Mariners eat Angels’ boneless wings, sauce ‘em 9-7

Writing recaps of Mariners games can be challenging.

The Seattle Mariners have often left me, as a writer and a fan, scavenging for crumbs of narrative, hunting for spare shreds of interesting activity among the 51-54 outs of a game of baseball, like a field mouse rooting around beneath an English oak tree for seeds or edible fungi. Tonight’s game, though, is not a game that necessitates an expansive and ranging extended metaphor, comparisons to the fall of the Ancient Greece, or a “Seattle Mariners as factions from Twilight Imperium” recap (if you know what this means, contact me immediately. We have much to discuss). This was thrilling, frustrating, emotion-laden baseball.

That being said, the best LL recaps have a theme. That being said, I am starting to come down with something and feeling low on creative juices. So, allow me to instead offer you a tasting menu, a dégustation of what other, healthier and fantastic writers would tantalize you with after such a fun game.

RECAP THEME 1: BOXING

I know nothing about boxing. So, this is not my recap to write. If I had to guess, this is probably a John recap. The man knows about everything.

However, I can imagine that someone might compare the early part of this game to a heavyweight boxing fight, as the Mariners and Angels traded blows early.

I was led to believe (falsely) that this might be a pretty auto-pilot, cozy kind of game through the first two innings. The Mariners got to beleaguered Angels starter Reid Detmers early, with a pair of hits, a walk, and a fan-assisted interference-double getting the Mariners up 1-0, with two on. (I would love to show this double but I cannot find video of it anywhere on Twitter or in the MLB Film Room. If I find it tomorrow I will update this!)

All of this served as the pre-bout cocky walk-in hype music part of the night, the prelude, the set-up for Ty France to touch gloves and deliver a powerful uppercut directly to the jaw of Arte Moreno and his assembled buffoons, with a big three-run home run to put the Mariners up 4-0.

It was a great night for my girlfriend, personally, as she also got to see both France and her other favorite player hit a home run, with Dylan Moore’s solo shot to open up the second inning.

Our Hipless Prince, still climbing his way out of a 1-for-30 (or something) start to the season, continued to hit...better...than he has so far. He’s sporting a 156 wRC+ since July 1 - though it’s across just 32 PAs, it’s better than continuing to hit .030!

However, it wouldn’t be boxing if there wasn’t more punches from the other guy (editor please fact check), and the Angels threw some punches back. Pesky pesky Luis Rengifo hit a solo home run off of Luis Castillo to start out the bottom of the first, but the real early damage came in the third inning.

Rengifo singled, Ohtani walked, CJ Cron singled, and Mike Moustakas homered - in the blink of an eye, the game went from 5-1 to 5-5.

He cranked this thing, and it showed Castillo’s main problem for the night - he let this pitch sit in an extremely hittable position. Changeups like Castillo’s are best thrown over the plate but breaking below the zone, or starting in the strike zone height-wise but breaking off the plate. This pitch did neither, growing ripe for a smashing (or, uh, punching).

Overall, Castillo’s control simply wasn’t there tonight. He wasn’t living in the shadow-zone, near the edges of the strike zone, as much as he normally might. Instead, he lived a lot in the heart of the plate, or missing by too much to be effective. This led to an ineffective outing, despite spinning the ball pretty well.

RECAP THEME #2: THE HERO’S JOURNEY

Literature? Oh yeah, this is a Kate-cap. And trust me, it would be a good one.

This one would draw deep parallels to the disappointing seasons of both Julio and the Mariners - how the front office has tied the team’s success to Julio’s success (and how they will also to Ohtani’s success for the next several years after we sign him), and how fair or unfair that is.

However, the Mariners and Julio both seem to be on the whole transformation/atonement arc of their journeys right now. The Mariners are now tied for being the best team in baseball since July 1, and Julio has improved his wRC+ in that time frame to 117. Still not Julio-level by the popular meaning of that phrase, but enough to suggest he’s on his way back.

He gave Mariners fans more reasons to believe in his return to form (and heroic greatness), as he smoked a two-run opposite field home run in the fourth inning to give Seattle the lead back.

RECAP THEME #3: HISTORIC WAR AND/OR BATTLES

You already know who it is. It’s time for History with Jakey, which means learning about a brand new battle/type of boat/war/skirmish/ancient weapon and how it relates to the Seattle Mariners and this game in particular.

The Angels scratched across some runs, pests that they are, to tie the game 7-7 by the seventh inning. Both teams, by this point, had also put up 10 hits. I imagine this battle was one of attrition, with both sides seeing their numbers dwindle to gunshot/sword wounds, gangrene, diphtheria or consumption. Probably somewhere muddy, but possibly even on the ocean.

Anyways, the battle was getting gnarly, and a grizzled veteran/general, used some tricky tactic or another to give his regiment the resounding upper-hand, mentally breaking the other squadron/legion.

Perhaps this battle was also some sort of record-breaker for the general, like, most battles consecutively won without signaling for a retreat?

Yeah. Something like that.

But, wait! As the cowardly Romans/Greeks/French/Norwegians/British declared their retreat, they aimed their biggest broadside cannons directly at the flagship, piloted by a boyish captain with slick maneuvers but lacking in experience. They lined up perfectly, and for a moment, all seemed lost.

However, the young, roguish captain commanded the flagship to safety, peeling away or completing a classic Starling maneuver to avoid the cannon fire. The happy sailors circle-danced the night away on their victorious journey home.

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With a wild win tonight, Seattle has guaranteed that when this four-game set concludes, they will only have lost one of their last ten series. They’re playing, finally, compelling, exciting, fun baseball. And, they’re only 2.5 games back from the WC3 spot, with no teams between them and the Rays for that last playoff spot.

This will be a fun last few weeks. Narratives, arcs and feelings will be aplenty in the Mariners last 52 games of the regular season. Buckle up!