Seattle Mariners’ late strategy fails in shutout loss to Padres

SEATTLE – The ongoing “criticism” about the Mariners’ usage/reliance on platoons as a strategy has been a popular topic on the yelling halls of the social media platform X.

Fans dislike the idea of Luke Raley and Dom Canzone being removed from games for either Rob Refsnyder or Connor Joe when a left-handed reliever appears from the bullpen.

The argument against the strategy was offered another talking point in the Mariners’ 2-0 loss to the Padres, Friday night at T-Mobile Park.

Clinging to a 2-0 lead, Padres manager Craig Stammen went to closer Mason Miller with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and runners on first and second.

Miller gave up a rare hit to a right-handed hitter when Randy Arozarena’s lunging swing produced a bat-shattering infield bloop single behind the pitcher’s mound. But with the bases loaded, Miller struck out Joe, who pinch hit for Raley in the seventh inning, looking with a nasty 3-2 slider.

The number of angry/snarky social media posts about having Raley batting in that situation instead far exceeded the 43,349 that bundled up and came to T-Mobile Park on Friday night, many to receive the free Hello Kitty sling bag.

And while manager Dan Wilson’s steadfast belief in playing the matchups with those four players can be rightly questioned by some fans based on 46 games of results and fairly defended by fans with a more pragmatic look, the overlooked aspect was the Mariners failure to score a single run or generate anything close to offense over the first six innings against starter Randy Vasquez.

The Mariners know Miller, the best closer in baseball, is looming for the ninth and now possibly the eighth, depending on the score and situation of the game.

Seattle was held scoreless for the fifth time this season.

Emerson Hancock gave the Mariners a solid outing. He pitched six innings, allowing one run on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts. It was his sixth quality start – six-plus innings pitched, three runs or fewer allowed – in nine outings this season.

It wasn’t an easy outing. Hancock allowed plenty of hard contact all evening, including 11 balls in play with exit velocities above 95 mph. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, aided by a nifty double play turned by J.P. Crawford.

His lone run allowed came in the fourth inning. He issued a one-out walk to Gavin Sheets, who later scored on Miguel Andujar’s two-out double to left field.

Hancock fired a low sweeper away, hoping to get a swing and miss on a 1-2 count. But Andujar made a lunging swing and somehow got the barrel of his bat to the ball, sending a soft liner just out of the reach of a leaping J.P. Crawford.

The Padres tacked on another run in the seventh off Cooper Criswell. Andujar singled and later scored on a fielder’s choice to first base.

Raleigh speaks after being placed on injured list

Cal Raleigh carefully sat down on top of the bench in the Mariners dugout at T-Mobile Park with a full crew of media waiting to ask him about his first stint on the injured list.

He didn’t wince or move gingerly to signal that his strained right oblique was causing discomfort. The only way that a person would know Raleigh was injured was that he wasn’t busy doing his meticulous pregame preparation for Friday night’s game against the Padres at T-Mobile Park.

“I’m just ready to get back as soon as possible,” Raleigh said.

While the discomfort in his right oblique area was enough to force him to accept a stint on the injured list, it doesn’t compare to the pain of not being able to play and not knowing when he’ll be allowed to return to the lineup.

“It’s going to suck,” he said. “I tried to play through it. Unfortunately, what was best for me and the team was just kind of taking some time and getting this thing healthy.”

Raleigh is being shut down from all baseball and workout activities for a week. He is scheduled to receive an injection — likely a platelet rich plasma (PRP) or cortisone — in the injured area in the next 24 hours. He will eventually head to the team’s complex in Arizona to work with the medical staff, and he will be reevaluated after the week of rest.

“We might have a day or two here just to see where I’m at after the shot, and see how I took it,” Raleigh said. “I think the best thing will be to head to Arizona and get right, and let these guys do their thing here.”

Raleigh hopes this can be sort of a reset for a season that hasn’t started out in ideal fashion. He struggled to find his timing early in the season, likely a product of the truncated work and game reps that came with participating in the WBC.