Today’s game was a truly 2023 Mariners game, yet another soul-crushing finale for a team that seems to find no shortage of ways to break your heart. Today’s game was actually two different games: the first eight innings, where the Mariners went quietly, losing 2-1, and then the ninth and tenth innings, where the Mariners went less-quietly but ultimately squandered what could have been Kolten Wong’s greatest moment as a Mariner.
Once again, Kenta Maeda enjoyed the MarinersBump™, flirting with a season-high in strikeouts with eight as the Mariners hitters flailed helplessly after his splitter. To their credit, they did exert some pressure against Maeda, getting traffic on in the first four of the first five innings—including Cade Marlowe’s first MLB hit, a ground-ball single, as well as his first stolen base in the bigs—although all they had to show for it was a solo homer from Tom Murphy.