Seattle Mariners Game Recap: M’s Can’t Overcome Mental Miscues

Apr 15, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal takes the throw from center fielder Joc Pederson to tag Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino out at home in the fourth inning of the game at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Mariners are Not Playing Heads Up Ball

Seattle gifted the Dodgers the first 2 games of this series, and tonight their tally of mental mistakes was higher than their hit total. The series got off to an inauspicious start on Monday night when Logan Morrison forgot how many outs there were multiple times during the same game. It did not end up costing the Mariners, but the lack of mental awareness was perplexing.

In Game 2, Fernando Rodney exploded in the bottom of the 9th inning. I can still picture the look on his face after he gave up the leadoff single. His face was screaming, “That was a rude way to wake someone up from a nap!”

Tonight was the worst of the worst. Mike Zunino came up with a ground-rule double leading off the 5th inning. Justin Ruggiano followed with a weak single on a line drive to center fielder Joc Pederson. On what should have been an easy decision to break to third base, Zunino got one of the worst reads I have ever seen. Not only was he late in heading to third, but then he thought he could score on the hit. Pederson gunned down Zunino at the plate with ease, and the M’s rally was killed.

Robinson Cano’s blunder was like the bad dream where you show up naked for work. Cano and Cruz were on second and third with 1 out in the 6th inning. LoMo did a nice job working a walk to load the bases, but Cano was under the impression he had just been walked in. Cano began trotting home, and was thrown out trying to retreat to third base.

I have been watching baseball for over 20 years, and I have never seen a player start walking home in the middle of an inning for no apparent reason. Hell, I have never seen a 6-year-old do what Robby did tonight. His base running blunder took the wind out of the M’s sails, and has to rank among the most embarrassing moments of Cano’s baseball life.

These kinds of mental miscues are not going to cut it if the Mariners plan on making the postseason in 2015.

Next: The Dodgers are Really Good