Today’s 1-0 Mariners win, characterized by laborious pitching in every inning, reminded me of Ridley Scott’s directorial debut: The Duellists. That film follows two Napoleonic French officers in the early 1800s. Féraud is a stout Bonapartist and a hothead, while the even-keeled d’Hubert is something more moderate, not quite a republican and not quite a monarchist. Some petty squabble between the two men quickly escalates into a lifelong blood feud. As Napoleon’s ambitions carry him across the continent of Europe, Féraud and d’Hubert fight duels in Austria, Prussia, Russia, and France. The movie is notable for its realistic depiction of fencing. One of the duels between the two men lasts only a few seconds before d’Hubert is wounded and unable to continue. The slightest misstep, a single mistake, could mean death or injury. To win, you must be flawless. And indeed, the Mariners had to be nearly flawless to win today’s game.
It didn’t seem like we were going to served up an agonizing pitcher’s duel at first. The very first pitch from Baltimore Starter Dean Kremer was sent on the ground into centerfield by Randy Arozarena for a lead-off single. Cal Raleigh followed that up by hitting the very next pitch at 104.5 mph, but got under it for a Big League Flyout™©®. While Randy stole second, Julio produced a six-pitch at bat before grounding out to third. Josh Naylor stepped up to the plate with two outs. And picked the first pitch party back up from where Cal left it. Kremer through a fastball up out of the zone, but it didn’t matter as Naylor went up the ladder to pull it down from the top shelf and into right-center field. With Randy running on contact, there was no way to catch him. 1-0 Mariners.
But then something happened. Both pitchers locked in. George Kirby got his three batters in the first to ground out to the right side, using just 3 pitches total on the first two hitters. Kremer started to get into trouble in the second, but was bailed out by the baseball gods.
With Dominic Canzone at the plate, Jorge Polanco stood at first base. Canzone hit a line drive into right field which Ryan Noda read all the way. He charged the ball and for half a second, just long enough, it looked like he was going to catch it. He rolled on the ground right at the spot where the ball landed, obscuring what happened from Jorge in between first and second. He though the ball was caught, and retreated to first base. It wasn’t. Noda came up and threw to second, and Polanco was forced out. Resulting in the rare L9-6 forceout. Kremer’s luck continued when J.P. hit into a double play started by the first baseman Coby Mayo.
The next three half innings went by quickly and almost uneventfully. In the bottom of the third, Dylan Carlson hit a 2-2 knuckle curve from Kirby just slowly enough to leg out the infield single. But George was able to get Greg Allen to ground into the double play to end the inning and face the minimum yet again.
In the fourth, Julio worked a walk but then got himself out when he was caught stealing. In the bottom of the fourth the Orioles finally managed to get a ball out of the infield on Jordan Westburg’s flyout to right field. Gunnar Henderson was able to follow that up with Baltimore’s first extra base hit of the night when he hit a 106 mph ground ball into right-center and just out-hustled Dominic Canzone. It didn’t matter though, Kirby struck out Rutschman to end the inning.
Do you see what I mean, though? Both teams had opportunities to score, or at least the makings of opportunities, but every time the pitchers were able to tamp it down. It was a narrow tightrope, the margins between victory and defeat left no room for error. Both starters carried their games through the 7th inning, with Kremer even making it through the 8th. George gave up a 2-out single to Jackson Holliday in the 6th, while Kremer gave up a 2-out single to Crawford in the 8th. In the series preview, Isabelle Minasian referred to the Baltimore Orioles as a funhouse mirror reflection of the Mariners. Although for this game, the Orioles were less of a funhouse mirror than a tarnished one. They were very nearly like the Mariners, but the reflection just wasn’t clear enough.
As the game reached the late innings, both duelists were out of steam, forcing their seconds to come in and replace them. For Kirby, that meant Eduard Bazardo came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. He got 2 of his 3 hitters out, but Ryan Noda reached out and got a hold of a pitch on the outside corner and dunked it into center field for a single. Gabe Speier replaced him in order to face the lefty Greg Allen, but right-hander Jeremiah Jackson pinch-hit for Allen. It didn’t matter, Gabe got him out anyway.
Rico Garcia pitched the ninth for the Orioles, and did just enough to keep the Mariners from scoring. It was a long inning for Garcia, as he had to throw 23 pitches against four hitters. Julio kept his August hot with a 2-out ground-ball single, which Naylor followed up with an 8 pitch at-bat that ended when he just barely got under a fastball over the plate. That finally brought up the bottom of the ninth inning. Time was running out for the Orioles, but it felt like the pressure was on the Mariners to close it out.
Andrés Muñoz, of course, thrives on pressure and got two outs from Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg almost immediately. But then something happened. It seemed like Andrés suffered from either heat exhaustion or dizziness, which has happened to him from time to time on the east coast. He walked Gunnar Henderson on 4 non-competitive pitches. After a mound visit with a trainer, he then gave up a single to Adley Rutschman. For the first time all game, a baseball team had more than one runner on base at the same time.
Ryan Mountcastle stepped up to the plate. Andrés delivered a wicked slider to the bottom of the zone. Mountcastle, caught in between, swung over it. The next pitch, another slider, was fouled off. Before he knew it, Mountcastle was in an 0-2 hole. Andrés missed his spot on the next pitch, and Mountcastle didn’t chase. On a 1-2 count, Muñoz finally went to his bread and butter, his four-seam fastball. It only came in at 97.5mph though. The heat or dizziness may have been getting to Andrés. But all Mountcastle could do was foul it off. After back-to-back pitches away, Andrés came back inside with a sinker, Mountcastle put a weak swing on it, and send it bouncing to short. J.P. fielded it cleanly, fired to first, and beat Mountcastle by a mile. And here I thought rooks were supposed to be fast in a straight line.
When I was in undergrad, I did sport fencing. And let me tell you, dear reader, there is no more exhausting sport. In the Texas heat, we wore at least 5 layers of protective gear and baked like potatoes in the oven. And then we had to fight each other with swords. There’s a reason that when Féraud and d’Hubert meet for their duels, they wear naught but puffy shirts. Point being, you get worn out quickly while fencing, even though bouts only last 3-5 minutes, and often are much shorter. My best win, against an opponent I had faced many times and disliked on a personal level, was terribly exhausting. In a best of 9 bout, I somehow got out to a lucky 1-0 lead in the first few seconds. I then went on the defensive, parrying and deflecting an onslaught of attacks, lunges, and jabs. The next 5 minutes felt like an eternity, but I just barely squeaked out a 1-touch win as time expired.
The Mariners may have played for 2 hours and 28 minutes, and they may have used bats instead of foils, but that’s the kind of game they played. It wore them down, and it required near perfection from every pitcher and fielder. But in the end, it made victory that much sweeter.