The Mariners struggled in their second game of the season Tuesday evening, as they lost to the Oakland Athletics 2-1 in ten innings. Base hits were tough to come by in this low scoring matchup, as premier pitching exceeded expectations throughout the night.
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The M’s only run was tallied in the fourth, as Franklin Gutierrez shot a double down the left field line. After a called balk by Oakland's Dallas Braden, Gutierrez advanced to third base and would score on a pitch in the dirt in the same at-bat. This proved to be crucial as Jose Lopez struck-out swinging to end the inning on the very next pitch.
Right –hander Ian Snell was on target right from the start, not allowing a hit in his first 3 1/3 innings of work. Snell’s biggest mistake was hanging an off-speed pitch to Oakland’s Kurt Suzuki in the bottom of the fourth, sending a monster shot up to the bleachers in left-center, and tying the game 1 run apiece.
Snell managed to get himself in and out of a jam concluding the fourth, allowing two hits after the Suzuki homer before an inning-ending tapper back to the mound. He finished the night with 6.0 IP, allowing just 1 ER on 3 hits.
Even more noticeable was the work of opposing starter Dallas Braden. Entering his fourth full season with the A’s, Braden shined on the mound Tuesday night against Seattle, pitching 7.0 innings and allowing only 1 ER off of 4 hits, including a remarkable 10 strikeouts.
The game was steadily moving along until the bottom of the 9th inning when reliever Kanekoa Texeira entered the game for his Mariner debut. After a long first out to center field, Texeira gave up back-to-back hits to Mark Ellis and Travis Buck.
After walking no. 9 hitter Cliff Pennington, the M’s were faced with the bases loaded and one out, with the A’s needing just one run to win.
Kaneoka bounced back by striking out Rajai Davis, earning the second out of the inning. Disaster was ultimately averted as Texeira forced Oakland’s Daric Barton to fly out to left and send the game into extra innings, leaving the bases loaded on a prime opportunity.
The tenth inning was not as kind for the Mariners, sending Texeira back to the mound. After one quick out, Texeira again allowed back-to-back base hits before giving up a two out, walk-off hit in the gap of right center courtesy of Mark Ellis, handing the 2-1 win to Oakland.
The M’s fall to 1-1 on this new season, as they head into their third game of the series against Oakland tomorrow night. Wednesday’s probables include Ryan Rowland-Smith for Seattle and left-hander Brett Anderson for Oakland, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05pm.
Reach Jacob Kehle at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
