Mariners Game Recap: M's Fail to Sweep Royals, Lose 4-1 in Finale

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The Mariners took the weekend series, but failed to complete the sweep against the Royals on Sunday.

The Seattle Mariners (13-11) came up short in their quest to sweep the Kansas City Royals (13-11) on Sunday afternoon at Safeco Field. It was close throughout, but KC won 4-1. Ian Kennedy (3-2, 2.61 ERA) earned the win for the visitors, and Taijuan Walker (2-1, 1.80 ERA) took his first loss of the season for Seattle. Wade Davis shut the door in the ninth to secure his 8th save.

Taijuan Walker entered play today with a sub-2 ERA and a spotless record of 2-0. Unfortunately, today’s outing was his worst of the young season. Walker did not pitch poorly, but he had problems getting the final out to end innings. Overall, Prince Tai allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits across 5 innings of work. He struck out 4 and did not issue any free passes. Walker may not have been as dominant as he would’ve liked, but he did his job by keeping the Mariners within striking distance.

The Royals got the scoring started in the top of the second inning. Walker retired the first two men he faced, but plunked Alex Gordon to give KC a two-out baserunner. Salvador Perez kept the inning alive by singling to right field, and Gordon hustled over to third base on the play. Omar Infante plated Gordon on a single to center field. Infante’s RBI was the first run of the weekend for the Royals, as they were shutout in the first two games of the series.

Kansas City doubled their lead in the third inning. Alcides Escobar led off the frame by doubling on a line drive to right field. Escobar advanced to third base on a Mike Moustakas groundout, and trotted home to score following a Lorenzo Cain single. The Royals are excellent at manufacturing funs, and this scenario was a prime example.

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The visitors tacked on yet another run in the top of the fifth inning. Once again, Tai Walker was able to record the first two outs with relative ease, but his failure to corral the final out cost him dearly. Cain lined a 89 mph cutter the other way for a two-out single. The Royals center fielder is very fleet of foot, and he swiped second base to put himself in scoring position. This move proved critical, as Ketel Marte‘s errant thrown on a Eric Hosmer ground ball made it a 3-0 game.

Tony Zych was called on to work the sixth inning for the Mariners. The 25-year-old righty humiliated the Royals, striking out the side on just 15 pitches. Zych is quickly becoming one of the top relievers in the M’s bullpen.

The Mariners cut into Kansas City’s lead in the home half of the sixth inning. Seth Smith connected on a leadoff single, and he advanced to third base on a Robinson Cano single. Nelson Cruz followed by working a walk to load the bases for Seattle with none out. This sequence of events chased Kennedy from the game in favor of Danny Duffy. Dae-ho Lee and Kyle Seager were sent packing via the strikeout. However, Chris Iannetta came through in the clutch, scoring Smitty on a single to right field. Unfortunately, Cano was gunned down trying to score for the final out.

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Joel Peralta entered out the M’s bullpen in the seventh. The veteran picked up right where Zych left off, striking out Jarrod Dyson for the first out. However, Escobar worked a full count before hitting a seeing-eye single through the hole on the right side. Peralta recovered nicely though, retiring Moustakas on strikes and getting Cain to fly out to left field.

Scott Servais handed the ball off to Vidal Nuno in the eighth, and that proved to be a mistake. The funky southpaw served up a leadoff dinger to Hosmer, extending the Royals lead to 4-1.

Mike Montgomery came on to work the final frame for the Mariners. Monty allowed the first two men to reach safely, but managed to work out of danger without giving up any runs.

Next: Mariners Minor League Roundup: Who’s Hot & Who’s Not

Looking ahead, the Seattle Mariners (13-11) will head south to Oakland to begin a three-game set against the rival Athletics (13-12). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm from the Oakland Coliseum on Monday night. Nate Karns (2-1, 3.63 ERA) will make the start for Seattle in the series opener, and Kendall Graveman (1-2, 4.03 ERA) will be on the bump for the A’s. Root Sports Northwest will televise the game locally, and MLB.tv subscribers can watch worldwide on connected devices.