Mariners keep on rolling (down a terrible, no-good, LEGO-filled hill)

The weekend from hell ended the only possible way a ‘weekend from hell’ could end: with the Blue Jays’ Kevin Pillar sending an Edwin Diaz breaking ball far beyond the left field wall for a walk-off solo home run.

The bad news, of course, is that the Mariners lost. The good news is that the blast put an end to what was a disastrous trip for the Mariners: a four-game sweep at the hands of a Blue Jays team that entered the series with a 14-21 record. In keeping up with the rest of the weekend, the contest was filled with frustrating little moments that ultimately added up to a loss. Let’s address those first:

• Jean Segura led off the game with a single (woo!). He was immediately thrown out trying to steal second (boo). It was the third time this season Segura has been caught stealing.
• The top of the fourth started with a Nelson Cruz walk and a Kyle Seager single (woo!). Danny Valencia followed with a sharp line drive to deep center that centerfielder/magician Kevin Pillar snagged. Cruz, who was actually attempting to tag up on the play, left a split second early and had to retreat back to and stay at second base. The run expectancy for 1st and 3rd, 1 out is 1.140. The run expectancy for 1st and 2nd, 1 out is 0.908. The Mariners would go on to score zero runs in the inning. Whatever.
• Ariel Miranda was kept in the game for the start of the sixth inning. He proceeded to miss badly all over the zone, ultimately walking Jose Bautista on five pitches. The Mariners immediately turned to James Pazos, who ever so slightly missed his spot to old friend Justin Smoak:

• Not to be outdone, Edwin Diaz had a whoopsie daisy of his own on the walk-off blast:

Baseball, man. It’s a frustratingly hard sport where every mistake is noticed, lamented, and examined, typically in that order.

Regardless, and mostly because it’s A) the weekend and B) Mother’s Day, I don’t want to leave on a total negative note. A lot of fun things happened today, too! First there was that moment when Jean Segura had a lovely volley to set up the Mariners’ first goal run of the day.

The double came immediately after a Carlos Ruiz infield single, of all things. I didn’t grab a gif of it, but I swear: Carlos Ruiz had an infield single today.

We were also treated to a solid performance from starter Ariel Miranda. The lefty finished the day with a line of 5 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 8 K, 1 ER and kept Blue Jays hitters guessing for the most part. Aside from a Steve Pearce double, they really weren’t able to generate much hard contact against him.

There was no moment greater than Jarrod Dyson nearly hitting a baseball 100 mph, however. What a wonderful world.

Have a great rest of your weekend, everyone.