The bottom of the order went hitless, the bullpen gave up a lead, and the Mariners dropped another series to the Orioles.
The Mariners lost 3-2 to the Orioles on Wednesday in game that was mostly uneventful and mostly uninspiring. Emerson Hancock was solid, however, pitching into the sixth, generating a few whiffs, and striking out six batters. He once again showed an increasingly believable ability to generate weak contact, save for a mammoth solo-homer to Adley Rutschman on his final batter of the night. Rutschman’s homer was just the second hit Hancock allowed over 5.2 innings and the only run. Hancock wasn’t dominant by any stretch, but it was another good outing — the type of outing that makes the case that he should be in an MLB rotation.
What’s next for Hancock is unclear. The last time I wrote that sentence after a game, Logan Evans was demoted a few hours later to make way for the now healthy-ish Bryce Miller. The same tough-luck call will come for Hancock at some point in the near future. Logan Gilbert made his second start in Tacoma on Wednesday as he attempts to return from an elbow injury. Gilbert got touched up a bit in three innings and his velocity dropped over the course of 57 pitches. I don’t know if that’s notable, but several reporters noted it. Perhaps Hancock and Gilbert will each get one more turn wearing their respective jerseys, or perhaps they will have swapped them by the time you’re reading this in the morning, or perhaps a third and unknowable thing will happen in the coming days and weeks. Hancock has done what’s been asked of him, at least.
Gabe Speier followed Hancock and struck out three batters. Speier exited with a runner on first (a walk) and two outs in the seventh. Carlos Vargas walked the first batter he faced and then gave up a two-run triple to Heston Kjerstad to push the Orioles ahead 3-2.
The bottom of the Mariners lineup went hitless again (0-for-16 this time), leaving the top of the order to scratch across their only two runs of the game. In the fourth, Cal Raleigh (of course) flared a ball into right field that tailed and tailed and bounced off the chalk and into the stands, just out of reach of a tumbling Kjerstad. Julio dunked a soft liner to move Cal to third, and Randy Arozarena crushed a fly ball to the warning track for a sac fly. In the sixth, Ben Williamson lead off with a hit by pitch, J.P. Crawford walked, and Cal (of course) flared a single toward the other foul line to score Williamson from second. But Cal was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double, and when J.P. was later thrown out at the plate on a sharply hit grounder from Julio, the threat was all but over.
The next six batters went strikeout, groundout, strikeout, strikeout, strikeout, strikeout to progress the game to two outs in eighth, down 3-2. J.P. walked again (his OBP is now .396), but Cal struck out to end the inning. In the ninth, Randy Arozarena managed a single, and Mitch Garver walked to reach base for the first time in 10 days, but Rowdy Tellez’s deep fly ball came up just short.
The Mariners dropped their fifth consecutive series against the Orioles. They will look to avoid a sweep on Thursday and break even on the homestand before a six-game road trip.