The Mariners scored four runs in the bottom of the first, and the Rays played unsuccessful catch up the rest of the afternoon.
The first two batters of that inning seemed emblematic of how miserable life has been for the Rays of late. Adrian Houser was on the mound, coming off a disastrous previous start in his Rays debut. The first batter was Randy Arozarena, and Randy claimed he’d been hit by a pitch although no one on the field or in the broadcast booth saw any sign he’d been hit.
But the Mariners appealed, and somehow the New York video crew saw something indicating he’d been hit — grazed might be the better verb — and he took his base.
Next up, Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh. Brian Anderson and Andy Fried discuss Houser’s record and pitch mix and note how Houser’s big skill is his ability to keep the ball in the park. So , what does Raleigh do? Hit a home run of course.
The Mariners would go on to score another two runs that inning and the game seemed to be lost.
But the Rays at least made a play to keep it close, largely thanks to Ha-Seong Kim and Chandler Simpson.
Kim doubled home Josh Lowe, who had also doubled, to put the Rays on the board in the second inning.
In the third, Chandler Simpson tripled, and was driven home by Diaz’s productive ground ball out.
And then in the fourth, Kim’s solo home run made it a one-run game.
It looked like the Rays, who I’d left for dead after the first inning, were going to chip away at that deficit and get back into the game.
But the Rays failed to score after that Kim home run. They stranded Simpson at third base one inning, but mostly they simply didn’t get on base at all. The ninth position in the order, shared by Peterson and Morel, registered four strike outs in four at bats.
But Seattle managed to tack on two additional runs to put the game out of reach. Bryan Baker, the another unimpressive trade acquisition, gave up one run and Edwin Uceta another, making the final score 6-3 as the Rays are swept by the Mariners.
