The roof was closed from the start on a blustery afternoon in Seattle, with rare thunderstorms in the forecast. The Mariners’ offense gathered, swirled, and covered the field in strong contact, line drives, and threat after threat. But it was the Padres whose lumber cracked like thunder, pummeling Logan Gilbert under a storm of punished mistakes. Enlisting the help of my compatriots around the ballpark, I’ve secured a procedural slice of the game from a collection of the staff seated in the 300 level, adding the crucial details from the press box that had little insight pregame and few happy faces postgame including a dour-faced Dan Wilson.
From the collective:
First Inning: It’s a 4:15 start. The vibes are confusing immediately. Logan Gilbert looks sharp in the home whites and cuts through the Padres easily. The Mariners pick up the dance steps and go 1-2-3 in kind.
Second: Gavin Sheets hits a solo homer. Everyone involved should be embarrassed. Luke Raley singles, and the threat of total mortification disappears.
Third: The side was struck out, and not the one you want.
At some point in the earlyish innings, Dan Wilson is tossed. He does not pick up and throw a base, which is disappointing, but at one point he does point strongly at the field, which is Dan Wilson for “Bleep you, you bleeping, bleeper from bleep.” It is done to defend the honor of Logan Gilbert and the sanctity of a check swing, something nobody knows the rules of.
Fourth: Logan Gilbert had the good slider for one wonderful inning this game. This was not that inning. There is a man in the crowd wearing a Dodgers jersey, and you have to respect a hater with commitment. You do not have to respect Nick Castellanos, but you still shouldn’t throw him middle-middle braking balls.
Fifth: J.P. Crawford homers, every one feels like a last gasp. We stand and applaud, as you should when a man is dying in front of your eyes.
Sixth: No.
Seventh: J.P. Crawford steps up to the plate, following Leo Rivas’ daily ritual (rolling over on a grounder). He may not be dying, we think! Perhaps his homer portends great things! Perhaps he’s been motivated by America the Beautiful just before the bottom of the inning, and he’s ready to start a two-out rally! J.P. Crawford strikes out on a 2-2 count.
Eighth: On a pitch from Nick Davila, Jhonny Pereda throws out Fernando Tatís Jr. stealing second. Shortly thereafter, Leo Rivas makes an unbelievable grab on a line drive from Manny Machado. Yes, of course, we all saw this type of inning coming.
Reclaiming the reins:
Ninth: The tying run came to the plate, something that seemed impossible at several stages of this evening’s grind of a loss. This was only possible thanks to two more highlights of the defensive variety, on a night where the gloves shone all around. With his second brilliant throw of the game, Jhonny Pereda cut down Miguel Andujar attempting to steal second. That seemed like a face-saving moment when, following his debutante moment, longtime toiling minor leaguer Rodolfo Durán clubbed what looked to be his second home run of the game. Julio, mercifully, is a thief for joy.
Alas, if the brown of the Padres uniforms weren’t hint enough, we’re in Mudville despite Julio’s best efforts. Two on, one out, chasing a 7-4 deficit, Seattle mustered a fielder’s choice and a groundout. The chase for .500 is deferred another day.
