M’s Take out Frustration on Germán in Finale, but Lose Series in The Bronx

After a 4-2 homestand, a crucial, and tough road trip was underway starting Tuesday. The M’s were in the Big Apple, as they took on the New York Yankees for the second and final time this season. Lame showings in games one and two by the offense lead to disappointing losses, but Seattle had a home run derby away from home in the finale Thursday night. A few pros to take away, but the cons are far heavier. Following New York, the Mariners are in Baltimore for three days as they take on the Orioles, who are right on Tampa Bay’s heels in the AL East. But before we look ahead, let’s look back at the series against the Bronx Bombers.

A tough matchup to begin with, despite the Yankees’ recent struggles, (not having Aaron Judge doesn’t help). Their main man, Gerrit Cole, toed the rubber against George Kirby.

The Yankees got ahead early, with one in the first and two in the second. Anthony Rizzo doubled home Gleyber Torres and Billy McKinney’s 432-foot round-tripper gave New York a 3-0 advantage.

Outside of the first two innings, Kirby settled down, not allowing another run the rest of his start. But, like mentioned in my previous article, normally when the pitching is at least above average, the offense goes dormant. That was the case Tuesday, especially with Cole on his A-game.

The top four in the lineup, (plus Dylan Moore who entered after J.P. Crawford had to exit due to injury) went 0-15 in the opener. Gerrit Cole struck out eight over seven plus innings, allowing just one run on a Jarred Kelenic RBI double in the sixth.

Kirby was able to go seven, allowing three runs, while striking out four.

Another lifeless game, as Seattle dipped below .500…again, and I am sure this won’t be the last time this happens. Cole improved his record to 8-1 on the season, as the Yanks took the opener by a final of 3-1.

Back to J.P. Crawford’s injury… ruled a right shoulder contusion on a collision, (if you can call it that) on a steal attempt by NYY’s Harrison Bader. He left in the third inning, and Dylan Moore took over for him in the lead off spot and at short stop.

Luis Castillo took the ball for the M’s Wednesday looking to bounce back to an even record. La Piedra was 1-4 in his last five games, despite only allowing nine earned runs. His counterpart? Young right-hander Jhony Brito, who entered with a 4.89 ERA in ten starts in his rookie season.

Scoreless through two full innings, and then the Yankees began working Castillo’s pitch count. An eight-pitch walk to Anthony Volpe, lead to a full-count, two-run homer by 2021-Mariner Jake Bauers – his second home run against his former team this season. Following Bauers, it took Castillo 12 pitches to retire Gleyber Torres. An inning later, and Billy McKinney, not normally known for his power, hit his second home run in consecutive days, adding to the Yankees advantage by one.

Castillo was only able to go five innings, allowing three earned, while walking three in the process.

Yet again, Seattle’s bats were nowhere to be found throughout the majority of Wednesday night. Two late runs made it a tad interesting, but this one seemed over since NYY took yet another early lead. Only one batter (Ty France) has a batting average above .270 on the M’s. As a team, they rank second-to-last (.226) in the MLB, and dead last in hits.

A 4-2 final Wednesday, and Castillo’s fourth consecutive loss as a starter. His record is now 4-6, despite an ERA below three.

As Thursday came around, Seattle finally decided to wake up from their long-lasting offensive nap.

Rookie Bryan Woo got some serious support early from the Mariner bats. Teoscar Hernandez, Eugenio Suarez and Mike Ford all had RBIs, as the M’s put up a four-spot in the first off of Yankees’ starter Domingo Germán.

Seattle wasn’t done after the first. Offseason acquisition Kolten Wong finally hit his first homer of the season in the second, as well as Ty France. Both solo home runs, and it was a touchdown for the M’s

Two more in the third and then back-to-back solo shots by Teo and the Big Dumper in the fourth had Woo and the M’s up ten to zip. NYY starter Domingo Germán gave up ten runs in just three plus innings..

Bryan Woo worked a no-no into the fifth, and once that was broken by consecutive singles by Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo, his successful day came to an end. Woo struck out five over 5 1/3 innings, holding the Yanks to zero runs.

The final Thursday was 10-2 in favor of Seattle, as they look to ride the offensive momentum into Camden Yards Friday night.

The task doesn’t get much easier for the M’s this weekend. They face a Baltimore team who is just second to the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. The O’s are in the middle of the pack when it comes to team batting average (.254, 12th in MLB) and ERA (4.20, 16th in MLB), but with an overall record of 45-28, they are a force to be reckoned with in 2023.

Pitching probables for SEA @ BAL:

• Friday 6/23, 4:05 PM PT: RHP Logan Gilbert (4-4, 4.31 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Gibson (8-4, 3.94 ERA)
• Saturday 6/24, 1:05 PM PT: RHP Bryce Miller (5-3, 3.68 ERA) vs. RHP Dean Kremer (8-3, 4.56 ERA)
• Sunday 6/25, 10:35 AM PT: RHP George Kirby vs. TBD

American League West standings as of Friday afternoon:

• 1.Texas Rangers (46-28)
• 2.Houston Astros (41-34), 5.5 GB
• 3.Los Angeles Angels (41-35), 6.0 GB
• 4.Seattle Mariners (36-37), 9.5 GB
• 5.Oakland Athletics (19-58), working an eight-game losing streak