You could almost hear the collective sigh across the Pacific Northwest.

But it had to be one of relief that James Paxton did not exit his start with the Seattle Mariners for much more gloom reasons.

The Mariners announced Paxton was experiencing lower back stiffness and that’s why they pulled him with two outs in the first inning in Thursday’s start against the Los Angeles Angels.

He had allowed two home runs, a solo shot to David Fletcher and a two-run blast from Albert Pujols. He exited with the Mariners trailing, 3-1.

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