Mariners offense goes silent in shutout loss to Athletics

SEATTLE — All the frustration felt by fans for the first six innings on opening night and all the memes, snarky tweets and comments that might have been prematurely sent or were waiting to be shared about the same ol’ Mariners, having the same feckless offensive production as last season while suffering yet another run-deprived loss, well, they were good to go for Friday night.

With an announced crowd of 25,061 in attendance for the second game of the season, the Seattle Mariners offered a reminder of their issues from last season and potential weaknesses this season, getting shut out in a 7-0 loss.

The Mariners mustered only five hits — all singles — while drawing three walks and striking out 13 times. By contrast, they struck out only seven times and drew seven walks in Thursday’s win. It was a less-than-inspiring offensive performance.

“Tough one tonight,” said manager Dan Wilson.

Luis Castillo gave the Mariners a decent outing. Working with a pitch count of around 85 — a number the Mariners want to use for all their starters in their first outing — Castillo pitched five innings, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

The two runs that he allowed came with two outs in his final inning of work. Lawrence Butler lashed a double to center over the head of Julio Rodriguez. With first base open and Brent Rooker at the plate, Castillo left a 1-1 fastball on the inner half of the plate. Rooker, who had struck out four times on opening night and once in his two previous plate appearances Friday, wasn’t missing that mistake. He hit a fly ball to deep left-center that hit off the top of the wall and bounced into The ‘Pen for a two-run homer.

“I thought Rock gave us five strong, obviously gave us a chance to win,” Wilson said. “It was still there.”

Perhaps, but the Mariners would’ve needed to actually score a run and that didn’t happen.

Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs isn’t overpowering or dominant. His fastball tops out around 90 mph. But he possesses something the Mariners just can’t seem to figure out — a quality changeup. And opponents know it. Last season, 12% of the pitches that were thrown to Mariners hitters were changeups, the third highest in MLB. Seattle hit .203 with a .330 slugging percentage against those changeups while swinging and missing at 34% — the fourth highest percentage in baseball. Lefties with a good changeup, like Springs, were even more effective. Seattle hitters posted a .228 batting average and .346 slugging percentage on changeups from lefties, but whiffed on 37.4% of the 1,126 the lefty changeups they saw last season.

It’s a big reason why Springs was able to work six scoreless innings, giving up only three hits — all singles — with a walk and nine strikeouts. Of his 83 pitches, Springs threw 22 changeups, 21 of them to right-handed hitters. The Mariners swung at 13 of those change, whiffing on nine of them, including six with two strikes.

“Jeffrey really controlled the game,” said A’s manager Mark Kotsay. “He changed speeds really well tonight, had a great game plan against this team and used it effectively. Nine punchouts in six innings says a lot about the performance.”

The Mariners didn’t have a hit until over the first four innings with Cal Raleigh’s first-inning walk representing their only base runner.

“You gotta give a little credit to Springs tonight,” Wilsons aid. “I thought he pitched pretty well. He’s a guy who has to have command and he had pretty good command. He had a heater that kept us off that changeup enough. But I thought he commanded the changeup very well.”

Down 2-0 going into the fifth, Mitch Garver picked up Seattle’s first hit of the game, leading off with a single on a first-pitch fastball. Jorge Polanco followed with a single on a fastball to put the tying run on first.

Springs came back to strike out Donovan Solano with a changeup that darted out of the zone. Dylan Moore was able to get a hit off the changeup, looping a 1-1 pitch into center. Third base coach Kristopher Negron made an aggressive decision to send Garver, who runs, well, like a catcher. J.J. Bleday’s throw from center wasn’t strong but it was accurate enough to get Garver as he slid into home. J.P. Crawford’s line drive to center was run down by Bleday to end the threat.

Down 2-0, the Mariners still had real chances of a rally against the A’s largely inexperienced bullpen. But Seattle’s nonleverage relievers turned a competitive game into a mild rout in the later innings.

Eduard Bazardo started the seventh, but couldn’t finish it. He gave up a one-out single to Jacob Wilson and walked Lawrence Butler. Bazardo came back to strikeout Rooker. With Bleday, a lefty coming to the plate, manager Dan Wilson called on Tayler Saucedo to get the third out. It appeared that Saucedo had accomplished when splintered Bleday’s bat, producing a soft liner jut over his head onto the grass of the infield behind the mound. But it was hit so softly, that making a play for an out at first would’ve been difficult.

Jorge Polanco charged in front of J.P. Crawford to try and make the play, but he didn’t actually field the ball, running past it for the worst possible outcome. With the ball on the grass and nobody near it, Wilson wisely raced home for a 3-0 lead. Shea Langeliers followed with a single to left to score Butler to make it 4-0 and Bleday bounced a double over the wall to drive in another run.

The A’s picked up a run in the eighth when Max Muncy hit his first MLB homer, a deep blast to left off Saucedo.

It only got worse when former Mariner Luis Urias crushed a solo homer off Carlos Vargas in the eighth inning to make it 8-0.