Perhaps they should’ve pushed the opener just a little while longer and the results might have been different.
The opener strategy has generated a fair amount of acrimony in the Mariners’ fan base. They don’t like it, don’t understand it, don’t think it works and don’t want it used.
And yet, for one game, it all changed. The anger wasn’t the use of a reliever to start the game. No, it was removing the opener too soon in a 5-4 loss Monday night to the New York Yankees.
New York was powered by a pair of homers from Mike Ford, who was in Mariners spring training in 2018 as a Rule 5 pick.