The reconstructions have to do with small victories, ideally closer to the symbolic than to the pyrrhic. The Mariners’ season, relative to the torchlight of many clubs, has had a promising start. Yes, they leave Houston 1-3 after tonight’s 8-5 loss, but the club is mostly healthy (hitting Kyle Lewis’ gray wooden bat). Just before the first pitch, Brandon Brennan hit IL with oblique strain, but compared to the onslaught of injuries, illnesses, and outbreaks throughout the league, things seemed oddly comfortable in the Mariners’ last game in the Minute series. Maid Park. The specter of league fragility hung over the game all day, but I’d be lying if I told any of you that today’s game wasn’t the most enjoyable loss I’ve seen in years.
Things started even more hectic, though Astros starter Josh James did not. The squat firefighter usually played 98 mph along with a slider sweep and a late burrow change. However, it was unknown whether the ball was in the receiver’s glove, mask, shoes, or normal batting location. The effective effectiveness was enough for two innings despite a walk by JP Crawford (one of two for him, on a 1-for-3 day with a double) and a Nice Piece of Hitting ™ by Kyle Lewis on a two-slider. hits. Lewis drove two balls to the right side again today, and I’m curious to know if pitchers will be forced to lean on his changes as they are the only pitch that has yet to go awry this summer. However, for the first two frames, it looked like a fireball-throwing duel.
The fireballs are hardly an exaggeration, as M starter Kendall Graveman took the hill for the first time in the majors in more than two calendar years. After looking so smart at camp, would he have the same things, and much less success, against the Astros than he did against the mixed squad of lesser Mariners? Outside the gates it seemed real Okay.
All three strikeouts in the first came in leg warmers, with Graveman settling closer to 94-96 after his adrenaline fueled 97-98 in the first, but he showed a deft hand to mix the form in his leg warmer. Sometimes, as with George Springer and José Altuve above, it was a more traditional four-seam. For Bregman, he worked a bit more cutting action, which he also used on occasions in later entries. Against lefties and sometimes elsewhere, he leaned on his heavy, sunken roots, working at a more 91-95 pace with a significant run and some sag. It was surprising, but unfortunately, like most spellcasters using all of their fireballs, it didn’t last.
The third inning started like a charm for Seattle, when Josh James saw his fleeting command erode completely. Three walks in a row filled the bases, and while a Kyle Seager GiDP spoiled the fun a bit, a run appeared, leaving JP Crawford as the lucky RBI remaining for Evan White’s first home run.
White has been appropriately overwhelmed at the moments of this young season, pitting two future Hall of Fame members interspersing a fashion selection for Cy Young 2020, but the first step in the big leagues is to establish that you belong. James makes a mistake, with a mediocre trade, but White is crucially ready to punish him. I never heard the ball drop from bats as thunderously as in these early fanless games, nor did I hear the crushing echo of the ball hitting signage, metal, and stone, save for a few explorer showcase batting practices. It is not a substitute for the roar of the crowd, and a collective celebration with our neighbor, but it has its own beauty.
The wheels fell off at the bottom of the box for Graveman. His initial dominance led to sedation when Kyle Seager shook a ground connection to open the entrance, but a hike to Houston’s only weak link in the lineup, reserve receiver Dustin Garneau, proved costly. He struck out George Springer once again, who would finish 0-for-5 with three strikeouts to conclude the first truly miserable series for the extraordinary start against Seattle in my memory. Unfortunately, things went off. Altuve won a 3-2 count with a double on the line, and before the camera could properly restart, Bregman hit a miserable slugger well above the Crawford Boxes, taking a 4-3 lead.
This was the game’s turning point, as Seattle would never lead again, but perhaps the awkwardness of the transition softened the experience for me. Graveman’s electrifying start was mostly flawed, but the potential was there, and on the first right-hander in 819 days, it was far less daunting to see Houston drift further away. Garneau hit a triple in the room that Dee Gordon couldn’t decipher as he leapt against the fences of the garage door on the far left. Altuve launched a shot into his eyes from the top of Crawford’s boxes, doing his best impression of Kawhi Leonard as he wanted the ball to finally land on the side of the fence. By the fifth, Graveman was working 91-94, unloading adrenaline, and he came out with a creepy line, but even that left me wanting to see more. It was enough, like a batting practice test where a boy looks inconsistent but hits balls with such force, alone missing, you feel like there might be something there.
Subsequent entries became blurred. LHP Taylor Guilbeau made his season debut, taking on the inherited runner from Graveman before falling victim to left-handed Josh Reddick and displaying curiously decreased speed (91-92) from his intriguing 2019 self (94-95). Houston reached 8 runs before taking his foot off the pedal, but almost every inning had a little pleasure. Tim “I refuse to give you a reason to start” Lopes registered with a double cut to center in the sixth, then Yohan Ramírez worked two shutout innings against his old club. In the seventh, JP Crawford and Kyle Lewis took consecutive hits, and Evan White launched another RBI with an opposing field liner.
8-5 is a lovely score for me in some reasons. Soccer coaches like to say that everyone is happy with a three-yard run on the first try. An 8-5 game like this, for this club, scratches the same itch. I saw enough to hope, while the causes of concern were more fleeting or less central. The next two days I’ll be watching the launch like a hawk, but today was a pleasant surprise, followed by a swift recession into reality, papered over with some abrupt changes by tomorrow’s prominent pieces present. We’ve had to get used to many kinds of excruciating losses in Seattle, but I can get along with a loss like this.
