Listless in Los Angeles, another shutout loss as Mariners continue wasting pitching gems
Woo weaves a winnable one, loses 3-0 all the same.
2024 has wrung me dry of the joy that pitching duels once brought. In a game of parity between pitcher and hitter, a gem like that which Seattle Mariners starter Bryan Woo and Los Angeles Dodgers righty Gavin Stone refined at Dodger Stadium this evening was a true exhibition of their best selves.
Both players were Top-100 prospects at the time of their debut, selected in the 5th and 6th rounds respectively. Objectively, Woo and Stone were brilliant tonight, locating on the edges and avoiding many free baserunners, leaving both offenses starved for for opportunities. Nearly all of those opportunities ended in disappointment, as Seattle managed to hit into multiple double plays, while the Dodgers scarcely found purchase whatsoever against Woo. When at last they scraped across a run, it was a solo shot by Gavin Lux, a brilliant piece of hitting to drive a pitch over the opposite field fence in left-center. An errant fastball on his next pitch clipped catcher Will Smith, ending the evening for a visibly deflated Woo at just 87 pitches. No, it was not satisfying to see Yimi Garcia immediately allow a two-run shot to Max Muncy, but it could have just as easily not occurred for as much as the M’s managed to make it matter at the dish.
3-0, 1-0, 14-0, it’s all too easily rendered a rotten remoulade when the ingredients are unaltered. Like the 38th straight day of tuna salad sandwiches for lunch as a youth, at some point it does feel justified to beg for any measure of variety. The ghastly displays of the Mariners offense were in full effect, as only Julio Rodríguez reached base more than once, and was bizarrely given an error on an infield single he encouragingly was able to bolt down the line to leg out. Little else, and I mean little else should be salvaged from this tilt on the M’s end of things, as they observed as they do each year the mighty Dodgers up close. A team constructed around a goal of constant excellence, Seattle’s depth was not able to hold up against L.A.’s. The plate appearances were not merely abysmal, but the swings and misses, as well as the takes, seemed poor enough as to almost wonder if Seattle were in a pocket dimension where their plate were simply six inches off kilter to the rest of the world.
Seattle is now two games above .500 and five games back of the AL West, along with six and a half behind the third Wild Card spot. It is a variation of a gulley, given the club’s longer backslide, approaching rapidly what must be hoped to be a nadir. The Dodgers were a club with more expectations than most entering 2024, and they’ve struggled to replicate at least the lofty beliefs inspired by their highly active winter. Seattle must decide once again whether they can afford or mitigate in-season the heavy risks of their own inaction.