Mariners look to be same as they ever were, lose 4-2

same as it ever was

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack.

And you may find yourself in another part of the world.

And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile.

And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife.

And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”

The Mariners have picked up where they left off in 2024, and are letting the days go by and the water hold them down. A combination of bad luck and poor fundamentals cost them a highly probable win in tonight’s game. Same as it ever was.

Before the game, much was made about the Oakland A’s starting pitcher Osvaldo Bido’s command problem, and how the Mariners were going to be able to get baserunners on against him. And indeed they did. In the bottom of the first they loaded the bases on a double, HBP, and walk. Randy Arozarena walked to the plate ready to do damage, and got a top rail fastball back up the middle at 105.8 mph. A ball hit the same way as Randy’s gets down for a hit 94% of the time. But this one was one of the 6%. Same as it ever was.

In the second, the Mariners got two on after a pair of singles by Rowdy Tellez and Ryan Bliss. J.P. Crawford then sent a ball deep at 103.2 mph and for 393 feet. But to dead center, and it fell harmlessly into JJ Bleday’s glove. Ryan Bliss then decided to make some magic happen, stealing second and forcing a throwing error from Shea Langeliers, who airmailed it into center field. Rowdy scored from third, and Bliss advanced there himself. He also may not have touched second but don’t tell anyone. But before you could say to yourself “this is not my beautiful house,” Robles flew out to end the inning.

But time isn’t holding up, and the game marched on ahead, eventually reaching the top of the 4th inning. Bryce Miller had been cruising up on the mound to this point, but he allowed a single to Brent Rooker before bringing up Langeliers with two outs. Shea decided to make up for his run scoring error by putting two runs on the board for Oakland. The pitch wasn’t even close to the zone, and Bryce said he felt he executed it well after the game. But sometimes even the best pitch isn’t your beautiful wife. Same as it ever was.

Bryce isn’t one to let the water hold him down, and he bounced back for a good 5th inning, and he very nearly got out of the 6th. But a walk and wild pitch put a runner in scoring position with two outs, and Miguel Andujar was just able to poke a curveball below his knees back past J.P., and bring home the third run. After that, Bryce was removed from the game and cast into the blue again, into the silent water.

But here comes the twister, Jorge Polanco’s success looks more and more real. Before his third at-bat, Randy Arozarena walked and made it to third on a botched pick-off attempt by new pitcher Hogan Harris. Jorge jumped all over the first pitch he saw, and pulled an outside curveball through the 5-6 hole to plate the M’s second run of the game. I for one am curious to see where the Polanco Success Highway goes to.

Time isn’t holding up, but it isn’t after us either. Although games like today’s will certainly make it feel like it is. That rally was halted pretty quick by weak ABs from Bliss and J.P., and the A’s even got their run back thanks to Brent Rooker and a mistake by Colin Snider. Snider refused to peel off a popup on the infield grass, and he, Polanco, and Cal all converged on it. Jacob Wilson reached safely and made it to second. Brent Rooker then took advantage of Polanco’s sadly weak throwing arm for an infield single to score Wilson. Polanco may ask himself “Am I right, am I wrong?” and Snider may say to himself “My God, what have I done?” After that, the water was flowing underground, and the game eventually came to a quiet end.

Right now it may feel like we’ll only see a competent Mariners team Once in a Lifetime, and that as the days go by the team will seem just as frustrating as they were in 2024. Same as it ever was, after all. But it’s early days yet, and we’ll soon be into the blue days of summer again. Who knows, with some patience maybe the M’s will look back from their postseason berth at games like today’s and say “Well, how did we get here?”