Seattle Mariners Almost Let Bounce-back Win Slip Away

Despite yesterday’s brutal 24-3 shellacking versus the Milwaukee Brewers, the Mariners sent out many of the same players today against the Chicago White Sox. The team looked in command for most of the game, but in the later innings they ended up needing to hunker down for a tight 7-6 victory.

The young Mariners squad that was sent out for today’s match needed to prove a point: yesterday’s performance wasn’t an indication of who this year’s Mariners team is.

Of course, we already know that many of the players out there today will mostly likely not define who the 2017 M’s are, but the point remains true.

Behind one more excellent outing from James Paxton, a near cycle for the red-hot, Mitch Haniger, another amazing day for one of the Mariners most under-reported spring attendees, Tyler Smith, and a second dominating close in as many appearances for the promising newly acquired prospect, James Pazos, the Mariners edged out a one-run win.

Early on, it looked as though the M’s might flip yesterday’s score on its head, breaking out to a 7-1 lead by the end of the 3rd inning. Smith doubled and homered in the first three frames for four of the team’s seven RBIs while

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Smith doubled and homered in the first three frames for four of the team’s seven RBIs while Kyle Seager, Mike Zunino, and Guillermo Heredia drove in runs via a single, a bases-loaded walk, and a sacrifice fly respectively.

However, this would be the only offense production out of the M’s for the rest of the ballgame. Not only that, but once again -although not to extent of yesterday’s travesty- the bullpen almost surrendered the lead.

Nick Vincent allowed two runs on three hits while Dillion Overton threw three innings and gave up three runs. Overton did strike out four men, so there was some good that came out of his appearance.

In the final frame, it was down the burly Pazos to lock down an M’s win. He looked very solid with his command for his second save attempt in as many outings. He did walk a batter on four straight pitches, but didn’t allow a hit and had no other blemishes at any point in his 9th inning outing.

Next: Mariners of the Future: Alex Lange

Tomorrow the Mariners face the Los Angeles Dodgers at 1:10 PM PST. Unfortunately, those of you looking to see the Seager brothers (Kyle and Corey) face off again against one another, Corey is still sidelined by a back injury and will not be participating in tomorrow’s matchup.