8/4/26
(Seattle, WA) There are three different points of the season that stand out as a fresh start or at least a reset for teams across the league. Opening Day is obviously the first one but the other two come in the summer. One is the first game after the All-Star Break and the other was Tuesday when a majority of the league played their first game post-deadline. With many players in new uniforms, it felt like we were starting a short sprint to the playoffs.
For the Seattle Mariners, the last two months were crucial as they would have a gauntlet of a schedule in August before an AL West heavy September to close it out. First up after the deadline was a three-game series at home with the Detroit Tigers. After selling a couple big starting pitchers including back-to-back Cy Young Winner Tarik Skubal, the Tigers seemed like they just wanted to push to the end of the season and start to rebuild a bit in the offseason. However, the lineup is still pesky with a couple of young faces joining a team that already gave the M’s issues last postseason.
In the opener of the three-game set, Seattle would have to face one of the hottest pitchers in the game right now in Troy Melton. Since coming off the IL in May, Melton has been one of the best pitchers in the sport with a 1.75 ERA in 11 starts. After being a popular trade target, Emerson Hancock would stay put in the PNW and would look to showcase why he remains in the rotation with Luis Castillo now in Chicago.
Tigers 8, Mariners 0 (Game One, August 4th)
A double play hit into by Randy Arozarena killed the Mariners momentum in the bottom of the 1st but a great running catch by Dominic Canzone kept Detroit off the board in the 2nd. In the top of the 3rd, the Tigers began to build a threat with a leadoff double by the #9 hitter Zach McKinstry to set the table for the top of the order. The rookie Kevin McGonigle moved him over with a groundout before Gleyber Torres hit a grounder to short. Colt Emerson came up throwing and cut down McKinstry at the plate for a big second out. It gave Emerson Hancock a good opportunity to get out of trouble but Dillon Dingler extended the inning with a single. Riley Greene hit a soft grounder that was fielded by Colt Emerson, but he made a terrible throw to first, allowing Detroit to score on the error. Colt Keith made the error hurt even more with a two-run single to make it 3-0 Tigers.
Seattle’s best threat against Troy Melton came in the bottom of the 4th as they made the young right-hander work. A single by Randy Arozarena began the inning and Julio Rodríguez worked an eight-pitch walk to put two on with one out. With Josh Naylor and Cal Raleigh due up, Seattle had a chance to cut into the deficit and with a long ball, tie the game up. Neither was able to put the ball in play as Melton recorded back-to-back strikeouts against Seattle’s damage makers to end the threat. More runners were left on as Seattle was still scoreless.
Detroit added another run in the 5th on Riley Greene’s 16th home run of the season to make it 4-0. That seemed to be more than enough for Troy Melton who rolled right through the Mariners lineup Melton went seven innings and allowed just three hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The Mariners were putting the ball in play but it was a lot of soft contact. The M’s had just two hard hit balls (anything hit 95mph or higher) which is a season low. Melton looked like a future ace of the rotation after Detroit moved Skubal last week.
The 9th inning is where things turned disastrous for the Mariners. Seranthony Domínguez made his Mariner debut and was not good. He gave up a walk and a single before getting a groundout for the first out but a run did score. Gleyber Torres then hit his seventh home run of the season for a two-run shot to open up a 7-0 lead. They made it back-to-back homers when Dillon Dingler followed with his 24th of the season to make it 8-0. A single and a walk ended the debut for Domínguez as Cole Wilcox had to come in for the final two outs. That four-run inning completely demoralized the Mariners as they went down without a fight in the 9th. It was not the fresh start the team had hoped for as they were blanked in the opener with Detroit, 8-0.
Notable Performances
Tigers
- Troy Melton (W, 7-1)- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
- Riley Greene- 3-5, HR, RBI, 2 R
- Colt Keith- 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, SB
Mariners
- Julio Rodríguez- 1-3, BB
- Randy Arozarena- 1-4
- Emerson Hancock (L, 6-6)- 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
What’s Next
A lot of fans will of course panic after quite a disappointing loss to begin the post-deadline push but the Seattle Mariners (55-59) had quite the tough draw to begin the final stretch. It was not ideal that Houston defeated Toronto and Texas walked it off against San Francisco as the M’s deficit in the division grows. Houston remains in first place with a 2 1/2 game lead over Texas and 3 1/2 game lead over Seattle. In the Wild Card race, Seattle trails Cleveland by two games but there are four teams between the Mariners and Guardians.
One of those teams between Seattle and a playoff spot is the Detroit Tigers and a series win for the Mariners would even them up with the Motor City Kitties. In game two, Detroit will go with a bullpen day with Ty Madden (1-0, 2.40 ERA) or Emmanuel De Jesus (2-0, 3.63 ERA) to pitch in bulk after opener Drew Anderson (4-4, 4.24 ERA) is done. The starter for the M’s in game two will be Bryan Woo (7-8, 4.56 ERA) who will be glad to be home. While he has struggled on the road, Woo has dominated at home, going 6-0 with a 2.20 ERA at T-Mobile Park this season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm.
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