On a night when the Mariners’ offense looked more than competent, and certainly better than it has been in the past two weeks, that needed accomplishment, minor as it might seem, was dulled in its importance.
In a game in which Jarred Kelenic and Kyle Lewis re-found their power strokes with big home runs, helping the Mariners snap a six-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over host Oakland, Seattle still somehow felt the ache of defeat, and knowing that feeling could come more frequently than desired in the future.
The moment came in the seventh inning with a 4-1 lead. After throwing a 92 mph cutter to Jed Lowrie that resulted in an infield single, Yusei Kikuchi made a modified timeout sign to home plate umpire Jeff Nelson. The Mariners left-hander signaled to the visiting dugout and started grabbing at his back as manager Scott Servais and head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson headed to the mound.
There was no need for discussion or conversation. Kikuchi said a few words, handed the ball to Servais and left the mound with Torgerson. During the fourth inning, the ROOT Sports broadcast showed Kikuchi doing a variety of stretches and twisting his back, apparently trying to keep it from tightening up on him. He also wasn’t sitting in between innings.
The Mariners’ best starting pitcher over the past few weeks was headed to the training room and potentially for the 10-day injured list where he would join fellow pitchers Marco Gonzales, James Paxton, Nick Margevicius, Casey Sadler and Kendall Graveman, who were all on the opening day roster.
Kikuchi left the game having thrown six complete innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts. It was his fifth consecutive quality start (minimum of six innings pitched, three runs or fewer allowed). When he will get the chance to extend that streak is unknown.
He was one of five healthy starters in the Mariners’ six-man starting rotation. And after unsuccessfully trying to push forward with their six-man turn despite having only four starters and making bullpen starts on the other two days a few weeks ago, the Mariners find themselves in that situation again.
Only this time, one of those four starters is rookie Logan Gilbert, who has struggled in his first three starts at the MLB level and is operating on a very limited pitch count.
Of course there is a chance that the Mariners get lucky and Kikuchi doesn’t need to go on the injured list and might make his next start. But when have luck and this franchise operated in unison?
The other open spot in the Mariners’ bullpen is Wednesday and the starter for that game is to be determined. Seattle doesn’t have an off day until June 7, which means the Mariners can’t skip Kikuchi’s next turn if he can’t start.
Seattle gave Kikuchi a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Kelenic worked a leadoff walk off of A’s starter Frankie Montas to start the game. He moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double from Mitch Haniger.
Seattle pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third inning when Kyle Lewis smashed a two-run homer to deep left field.
The A’s got their only run off Kikuchi in the bottom of the third on Mark Canha’s line-drive homer to right field.
Kelenic got the run back in the top of the fifth. After barely missing a fastball from Montas in his second plate appearance of the game, Kelenic didn’t miss in his third time to the plate. Montas tried to elevate a 94 mph fastball and Kelenic was ready for it, sending a towering blast into the right field stands for his second homer of the season.
After finishing the seventh inning for Kikuchi with no drama, Rafael Montero, as he’s been known to do in a Mariners’ uniform, ran into trouble in the eighth. He walked the first batter of the inning and then gave up an RBI double to pinch hitter Seth Brown. Servais brought in right-hander Erik Swanson, who promptly walked Canha to put the tying run on base. But after a mound visit from pitching coach Pete Woodworth, Swanson used his slider to slow himself down and find some command. He ended the inning with a fury, striking out Chad Pinder, Ramon Laureano and Matt Olson.
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