The Walk Off: Seattle starts season with five straight home losses
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
The Seattle Mariners were hoping this year would be different following an offseason shakeup in management, but change hasn’t come quickly for baseball fans in the Pacific Northwest who watched the Mariners lose their fifth consecutive game on Tuesday night.
Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre hammered a three-run homer to left field in the third inning and drove in five runs in the Rangers’ 8-0 win. It is the first time in Mariners history they have lost their first five home games of the season and they will try to avoid the indignity of being swept in their first homestand of the season on Wednesday.
It’s not exactly the kind of change ownership was looking for when it hired Jerry Dipoto as manager and Scott Servais to replace Lloyd McClendon as manager in the offseason. But there is also no reason to panic yet. It’s still very early in what is a long grind.
The Mariners are slumping offensively and don’t have the kind of pitching rotation that can overcome a lack of run support. Seattle hasn’t scored more than three runs in a game during the five-game skid, which came on the heels of scoring 19 runs in two games combined the season-opening series in Texas.
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It appears it could be feast or famine for this club this year but we’re not ready to make any judgments this early in a long season.
Seattle pitchers haven’t been awful. It’s been more a case of tough luck. Wade Miley is a perfect example. He had the stuff to get seven strikeouts on Tuesday, but he also gave up 10 hits and watched Beltre reach down and golf his home run out of the park.
Miley and pitcher Chris Iannetta collided in the third inning chasing down a bunt, but Miley stayed in the game and Texas got to him soon after.
TOP PERFORMERS
Bryce Harper: When he came to the plate in a scoreless game Tuesday in the eighth inning against Atlanta, it seemed fitting the reigning National League MVP had a chance to make the decisive play and that’s exactly what he did. Harper hit a ball down the left field line just out of the reach of diving Jeff Francoeur. Stephen Drew and Anthony Rendon scored and the Nationals went on to win 2-1.
Justin Upton: One of Detroit’s big offseason additions finally had a breakout game with four hits, including his first home run of the season in an 8-2 win over Pittsburgh. Upton’s first-inning home run off Juan Nicasio was a no-doubter to straight-away center field. He drove in two runs and scored three runs in the game and raised his average to .333.
Trevor Brown: The Giants’ backup catcher hit a pair of two-run home runs in a 7-2 win at Coors Field over the Rockies helping Jeff Samardzija earn a victory. Brown was in the lineup to give Buster Posey a rest after he took a foul ball off his right foot on Sunday. Posey is hitting .391 with two homers this season and now Brown is hitting .375 with three home runs. Catcher is not a problem for the Giants.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
The first 15,000 fans who entered Fenway Park on Tuesday received a replica necklace commemorating David Ortiz’s 500 Home Run milestone reached last season. Apparently there were a few extras that made their way to the Baltimore Orioles’ dugout where outfielder Adam Jones was seen wearing it, perhaps, in tribute to Ortiz or maybe he was just trying it on. But moments later, Ortiz hit a home run to right field and when cameras returned to Jones once again, he had removed the necklace.
[Horror story: Stephen King dislikes protective netting at Fenway]
THE SCOREBOARD
Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2: Arizona slugger Paul Goldschmidt hit the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and drove in two runs leading Arizona to spoil the Dodgers’ home opener. The Los Angeles bullpen struggled once again and was unable to hold the 1-0 lead it inherited from starter Kenta Maeda after six innings.
Rays 5, Indians 1: Logan Forsythe and Evan Longoria broke open a 1-1 game in the eighth inning when each hit a two-run home run. Forsythe provided the go-ahead shot off Indians’ starter Corey Kluber, driving in Kevin Kiermaier. Longoria followed two batter later with a home run to left-center field.
Phillies 3, Padres 0: Odubel Herrera hit a run-scoring triple in the sixth inning and the Phillies added two more runs in the eighth inning on a throwing error by Cory Spangenberg. Charlie Morton earned his first win of the season. The Padres were shutout for the fourth time in the season’s first eight games.
Marlins 2, Mets 1: Jose Fernandez and Noah Syndergaard produced the pitchers’ duel that was expected from two of the game’s best hurlers but neither earned the win. Miami scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly that drove in Dee Gordon, who reached base on a hit after a 16-pitch at-bat.
Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2: Jacoby Ellsbury’s bloop single in the seventh inning drove in Chase Headley with the go-ahead run and sent Toronto to its fifth loss in six games. The Blue Jays scored in the third inning when Jose Bautista doubled driving in Kevin Pillar and Josh Donaldson.
Royals 3, Astros 2: Kansas City scored all three of its runs in the first inning and five pitchers made it hold up. Those three runs came on a home run to left field from Lorenzo Cain driving in Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas. The Astros got the tying run to second on the ninth before Kansas City closer Wade Davis retired Jose Altuve and George Springer to earn his third save.
Angels 5, A’s 4: Geovany Soto hit a two-run home run to left field in the top of the ninth inning to give the Angels the lead and eventually a victory. Soto’s 414-foot blast came off A’s closer Sean Doolittle, who has a 5.79 ERA in five appearances this season. Albert Pujols also drove in a pair of runs for the Angels.
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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
