Mariners hit Angels starter so hard it knocks him back into the Minors

Baseball can be a funny game. We just watched the Mariners struggle to score the entirety of the four-game series against the Astros, scoring just nine runs and hitting around .180 during the series, even though they managed to win the series three games to one. They've been one of the worst offenses in baseball. There was definitely a worry that it would continue against the Angels, even though their pitching isn't great... which hasn't stopped the Mariners from struggling in the past.

After a 5-4 win in the first game, the offense came out hot in game two, finding early opportunities against the Angels starter, Reid Detmers. Ryan Bliss stole the show, literally and figuratively, early on when he walked, stole second, stole third, and then came home on a Julio single. Later on in the game, he advanced to second on a fly ball to center, showing that the insane speed can be a massive game changer as he would score on a bloop single by Julio.

That's not the point of the article (but it's just fun to talk about Bliss). It's what the Mariners ended up doing to Reid Detmers. It seemed like it might be another one of the games where the Mariners made an opposing pitcher throw a ton of pitches, but end up not doing any damage, and it nearly happened again. The 4th inning started strikeout - single - strikeout... and then the fun started. Luke Raley worked a seven-pitch AB for a walk and then Bliss took four straight pitches to load the bases.

Crawford worked his AB well, and was sitting on a 2-2 count with Detmers sitting on 89 pitches. Funny enough, I was watching the game with my dad, and he remarked that the Mariners were about to go full Mariners and Crawford was just going to get out and the Mariners would still see Detmers leave the game, but nothing else would happen.

Literally five seconds later, JP decided that it wasn't just time for Detmers to leave the field, but that it was time for the ball to leave the field as well.

Crawford hit the 4th Grand Slam of his career, and it knocked Detmers out of the game... and out of the majors. After the game, the Angels optioned Reid Detmers down to AAA. The Mariners five earned runs off Detmers ballooned his ERA to 6.14 on the season, and actually put him up to a league leading 43 ER this season.

The Mariners hit Reid Detmers hard enough to send him to AAA

JP Crawford has just been insane with the bases loaded since the start of 2023, going 13 for 20 with three 2B, one 3B, and three GS, driving in an outstanding 34 RBI. Also, remember that the triple could've been a grand slam as well, as the only park in baseball that it wouldn't have been a homer was the one he hit it in, Coors Field. Which is wild to think that the HR park is the one where it wouldn't get out.

To wrap it up, we circle it back to where we started. Congratulations to Ryan Bliss on his first Major League hit. He finished 1-2 at the plate with two walks, two steals, and three runs scored. Looking forward to it being the first of many!