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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Log: Paxton coughs up early lead in loss to Athletics

Mariners starter James Paxton was pulled in the fifth. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

MOTTER CRUSHES TWO-RUN HOMER, DYSON WITH TWO RBIS

What happened: Despite owning an early three-run lead, James Paxton saw his scoreless streak to start the season end and turned in his roughest start of the young season and the Seattle Mariners lost to the Oakland Athletics 9-6 on Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum.

Paxton’s scoreless innings streak to start the season ended at 23, when the A’s picked three runs in the third. His night ended after 4 1/3 shaky innings. The lefty gave up five runs on nine hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. The M’s did commit two errors behind him in the innings he allowed runs, but they ended up earned regardless.

The A’s big blow didn’t come off of Paxton though. That was Trevor Plouffe’s three-run homer in the seventh off Dan Altavilla while it was still a one-run game.

Mitch Haniger’s hitting streak ended at 13 games after an 0 for 4, one walk effort. The bulk of the M’s offense came from Taylor Motter, who hit his fourth homer of the season and also added a double. Jarrod Dyson went 2 for 4 with two RBIs out of the leadoff spot as well.

A’s starter Cesar Valdez, making his first MLB appearance since 2010, allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Line Outs

  • The bats went to work right off the jump against Cesar Valdez, making his first appearance in the big leagues since 2010. Jarrod Dyson singled to lead off, went to second on a lineout by Mitch Haniger and scored on Robinson Cano’s single to right.
  • More runs in the second. Taylor Motter led off with a double and Danny Valencia walked. Leonys Martin bounced into a fielder’s choice but Mike Zunino followed with a double to the left field corner to score Motter, and Martin came home on a Dyson single.
  • Paxton’s scoreless innings streak to start the season ended at 23 in the third inning. Jaff Decker led off with a single to center, went to third on Rajai Davis’ single to center, and scored on Adam Rosales’ soft liner to right. Haniger’s throw hit the second base bag and got away from Motter and Davis raced around with a second run.
  • In the fifth, Davis led off with a routine single to center. Martin actually went to a knee to field it, but it went through the wickets and Davis raced all the way to third. He scored on the next pitch, a sacrifice fly to center by Rosales. Jed Lowrie followed with a booming double to center, then he went to third on a wild pitch. Khris Davis then walked and Ryon Healy ripped a single to left to plate Lowrie, ending Paxton’s night.
  • DH Nelson Cruz led off the sixth when he pulled an outside slider one-handed off the left field wall for a double. After Kyle Seager struck out, Taylor Motter crushed a 96 mph fastball to dead center for his fourth homer of the season. You gotta get all of it to get it out of the Mausoleum at night, and Motter did just that: 105 mph off the bat with a launch angle of 23 degrees = 411 foot home run.
  • The A’s took the lead back in the bottom using some old-fashioned National League style ball. Josh Phegley led off with a double, Dacker sacrificed him to third, and Phegley scored on Davis’ groundout.
  • The death blow was Trevor Plouffe’s three-run homer of Dan Altavilla in the seventh, which followed a pair of walks. Plouffe went down and hit a pretty good pitch for the homer, but late-inning relievers you want in your “A” bullpen can’t issue free passes like that. It’s a recipe for disaster.
  • M’s picked up a cosmetic run in the ninth on a Valencia double and sac fly by Dyson, but it allowed Haniger another plate appearance with which to attempt to continue his hitting streak. To no avail, as the M’s MVP thus far grounded to short to end it.

The Takeaway

Paxton was spotted a three-run lead and up until this game that would have been enough for the lefty. But everyone has a bad day and Paxton didn’t have it in this one. Just too much contact and some bad luck in the field behind him. You don’t often see errors in innings where runs were scored and they all ended up earned anyway.

Tweet of the Day

Players of the Game

Hero: Taylor Motter. M’s shortstop went 2 for 4 with the big homer (4) and a double.

Goat: James Paxton. Sorry. He’s been terrific so far and had some bad luck in this one, but the final line speaks to his shakiness: nine hits and eight Ks in 4 1/3.

Next Game

Seattle Mariners (7-10) at Oakland Athletics (8-8), 7:05 p.m. at Oakland Coliseum. RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (0-1, 5.40) vs. LHP Sean Manaea (0-1, 5.51).

What others are saying

Paxton’s troubles after his long scoreless streak to start the season seem to be the main emphasis today following the 9-6 defeat. … Will Mitch Haniger be in the rookie of the year race all season? … The A’s have won three consecutive games, which is a big deal in Oakland (and is always a big deal in Seattle). … The M’s bullpen had been doing better until last night.