Mariners 8, Twins 7: Ryan Struggles, Bats Rally, but It’s Not Enough

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (95 pitches, 63 strikes, 66.3%)
Home Runs: Christian Vázquez (3), Édouard Julien (10), Matt Wallner 2 (4)
Bottom 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (-.305), Max Kepler (-.207), Jordan Balazovic (-.190)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Ryan gives up two homers, three runs early
When Twins and Mariners met for the first time last week, All-Star centerfielder Julio Rodríguez didn’t cause Minnesota much trouble, going 1-for-10 with five strikeouts and only a walk to show for against Twins’ pitching. In this second encounter between the two teams, though, he has been a real thorn in the Twins’ side.

After picking up three hits in the first two games of the series, including two home runs that powered the M’s comeback on Tuesday, he was at it again right out of the gate this afternoon. He got ahead on the count against Joe Ryan in the game’s first at-bat and ended up hitting a leadoff double after six pitches. Teoscar Hernández pushed Rodríguez across on a one-out bloop single giving Seattle their first lead of the day.

The Twins’ offense struggled to get anything going against Mariners’ starter Bryce Miller to start this game, allowing Seattle to add on and increase their lead. Ryan quickly retired the first two batters he faced in the second, then was one strike away from retiring Dylan Moore, but the struggling shortstop took him deep for the second home run of the game. Back to the top of the Seattle order in the third, Rodríguez picked up where he left off and crushed a no-doubter to the second deck in left field, making it 3-0 Mariners.

Ryan is in trouble again, but the offense hits three homers
The bats finally got into the game during the third, and they also punished Miller with the long ball. Christian Vázquez jumped on the very first pitch of his at-bat to hit a one-out solo shot to center-left and put the Twins on the board. A couple of at-bats later, it was Édouard Julien’s turn to take Miller deep. Exactly like Vázquez, Eddy jumped on the first pitch he saw, hitting a line drive that cleared the left field track by a few feet. Suddenly, the Twins cut their deficit to only one run.

But it simply wasn’t Ryan’s day, as Seattle batters seem to have him absolutely figured out. The Mariners swung on only 34% of his pitches outside the zone in this game, while Ryan has been getting hitters to swing at his outside pitches almost 40% of the time this season. With that, it didn’t take long for Seattle to get him in trouble again. Ryan loaded the bases before recording an out in the fourth inning, then gave up a single to Kolten Wong that scored the Mariners’ fourth run.

Ryan managed to strike out the next two batters, but with his pitch count nearing a hundred, Rocco Baldelli decided to bring Jordan Balazovic into the game, making this Ryan’s second-shortest outing of the season. Balazovic got Hernández to fly out, avoiding any further damage. In the bottom of the inning, Matt Wallner hit his first home run of the afternoon, and once again, the Twins were within a run, trailing 4-3.

Mariners explode to build a five-run lead, but the Twins answer back
Balazovic remained in the game for the fifth, and with 14 pitches, he had retired two batters and allowed a walk. He failed to retire Cade Marlowe next, instead giving up an eight-pitch walk, which would cost him highly on the next at-bat. Moore, who before this game had homered only twice all year, hit his second home run of the day, a 429-feet bomb to left-center, making it 7-3 Mariners.

Rodríguez led off the sixth inning with another double, this time against Josh Winder, and he scored on the next at-bat after Eugenio Suárez smashed a long single off the right-center field wall. Seattle had its biggest lead of the afternoon, heading into the bottom of the sixth. For many teams, an 8-3 deficit this late would be too much to overcome. But this Twins team simply refuses to quit as of late.

Minnesota’s offense rallied for four runs in the sixth and cut the Mariners’ lead to only one run once again. Wallner kicked things off with his second solo home run of the game, a rare opposite-field monster shot by a lefty that landed in the second deck. Willi Castro flied out to put Miller within an out of finishing the inning, but Trevor Larnach doubled and scored next on a Kyle Farmer single to shallow center, making it 8-5 Mariners and immediately ending Miller’s day.

Reliever Matt Brash took over, but he wasn’t able to stop the two-out bleeding. Joey Gallo hit a long fly ball to deep right, and Rodríguez couldn’t make the play, allowing Farmer to score and Gallo to reach second. Then, Vázquez, Minnesota’s seventh player to bat in the inning, joined the party and grounded to right to bring Gallo home and close the gap even more, cutting Seattle’s lead to 8-7.

Winder preserves the one-run deficit, but the rally falls short
Winder gave up two hits and a run in the sixth, but he did a fantastic job the rest of the way. He retired all the remaining batters faced (11 in a row) without allowing a single hit or walk while striking out four and throwing 75% strikes. But the offense went down in order in the seventh and stranded its only runner in the eighth. Minnesota would need their offense to step up once more to complete their rally in the bottom of the ninth. Things started off well, with Vázquez finding a gap in the middle for a leadoff groundball single. But reliever Andrés Muñoz managed to induce three groundball outs next, and the Mariners prevailed in the end.

Postgame interview