M's, With Fingers Crossed on Munoz, Beat Oakland A's in Game 1 of Series
The Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night, 4-3, to move to 35-27 on the season. With the win, the Mariners are now a season-high eight games over .500 and they lead the American League West by 5.5 games. However, despite the win, the M's are waiting for word on the lower-body injury that caused closer Andres Munoz to leave the game in the bottom of the ninth. As we do after every game, here's what you need to know from what happened:
The Overwhelming Story:
The Mariners applied some pressure early on A's starter Mitch Spencer, leaving the bases loaded in the top of the first inning. However, they were able to break through in the third inning, getting three runs, and they tacked one more on in the fourth.
Though the M's didn't push through more than the four runs, they did pound out 10 hits with their new offensive approach. Furthermore, George Kirby picked up his first road win of the season, but the focus now shifts to Munoz, who left the game in the ninth inning with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
The Big Plays:
The Mariners got four doubles in the third inning: JP Crawford, Josh Rojas, Ty France and Luke Raley each checked in with two-baggers, which accounted for the three runs in that inning.
Three in the third 👏 #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/qWGiKu49Qv
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) June 5, 2024
Then, in the ninth inning, with the M's up 4-2 and runners on first and third, Munoz uncorked a wild pitch to the backstop. As he was covering home on the play, he appeared to have his ankle rolled up on by the runner coming home. He threw one warmup pitch and then left the game.
Yikes, Andrés Muñoz is exiting this game after a wild pitch led to a collision between him and Max Schuemann at the plate here in the 9th inning.
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) June 5, 2024
He attempted a few warmup pitches, but he's nonetheless leaving. pic.twitter.com/ilxtn27CI9
Odds and Ends:
Every starter had at least one hit except Mitch Garver (0-for-3) and Dom Canzone (0-for4)...Raley went 2-for-4... Ryan Bliss stole a base, the third of his young career...Kirby went 5.0 innings, striking out nine...Austin Voth and Ryne Stanek worked the 6th (after Kirby departed) and the 7th...Trent Thornton worked a scoreless eighth....Josh Rojas was 3-for-5... The M's will play the A's again on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. PT.
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