Mariners Takeaways from 7-3 Loss to the New York Yankees

One time Mariners ace Felix Hernandez pitched his worst outing this season….but still settled down:

In the battle of former Cy Young winners, Felix was sadly on the short end tonight. He put the Mariners into a quick hole with seven runs through the first three, so far his worst outing of 2019. And unfortunately, those seven runs were against a Yankees lineup where most of the regulars are injured.

Felix was dealing before tonight’s start. Not counting the Royals game in which he left early due to sickness, he allowed four runs or less in all his starts. He also pitched six innings or more in his last four starts as well. Until he ran into the Yankees, all his 2019 starts had been quality or close to.

For any Felix doubters, four of those quality starts came against teams known for their hitting in the Cubs, Astros, and Angels twice over. And It’s hard to give any pitcher a pat on the back after allowing seven runs, but good for Felix for lasting as long as CC Sabathia did despite the latter inheriting a seven-run cushion.

This road trip could get ugly

Unlike the opening road trip of 2019, this one is no cakewalk. The Mariners could likely leave Fenway this weekend several games under .500. The Red Sox and Yankees are no slouches and if they get chances to score, they will more times than not come through.

Both franchises are used to success and thrive in clutch situations. They consist of clutch players who don’t mess around with the chance at being the hero. Unlike tonight’s Mariners who squandered two innings with the bases loaded, the Yankees and Red Sox hitters play their best when the opponent is on the ropes.

While the Mariners hit mostly solo home runs, the Red Sox and Yankees hitters can put you away with multiple singles or hits into the gap with the bases juiced. For years now, the Mariners continue to struggle with that themselves.

And this trip won’t end well for them if the offense can’t be more clutch in these final six games. Do you know what’s more impressive than four solo home runs in Saturday’s loss? Four clutch hits with the bases juiced!

How did last year’s Bronx and Boston road trip end when the Mariners left these teams in the game late and couldn’t put them away? It ended with a 1-5 road trip and blowing a five-run lead to each team. The Mariners hitting needs to take advantage of opportunities more or by the time they’re back home, they may still have 19 wins.

The defense settled down but is still a joke

How many games will we watch where some defensive miscue is made? All it does is hurt your teams’ chances and as a fan, it’s not fun but hard to watch. Every time an opposing hitter puts the ball in play, you hold your breath. We shouldn’t celebrate inside whenever Domingo Santana or Tim Beckham make a routine putout, but it’s felt that way all season.

In the MLB, walks and errors will come back to haunt you and that’s just what happened in this loss. Despite Ryon Healy being tagged for one error in the first, the leadoff double by DJ Lemahieu should have been one also.

Kyle Seager would have and he is still missed at the hot corner. All these errors by the Mariners will only make their season longer as just like what was feared, we paid for them.

Both of Ryon’s miscues led to two-run homers. Then our deficit is not as tough to overcome versus 7-0. The Mariners gave the Yankees extra chances this game while the hitting blew their own.