Mariners Lose on Opening Day in Bizarre Fashion
By Ben Renner
The Mariners dropped their Opening Day game 3-2 against the Rangers in Arlington despite hitting two home runs and only allowing one hit.
Felix Hernandez lost for the first time in his career on Opening Day yesterday in a game in which he allowed one hit in six innings. The loss took its place in the annals of both Mariners and Major League Baseball history. The 3-2 loss yesterday was the first in Mariners franchise history in which they allowed one hit or fewer, the second time the Rangers ever won a game in which they only managed one hit, and the King became the first Opening Day starting pitcher in the last century to take a loss while allowing one hit or fewer in six or more innings pitched.
Take a look at the weird box score for a laugh. Hernandez took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but ran into trouble because of walks and fielding errors. Felix walked three batters, including a bases-loaded walk to Rangers outfielder and former Mariner Shin-Soo Choo. He could have escaped with less damage if shortstop Ketel Marte didn’t boot a grounder that he could have turned into a double play and if third baseman Kyle Seager hadn’t misplayed a ball earlier. Rangers designated hitter Prince Fielder blooped an RBI single in front of left fielder Nori Aoki for Texas’ only hit. Hernandez finished with one hit, one earned run, five walks, and six strikeouts in six innings.
Another strange moment came in the first inning, when Choo attempted to steal second with Fielder at the plate. Mariners catcher Chris Iannetta came up firing, but had to work around Fielder, who took a mighty rip at the pitch and came off balance. As he stumbled in front of Iannetta, he made contact with the catcher. Home plate umpire Jim Joyce called interference on the play, sending Fielder back to the dugout and Choo back to first base.
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Hernandez only allowed one earned run despite uncharacteristically walking five batters in the game. Seager made an uncharacteristic error that led to unearned runs on the board for Texas, so I’ll chalk this game up to bad luck. What’s more troubling about the loss is Marte’s error and the inability of the Mariners to score runs without solo home runs. Marte is relatively untested at shortstop at the MLB level and if his fielding woes continue, the Mariners will be in trouble. Home runs by Robinson Cano and Seager are nice, but give me three dirty, grind-it-out, ugly runs over two pretty runs any day. Getting on base was a problem for the Mariners all last year, so to see them struggle again on Opening Day in 2016 is a little disheartening.
Next: Mariners Season Prediction
But it’s one game. Catch the Mariners against the Rangers again tonight at seven. Root Sports has the telecast.