The Phillies: The Series That Got Away from the Mariners

The Mariners won the first game, almost won the second game, and lost the third game, unable to hit two runs. The Mariners’ pitchers were on their game. The batters could not seem to keep up. The series just slipped away.

Game One, Tuesday, April 25

There was little action from either team until the fifth inning. First, Jarred Kelenic hit a solo homerun, his seventh of the season. Jose Caballero hit a single to left field and made it to first. He then stole second and moved on to third when the throw to second went wide.  J.P. Crawford had a base hit, thanks in part to a second inaccurate throw, allowing Caballero to score. The score was 2-0, Mariners.

In the bottom of the fifth, Edmundo Sosa hit a homerun, making the score 2-1. In the sixth inning, Geno Suarez hit a double and Teóscar Hernández hit a two-run homerun, his sixth of the year. The Phillies gained a run in the bottom of the sixth. The score was 4-2.

In the seventh, Cal Raleigh got his second big league triple! Caballero hit a sacrifice fly, allowing Raleigh to score. In the eighth, Alec Bohm hit a double. A bunt from Sosa sent Bohm to third. When Jake Cave hit a single, Bohm headed home. The score was 5-3. The Mariners won!

Game Two, Wednesday, April 26

This game began twenty minutes late due to rain. Logan Gilbert started for the Mariners as he had switched games with Mario Gonzales due to a strain.

The Phillies started hitting in the bottom of the first. Bryson Stott walked and then Castellanos hit a two-run homerun. Raleigh and Kolten Wong walked in the third, and A.J. Pollock hit a single, loading the bases. J.P. Crawford hit a gorgeous 420 ft Grand Slam! Four runs came in. This was the second grand slam of Crawford’s career. Very exciting!

In the bottom of the third, Sosa scored when several of his teammates had base hits. (He hit Logan Gilbert in the leg, unfortunately.)

The rain came back in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Stott scored, having moved to second because of a wild pitch and a Castellano single. The score was 5-4. In the sixth inning, Trevor Gott replaced Gilbert and then pitched in the seventh. Gabe Speier replaced Gott during the seventh.

Fans had their fingers crossed that the Phillies would not catch up to the Mariners, score wise. But then there was the bottom of the eighth inning with Justin Topa pitching.  Castellanos, Marsh, and Realmuto singled, allowing Castellanos to score. The game was tied!

There were still Philly players on base. One of them scored and Philadelphia took the lead. The Phillies put relief pitcher José Alvarado in the game, and he threw some nasty pitches to Mariner batters who could not hit them. The Mariners lost.

Game Three, Thursday, April 27

Game Two was a hard loss, but in the third meeting, both teams must have been tired. George Kirby pitched eight innings and was excellent. Philadelphia scored its one run in the second inning because of an RBI double by Kody Clemens.

The rest of the game was full of flyouts, groundouts, and strikeouts. A pitcher hit Ty France. Suarez and Murphy hit doubles. Murphy also had a base hit. In the bottom of the sixth, the Phillies could have scored with several on base, but did not. La Stella had a base hit in the seventh. Murphy’s throw to second in the eighth stopped Stott. The Mariners lost.

Thoughts

The Mariners’ pitchers threw well. The catchers, infield and outfield players supported the team effectively in all three games.  The hitting did not hold up, not to say that the players were not trying. Ammassing ten runs in two games is not bad but the team seems unable to produce enough runs to withstand successful batting by their opponents. In other discouraging news, the Mariners community learned that Robbie Ray would be out for the season to have surgery.