The good news: Julio Rodríguez hit two home runs tonight. The bad news: the other eight guys in the lineup went a combined 4-for-30. The Mariners lost 7-6, which is the baseball equivalent of cooking a beautiful steak and then dropping it on the way to the table. The ingredients were there. The execution had other plans.
THE GAME
Bryan Woo started and gave Kansas City six earned runs on seven hits over six innings, surrendering two home runs along the way. He struck out two. He threw 84 pitches. He did not have his best stuff, which is a polite way of saying he was getting hit by a team that came into this game 12-19. Jac Caglianone took him deep. Vinnie Pasquantino took him deep. Salvador Perez went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, because Salvador Perez decided May 1st was a good night to ruin something.
The Royals' starter, Cole Ragans, threw five and a third innings, struck out eight, and allowed four earned runs on three home runs. The Mariners hit him hard when they hit him. They just didn't hit him often enough.
Kansas City put up four in the first, which is a rough way to start a Friday night. Seattle answered with two. Both teams then spent the next few innings leaving each other alone, which was polite. Seattle added one in the fifth, one in the sixth, and two in the seventh to pull even at 6-6. For approximately one inning, this felt like a game. Then Jose A. Ferrer came out in the eighth, allowed three hits and one run on 15 pitches, and Kansas City went back up 7-6. They didn't score again. Neither did Seattle.
Win: Daniel Lynch IV. Loss: Ferrer. Save: Lucas Erceg.
A note on Daniel Lynch IV, who got the winning decision: he pitched one inning, gave up a home run, and surrendered two earned runs. The man got the W. Baseball is a just and rational sport.
THE JULIO SECTION
There is a version of tonight where you turn off the game in the seventh inning and feel fine about it. Julio Rodríguez would like you to know that version doesn't exist. He hit Cole Ragans — a pitcher who struck out eight people tonight — twice. He drove in four runs. He did this with the quiet intensity of a man who has accepted that he cannot control what happens around him, only what happens when he's in the box.
Watching Julio on a night like this is equal parts thrilling and exhausting. Cal Raleigh went 0-for-5. Mitch Garver went 0-for-4. Cole Young went 0-for-4. Leo Rivas went 0-for-4. Julio hit two home runs anyway, like a guy who showed up to a group project and just did the whole thing himself. He is not asking for a thank you. He is asking for run support. These are different requests.
AROUND THE DIVISION: AL West Standings
Athletics: 17-16, first place Mariners: 16-17, one game back Rangers: 16-17, one game back Astros: 13-21, four and a half out Angels: 12-21, five out
The Oakland Athletics are in first place in the AL West. They are playing their home games in a minor league stadium. They lead this division by one game. The Mariners are one game back. The Rangers are also one game back, tied with Seattle. The Astros are four and a half games out and trending in a direction that polite people don't discuss at dinner. The Angels are five back.
This is a genuinely open division. The Mariners are 16-17, which is not great, but it is one game out of first place in a division where first place is currently held by a team whose full mailing address changed recently. The door is not closed. The Mariners just need to stop letting it hit them on the way out.
FINAL THOUGHT
16-17. One game out of first. Julio Rodríguez carrying this franchise on his back on a Friday night in May like it's a perfectly normal thing to do. This team has more in it than tonight showed. The division is right there. Come back tomorrow — he's not done.
The Injury Reports: Mariners Coverage | Facts checked, feelings unverified