baseball.

In the final game before the All-Star break and with a chance to go up two games on the Astros in the American League West, Logan Gilbert delivered a performance indicative of why he was selected for the American League All-Star team.

With the afternoon sun sitting on top of a breezeless Angel Stadium, Gilbert dominated hitters for seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.

Gilbert was at 87 pitches after seven innings, pushing his lead for most innings thrown by a MLB starting pitcher to 1321/3 innings, Servais went to the bullpen.

“That’s kind of the game plan if you can script out what the game is gonna look like,” Servais said. “Logan was outstanding and he gets you through seven and you think we’re in great shape with Stanek and (Andres) Munoz. We’ve leaned on Logan very heavily. We are in a great spot in that game. We go Stanek, Muney, and we jump on the plane.”

Stanek left after an ugly four-pitch walk with back spasms. Stanek’s replacement, Austin Voth, walked the first batter he faced and served up a three-run homer to Jo Adell turning a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 deficit. It was a brutal series for Voth, who also gave up a walk-off homer to Willie Calhoun in Friday’s loss.

“We lost three games by one run in this series,” Servais said. “Consistent offense was an issue here the last couple of nights. We didn’t get much going there and you’ve got to do more offensively to win these series on the road so I can’t fault our pitching.”

With their rotation decimated by injuries and poor production, the Angels opted to go with a modified bullpen start instead of trying to call up another starter from a system that’s bereft of viable MLB pitching.

Manager Ron Washington turned to right-hander Carson Fulmer to make the start.

The well-traveled Fulmer, a former first-round pick of the White Sox in 2015, delivered a stellar outing that was longer than expected. He was perfect through the first 42/3 innnings. With two outs in the fifth, Keston Hiura booted a ball at second for an error to allow the first baserunner. Fulmer then hit Victor Robles with a pitch and walked Josh Rojas to load the bases.

Washington went to one-time Mariner Hunter Strickland to get the Angels out of the inning. Strickland got Dylan Moore to pop up to end the inning,.

The Mariners first run and first hit came in the sixth when J.P. Crawford hit a solo homer off Strickland.

Seattle’s other run came in the seventh Victor Robles walked, stole second and then scored on Logan O’Hoppe’s throwing error on his steal of third base. The Mariners loaded the bases in the seventh and failed to get a hit.

“We weren’t able to get the big hit,” Servais said. “Instead of being up 2-0, you are looking at something bigger. But that happened throughout the entire series, creating opportunities. You need the big two-out hit and they got it. They got the two-out hits in the series and we did not.”

M’s take Cijntje in first round

After three straight years of selecting high-school hitters in the first round of the MLB draft, the Mariners bucked that trend Sunday evening, selecting Mississippi State pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje in the opening round with the No. 15 overall selection in the draft.

Cijntje is known for pitching both left-handed and right-handed and he said at the draft site in Texas that he would like to continue pitching with both hands.

Cijntje, 21, was 8-2 this past season with a 3.67 earned-run average, with 111 strikeouts and 30 walks in 902/3 innings. He was ranked the No. 25 draft prospect by MLB.com.

“He’s obviously a unique athlete and a kid who speaks five languages,” said Scott Hunter, Mariners senior director of amateur scouting. “This is a fun player. We’re going to sit down with him and see how he would like to attack it. But there is a huge advantage that he does do both.”

Although a natural lefty, he throws harder right-handed, reaching 97 to 98 miles per hour, said Hunter, who said Cijntje has a plus-slider and will also throw a change-up and a curve.

“The change-up wasn’t used much during the year, but it is something that could be an equalizer for a guy who can throw 98 miles an hour and make the ball move to both sides of plate and obviously spin the baseball the way he can,” Hunter said. “We really believe he’s going to thrive in the program we have already set for our pitchers.”

Hunter said Cijntje can hit 93 mph throwing left-handed.

Cijntje began throwing right-handed when he was 6, to be like his father, Mechangelo, who played professionally in the Netherlands.