Mariners fall to Blue Jays to put damper on patriotic pregame vibes

SEATTLE – The pregame chants were deafening from the sold-out crowd of 45,891 at T-Mobile Park.

USA!! USA!! USA!!

As the U.S. men’s soccer team wrapped up a lengthy, if not overwrought, pregame celebration to throw out the first pitch, the Mariners players joined them on the infield for a picture, complete with American flags.

The chants rang out again.

USA!! USA!! USA!!

The energy and emotion were palpable.

Unfortunately, a familiar and unwanted chant soon replaced the early display of patriotism on the eve of the Fourth of July holiday.

Let’s go Blue Jays!! Let’s go Blue Jays!!

The chant started when Dylan Cease struck out the side in the bottom of the first, got louder when Toronto scored a pair of runs in the third and continued throughout the night, reaching its loudest point after the final out was made in the Blue Jays’ 2-0 win over the Mariners.

This isn’t the first time where they’ve lost on a night with a sell-out crowd and a big pregame celebration. They’ve been sort of infamous for such flops.

Cease carved up Mariners hitters, tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing three hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.

The hard-throwing right-hander loves to strike out batters, which has left him relatively inefficient in terms of pitch count. But since he only walked one hitter, he was able to get through seven innings.

There might have been an additional walk or two. But since Randy Arozarena, who was batting second, challenged a pair of strike calls in the first inning with nobody on base, losing both, the Mariners were out of challenges on the evening.

Julio lands on concussion IL

In yet another blow to their lineup, the Mariners placed Julio Rodríguez on the seven-day concussion injured list on Friday afternoon, one day after the star center fielder was hit in the back of the head by a throw near second base.

The Mariners, finally, had something close to a full-strength lineup for Thursday’s series finale against the Angels, with Dom Canzone (hamstring) and Luke Raley (left forearm) both returning from minor ailments that had kept them out earlier in the week.

It took less than one inning before another injury hit. In the bottom of the first, Rodríguez was running to second base when he was drilled squarely in the back of the helmet by a 78.2-mph throw from first baseman Nolan Schanuel.

“Losing Julio to the IL is difficult, no question,” M’s manager Dan Wilson said. “But obviously with head injuries, you’ve got to be so careful.”

Rodríguez slid into second and quickly scampered into third base safely. After a moment, though, he was clearly feeling the effects of the blow to the head, and he was removed from the game an inning later.

“When he got over there (to third base), I think when the adrenaline of the moment ran out, (he) felt lightheaded at the time and just wasn’t feeling himself,” Wilson said. “He came in today, didn’t feel himself again, and so again with head injuries, you have to be so careful. So I think giving him the extra time and precaution is definitely the way to go at this point.”

An IL stint for a concussion is a minimum stay of seven days.

Cal Raleigh (oblique), Randy Arozarena (hamstring) and J.P. Crawford (hand) had all recently returned from IL stints, and opening-day leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan (groin) is still about two weeks away from returning to the lineup.

“It’s been a tough stretch,” Wilson said. “All teams go through it at some point. … From a position player standpoint, we’ve been through a lot. But that’s where good teams are made, and our guys have stepped up and been pushing through.”

There was one positive injury update: Victor Robles, hit by a 98-mph pitch in his right forearm Thursday, was back in the lineup Friday, starting in Rodríguez’s place in center field.