SEC Alumni Match Up in Mariners loss

It just means less: Mariners lose 5-4 to the Rangers

The Mariners began a four-game series against the Texas Rangers today with a matchup between two former SEC studs, one Bryce Miller of Texas A&M, and the debut of the controversial (to the Mets at least) Kumar Rocker, a product of Vanderbilt. Rocker is the bigger star of the two, as a former first-rounder (twice over) versus Miller, who started out at a JUCO before transferring to A&M, pitching in the bullpen, and eventually being drafted as a fourth-rounder by the Mariners in 2021. However, the two SEC alumni showed out in a nice pitching duel over the first four innings of the game.

Rocker looked a little nervous to start the game, giving up two singles on the first two pitches, but quickly settled in, notching his first major league strikeout. Rocker kept the Mariners off balance throughout the games first four innings with a solid fastball, slider, splitter mix tallying seven strikeouts in the process. However, his major league debut wasn’t without issue. The Mariners put pressure on Rocker multiple times but, as they have so often this season, failed to bring men around to score. The Mariners left four men on base and went 0-5 in scoring opportunities with Rocker on the mound, scraping a lone run off a Justin Turner solo shot to center field in the 4th.

Across the Diamond ( though on the traditional wrong side because T-Mobile is quirky like that ), Bryce Miller matched Rocker throughout the game. Unlike Rocker, however, Miller got into trouble earlier; after a solid first inning, he gave up a solo shot to Josh Jung for the Rangers to take the lead, one-nothing. Not to be outdone; however, Miller settled in after the homer, using his splitter, sinker, two-seamer, and fastball to keep the Rangers late and behind often. Miller tallied seven strikeouts of his own over six innings with one walk and one earned run.

Unfortunately for Rocker, his first MLB win will not be today. The Rangers bullpen has a reputation to maintain as 21st in the league and, in keeping with that, promptly came in and blew the game. Victor Robles kept his hot streak going with a nice single to start the fifth, followed immediately by a Julio walk. That would be the end of the day for Gerson Garabito (I didn’t make that name up), as the Rangers turned to veteran lefty Andrew Chafin to end the inning. Chafin set the tone early with a pitch in the dirt to allow Robles to advance to third and then a walk to Cal Raleigh to load the bases. Loading the bases is never a good idea against Randy Arozarena, but the Rangers did it anyway to predictable results. Randy jumped on the second pitch he saw, reaching for a sinker across the plate and singling up the middle to drive in two, and the Mariners took a 3-1 lead.

Luke Raley grounded a ball over to second base, and Randy was out at second, but Cal Raleigh advanced to 3rd and Raley, with his speed, was able to beat out the double play, causing Chafin to stamp his foot on the ground in disappointment like an Old West sheriff who just saw the Beaverton Bandits sneak out of jail. Possibly thinking the Mariners needed more help, Chafin allowed a stolen base to Luke Raley and then bounced a pitch in the dirt and allowed Cal Raleigh to trot home on the wild pitch, putting the Mariners up 4-1.

Miller finished the 6th and was done for the night, finishing with seven strikeouts, one earned run, and one walk throughout six innings. The Mariners brought in rookie sensation Troy Taylor to try to keep the Rangers down in the 7th. Taylor has quickly risen to a core part of the bullpen in the wake of injuries to the Mariners bullpen, racking up 13 strikeouts in 11 innings so far this year. Not to let the rookie or the Mariners feel comfortable, Nathaniel Lowe ambushed Taylor on his second pitch, a four-seamer that was right on the plate, depositing it in the left field stands to cut the lead to two. Taylor got out of the inning without further trouble, but one precious run had elapsed.

Meanwhile, seeming to will the Mariners to victory on his own, Robles drew a walk to start the bottom of the 7th. He continues to haunt Jonah Heims’s nightmares, stealing both second and third, despite the strikeout from Julio and flyout from Raleigh. However, former Mariner Matt Festa, now of the Rangers, was bailed out of the jam with Robles on third when Arozarena popped out shallowly to end the inning.

Not to be outdone, the Mariners bullpen also decided to give the Rangers a fighting chance to make the game more interesting. Collin Snider has been nails for the Mariners all season, but he made a mistake with a sweeper that found its way into the middle of the plate, giving up a home run to Marcus Semien to bring the Rangers within one.

An error from Luke Raley then allowed Josh Smith to reach first, bringing yet another Rangers rookie sensation, Wyatt Langford, to the plate as the go-ahead run. Langford leapt on the first pitch he saw from Snider, crushing a ball to deep right center that thankfully stayed in the yard but put men on second and third for the Rangers with one out. A soft bouncer from Adolis Garcia to shortstop allowed Josh Smith to score from third and tied up the game.

The Mariners called on lefty Tayler Saucedo for a lefty-lefty matchup against Nathaniel Lowe to attempt to keep the game tied, but two tough calls from home plate umpire Rob Drake put him in a 2-0 count. Saucedo came onto the plate with a sinker, and Lowe hit a tricky grounder up the middle that Polanco couldn’t handle, allowing Langford scored from third for the Rangers to take the lead.

With the lead secured, the Rangers brought in Kirby Yates in the 9th to close out the game. Despite a single from Victor Robles, Julio struck out swinging on three pitches to end the game. It was the Mariners’ 16th strikeout of the night.

This game served as a microcosm of the team’s larger struggles this season, with the Mariners continuing to struggle offensively with runners in scoring position. While the bullpen has been solid outside of a few hiccups, and the starting pitching continues to be very good, the offense still can’t show consistently on days when the pitching can’t pick them up, despite a host of changes made over the course of the season to theoretically address that issue. The hitting performances on this team continue to baffle and frustrate fans. A pitching rotation this good should not have to be saddled with a lineup only marginally more productive than quite possibly the worst baseball team of all time. The Mariners might have brought their own former SEC star to tonight’s matchup, but once again, couldn’t match the powerhouse on the mound with an equally dominant lineup.