Mariners Lose Tampa Series, Hope to Rebound in Boston
The Mariners dropped another series, this time to the Rays in a bizarre series. They’re onto Boston for a series starting today.
The Mariners dropped two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays in Tropicana and still have not won a series in June.
In game one, Taijuan Walker lasted 3 ⅓ innings before leaving the game with a lower leg injury that should not affect him making his next start.
Edwin Diaz pitched exceptional in long relief allowing 2 hits over 2 ⅔ innings and striking out 5.
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The bullpen fell apart after Diaz was pulled as Nick Vincent gave up 3 runs and only recorded 2 outs and Mike Montgomery earned the loss after allowing a go-ahead RBI single to Corey Dickerson in the 7th inning and the Mariners lost 8-7, spoiling a good offensive showing, including a Kyle Seager 2-run home run.
Game two of the series was a 13 inning heartbreaker which saw former Mariner Logan Morrison draw a 1-out walk with bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Rays a 3-2 victory.
Montgomery earned his second loss in as many games due to his inability to find the strike zone in the 13th, and the Mariners offense stalled besides a 4th inning 2-run home run by Nelson Cruz. Nathan Karns once again was unable to go deep in the game, lasting only 5 innings.
The Mariners salvaged a win by beating Rays’ top prospect and Seattle native Blake Snell, dismissing the southpaw after only 3 ⅓ and scoring 5 runs, only one of them earned due to poor defense from Snell’s infielders.
James Paxton delivered another strong outing for the Mariners giving up 3 runs in 6 innings and had the help of Dae Ho Lee, who drove in 3 runs and had his first career double despite already having 10 home runs on the year. Kyle Seager added an insurance run with a 9th inning solo shot into the right field bleachers.
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The Mariners have a tough series versus Boston. They will look for deep outings from their starters to help the tired bullpen recover after the Tampa series, and will need an impressive showing from the offense to keep up with Boston’s high scoring offense led by the trio of Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and of course, “Big Papi” David Ortiz.