*Photo from the Everett Herald*
We got a first glimpse of how deadly the Seattle Mariners lineup can be on Tuesday night. Eugenio Suarez homered, Abraham Toro homered as well, and the Mariners defeated the Texas Rangers with a 6-2 win on Tuesday night in Seattle.
Although the win wasn't a dominating one by any means, it was the kind of win the Mariners were looking for, a complete one. They got good work from their starting pitcher, a shutout performance by the bullpen, and a hitting core that got the hits when they needed to. They hit 3 home runs on Tuesday, and that was what they needed to get the win.
Suarez said of the Mariners offensive attack "That’s what we want, to put pressure on them and the opposing pitcher. Have good at-bats, do our best at the plate, not swing at bad pitches. We need to play like this every single day."
The Mariners offense got things going right away in this one, with Eugenio Suarez blasting a 3 run home run in the first inning, clearing off the bases to make it 3-0 Mariners right out of the gate. That was added to an inning later, thanks to a solo home run from Jarred Kelenic, making it 4-0 Mariners after getting to the right field seats.
In the 3rd inning, the Rangers finally got on the board. Marcus Semien got it started, flying out to left field, deep enough to score Eli White to make it a 4-1 game. In the 5th inning, Semien doubled home White, cutting the deficit to 4-2 in favor of Seattle. Toro sealed the game in the 7th inning, with a two run home run to center field, making it a 6-2 game.
The prize of the offseason, Robbie Ray, got the start for the Mariners. Ray performed well, allowing two runs and 4 hits, walking one and striking out 4 hitters over 6 innings, improving to 2-1 on the season. Drew Steckenrider got the hold with a scoreless 7th inning, followed by Paul Sewald and Diego Castillo.
Seattle manager Scott Servais said of Ray that "He's got enough life on the fastball. Even when it's not bumping the fives and sixes, it's got enough life. He’s deceptive, it plays up and it gets a lot of popups, easy outs, early-in-count outs, and that's why he's able to go deep into ballgames."
Making his return from the IL for the Rangers was Jon Gray, who didn't have a good start. Gray lasted 5 innings, allowing 4 runs on 3 hits and one walk, striking out 4 hitters, falling to 0-1 on the season. Spencer Patton allowed two runs in 2/3 of an inning in relief, with Brett Martin and Matt Moore having scoreless outings.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward said of the loss that "We hit a lot of balls hard. Our hardest hit balls were later in the game and they just unfortunately found the glove of the other team. Today was a step forward in a lot of ways. I know we lost and it sucks to lose, but we played a better game. At least we kept fighting."
The Mariners and Rangers continue their series on Wednesday night, with a battle of the young pitchers. Logan Gilbert gets the start for the Mariners, while Dane Dunning goes for the Rangers.
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