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Seattle Mariners

Marco Gonzales, Mariners pitching get hammered in lopsided loss to Twins

Minnesota Twins’ Mitch Garver flips his bat after hitting a three run home run against the Seattle Mariners in the third inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 8, 2021, in Minneapolis.  (Associated Press)
By Ryan Divish Seattle Times

MINNEAPOLIS – On a day when reports that James Paxton, one of their two proven starting pitchers in their rotation, likely needs season-ending surgery, the Mariners got a second straight suboptimal outing from their other proven pitcher, Marco Gonzales.

The prospect of losing Paxton for the season is crushing to the Mariners’ hopes of being more competitive than expectations and projections. But if Gonzales’ struggles were to unexpectedly continue for an extended period, the Mariners would be lucky to not finish last in the American League West.

Facing a Minnesota Twins team that came into the game averaging six runs per game and boasting a lineup filled with power potential, Gonzales needed to have his typical command and execution. Unfortunately, his command was hit and miss at times. The Twins racked up plenty of hits, not missing those pitches that caught too much of the plate in a 10-2 drubbing of the Mariners.

Gonzales pitched 4⅓ innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits, including two homers, with two walks and six strikeouts.

“Early on, I thought I made some good pitches,” Gonzales said. “I didn’t quite execute when I needed to and got myself into trouble with a couple of their bigger hitters. I’m frustrated, to say the least.”

In his first two starts of the season, Gonzales pitched 10⅓ innings, allowing 12 earned runs on 17 hits, including five homers, with five walks and eight strikeouts.

“Everything is predicated off command, and command of the fastball,” M’s manager Scott Servais said. “I know he’s frustrated by it. One thing I know about Marc, he is as good a competitor as we have in here. He will grind it out, and certainly get better the next time.”

In 11 starts in 2020, Gonzales allowed five runs or more in one start.

In 2019, he had back-to-back outings in which he allowed eight runs (six earned) on eight hits to the Rangers and 10 runs on nine hits to the Angels.

From there, he ripped off six consecutive starts of allowing three runs or fewer.

“His off-speed pitches, they’re getting hit,” Servais said. “Oftentimes they are set up by commanding the fastball and getting them very conscious of the fastball on the inner part of the strike zone, certainly against right-handed hitters, he just hasn’t had that. That’s what he was really good at last year, probably the best in the league and locating that ball in on righties. When you go to your secondary pitches, and you haven’t established inside, they become a little bit easier to square up.”

Gonzales said there were “lots of things to be worked on” and improve besides fastball command.

“Obviously, I have a high standard for myself in executing pitches and being able to keep control of the ballgame, keep us in it and giving us a chance to win,” he said. “These are all things that I pride myself on, and I just haven’t got the job done.”

Facing another talented starting pitcher in Jose Berrios, the Mariners’ offense mustered two runs on five hits against the young right-hander, who walked three and struck out eight.

Seattle gave Gonzales a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Ty France looped a single to center to score Luis Torrens.

The Mariners looked like they might put together a big inning, loading the bases. But Jose Marmolejos’ hard line drive to right field was caught by Max Kepler.

The Twins answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, taking the lead for good. Mitch Garver’s three-run homer was the big blow.