3 Up, 3 Down: Ty France Collects Three More Hits, But Mariners Fall 9-2 to Orioles as Pitching Implodes

Flying high from their 10-0 shutout of the Orioles, the Mariners were doused with a bucket of cold water on Wednesday night, falling by a score of 9-2. Ty Dane Gonzalez goes over Seattle's three best and worst performances from the blowout.
3 Up, 3 Down: Ty France Collects Three More Hits, But Mariners Fall 9-2 to Orioles as Pitching Implodes
3 Up, 3 Down: Ty France Collects Three More Hits, But Mariners Fall 9-2 to Orioles as Pitching Implodes /

One could liken this Mariners season to a rollercoaster, but not one of those fun rollercoasters you may find at your favorite licensed theme park. No, this is more akin to the rollercoasters at those fairs you only hear about from a half-torn, weather-damaged flyer clinging for dear life to the metal body of a malfunctioning streetlight.

You may get the occasional thrill, but it will only be deadened by the junkyard steel and 90-degree nosedives. Since April 25, whenever Seattle has seemingly built a modicum of momentum, it has evaporated quicker than you can spell "Rzepczynski."

The last 24 hours have been no different. The Mariners left Camden Yards as Jamie Lee Curtis and returned as Lindsay Lohan, shutting out the Orioles on Tuesday before reversing roles and losing a 9-2 blowout on Wednesday.

This was a winnable game for quite some time, but a five-run sixth for Baltimore—more on that later—expelled any hopes Seattle had of clinching a second consecutive series victory without heading to a rubber match. It will get another opportunity to take the set in Thursday night's series capper, but the deflation of a game two letdown has become an all too familiar feeling for manager Scott Servais' ballclub.

As tends to be the case with blowout losses, there were very few silver linings to find and plenty of negatives to pick from. Let's go over the three best and worst performances for the Mariners in this Wednesday night edition of "3 Up, 3 Down." 

3 Up

1B Ty France

USATSI_18339190

France did Ty France things on Wednesday night, collecting three more hits—all singles—in four at-bats to raise his batting average to .355 and wRC+ to 182 on the season. He also made a nice play on the defensive end, chasing down Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins to complete a successful pickoff attempt by starter Robbie Ray. 

SS J.P. Crawford

USATSI_18402075

The only member of Seattle's starting nine to not record a hit during Tuesday night's 10-0 win, Crawford bounced back by hitting his first home run since May 1. Registering an exit velocity of 102.9 MPH, the 27-year old shortstop's fifth home run puts him just four away from tying his career high with 112 games to go. 

OF Taylor Trammell

USATSI_18408626

Coming off a career performance on Tuesday, Trammell recorded two more hard-hit balls, including a 101 MPH double—his fourth in as many games. He's making a strong argument to stick with the big league club for the long haul, despite veteran outfielder Justin Upton's impending activation. 

3 Down

LHP Robbie Ray

USATSI_18408575

It was another shaky start for Seattle's biggest addition of the offseason. Ray had spotty command throughout, missing badly to his arm side at times, and was once again haunted by the long ball. It was second baseman Rougned Odor who got him this time around, ripping a slider at the bottom of the zone to Eutaw Street for Ray's 11th home run allowed on the season, which ties him with Cubs righty Kyle Hendricks for fourth-most amongst all qualified pitchers. Surrendering an insurance run before ending his day after 5.0 innings pitched, the 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner generated 16 swings and misses with six strikeouts and three walks. 

RHP Sergio Romo

USATSI_18339308

If you don't have overwhelming stuff, you probably shouldn't throw a pitch here:

Screen Shot 2022-06-01 at 9.21.10 PM

Or here:

Screen Shot 2022-06-01 at 9.18.16 PM

Unfortunately, that's what Romo did on back-to-back pitches, serving up an 85.4 MPH sinker to designated hitter Ryan Mountcastle and a 78.1 MPH slider to third baseman Ramón Urías for a combined 835 feet worth of home runs. He also gave up an RBI double to Mullins and a third home run to first baseman Trey Mancini, though the two-run shot was less of an indictment on Romo and more a matter of good hitting by Mancini, who drove a 76 MPH slider on the upper outside corner of the plate to deep left-center. 

This was the first time the 39-year old soft-tosser, who's thrown a grand total of 713.1 innings in his illustrious career, has ever allowed three home runs in a single outing, and just the third time he's been tagged for five or more runs. Baseball, man.

3B Eugenio Suárez

USATSI_18321198

It was a rough night at the dish for Suárez. He struckout twice in this one, including an uncompetitive three-pitch punchout against left-handed reliever Cionel Pérez, and even created an out the lone time he got on base by attempting to take second on a pitch in the dirt. Not a great series for him thus far. 


Published