Mariners’ bullpen mirrors Seattle weather and refuses to cool off against Oakland in 4-3 win

I have a confession to make.

I don’t like hot weather.

I would tell people that this is why I live in the Pacific Northwest, but the reality of this answer is I live up here because when I was just flashing heavy metal signs in my mothers’ womb, she decided to trek on over from Ohio to Oregon, and Oregon to Washington. Then it turned out I liked it here, so I decided to stay.

But I don’t like hot weather. I especially don’t like the weather how it is right now. The sun has completely set and it is still uncomfortable blah outside. There will be no cool reprieve coming in from the sound today, unless your house happens to be a canoe you have passed out in from heat stroke after jaunting around earlier during the day.

You know who else doesn’t like lingering hot temperatures? The Oakland Athletics. Or at least that is just what happened to them, because the Mariners bullpen not-quite-literally but basically literally set fire to the A’s. They entered Oakland’s home turf, emptied out the fire extinguishers, lit them on fire, and said good luck putting yourself out. I hear there occasionally is sewage you can roll around in.

After getting a sad, yet beyond predictable result (LOSS) yesterday, the Mariners looked like they were ready to make up for it and then some. Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano both clubbed home runs (in the third and in the fifth respectively), to add onto Seth Smith’s RBI single to give the Mariners a 4-1 lead. Both home runs were to center field, and Coco Crisp didn’t appreciate what was happening to him.

COCO LOOKS SO DEJECTED. Then again, I’d be as well if my team was now trailing 4-1 after two long bombs to give them the lead.

The thing was, Kuma, despite picking up the win, wasn’t having his best game. The A’s were able to cobble together nine hits off of him, but in generally true Iwakuma fashion, he was able to avoid most of the damage. That is, until the sixth inning. Khris Davis came in and opened up the inning with an insta-home run that made it 4-2. Billy Butler “doubled” to left thanks to Leonys Martin taking a line at the ball that can only possibly make sense if you took AP Calculus as a 12-year-old. Thankfully, for the Mariners, Billy Butler hit the “double,” because almost any other major league player could have stretched that into three.

Nick Vincent relieved Iwakuma, and promptly gave up an RBI single to Jake Smolinski. Suddenly, what sort of seemed like an easy game was 4-3 and in the bottom of the sixth inning. Vincent struck out Ryon Healy, and then induced a double play out of Max Muncy to end the threat.

Fast forward to the seventh inning. Arquimedes Caminero takes the mound, and Coco Crisp decides to put the entirety of Oakland on his shoulders, with a single. Crisp steals second, and then advances to third when Steven Vogt grounds out to first. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and prime time masher Khris Davis back up again, Caminero just blasts fastball after fastball. Davis swung through three pitches, located here.

The speed of pitch #1: 101.2; #3: 102.0; and #5: 101.6. Yikes.

That at-bat signaled the beginning of the end for the A’s. Tom Wilhelmsen came into the eighth and did that thing that made him so great, and then Edwin Diaz came into close out the game and did that thing that makes you forget that the Mariners have any other pitchers in the entire staff.

Diaz threw a total of nine pitches to send the Oakland Athletic players home to their cramped locker rooms as the 35,000 fans poured onto the field for Star Wars and fireworks. When Rick Rizz announced the crowd at 35k, I knew something was up. Turns out this is what it looks like with a crowd there.

Something going wrong in the Coliseum? I can’t imagine.

That was a good game, and it is nice to have a bullpen that continues to hold its own despite the fact they seem to be pitching way more often than we’d like to see. Added perks from the game also include both Houston and Texas losing, although by Texas losing that means Detroit wins, so that is sort of a wash. But at any rate, it is nice to actually see Texas lose for once while we win a game.

Stay cool my friends.