M’s Fall to the Blue J.A.’s 4-0; Lose Series, Battle of the Border

Awash in a sea of the wrong shade of blue, the Mariners lost both the game and the series this afternoon at Safeco Field.

It wasn’t pretty, so let’s get this over with—the good, the bad, and the Canadian.

Millions of Kilometers of Untracked Wilderness

The Mariners collected 9 hits and a pair of walks in today’s game. Ben Gamel was responsible for 3 of those hits, (all against lefties), and Robinson Canó and Nelson Cruz chipped in a couple more each. Mitch Haniger also returned from the DL to make his first start since April 25th.

Winter Days in Which the Sun Literally Does Not Appear

The Mariners proceeded to go 0-10 with runners in scoring position and fail to score a single run. Haniger went 0-4 with two strikeouts and a walk.

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Neil Young and Joni Mitchell

Today’s starter for Toronto, former Mariner J.A. Happ, entered the game with a HR/FB rate of 30.8%, having surrendered 8 homers in 25.1 innings pitched.

Robin Thicke and Nickelback

Today’s starter for Toronto, former Mariner J.A. Happ, did not allow any home runs. He also rang up 8 strikeouts in 6 innings.

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Poutine

Emilio Pagan was sensational in relief for the M’s, conjuring some of that Team Puerto Rico WBC juju to throw four scoreless innings—requiring only 11 pitches to strike out the side in the 6th.

Dan Altavilla contributed a 1-2-3 9th, demonstrating some much-needed bullpen stability.

Too Much Poutine

James Paxton had already surrendered 4 runs in 4 innings.

His third start since returning from the DL was his shortest in over a year, and there were a few causes for concern. Pax’s velocity still isn’t up to where it was pre-injury, and the Blue Jays made him pay with 8 hits. This was the worst:

To complicate matters further, he was unable to consistently locate his offspeed pitches, resulting in 3 walks and far too many unfavorable counts.

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With a pair of disappointing losses in the last two games, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the Mariners put together a solid 7-4 homestand, in which they outscored their opponents 61-33—pulling within two games of .500. Now it’s on to Minnesota to take on the first place Twins, from whom the M’s grabbed 2 out of 3 games earlier this week.

Until then, go home, Blue Jays fans. And go M’s.