Calling a new pitcher up from Omaha for his MLB debut is sort of like that. Like Delilah must have, we all know in our hearts that it isn’t going to end well. But with untested talent, we can at least pretend that we’re going to be pleasantly surprised, at least until we aren’t.
Rookie Ryan Verdugo did quite well against the first two Mariners he faced, even getting veteran Ichiro Suzuki to pop out. Sadly, it was pretty much all downhill from there. He coughed up three runs before finally getting another pop out. Then in the second he went right back to work. Brendan Ryan obligingly went down swinging, but Seattle scored three more times and put runners on second and third before Ned Yost finally made the long march to the mound, replacing Verdugo with Vin Mazzaro.
That’s gotta be a rough experience for a new pitcher. Still, the Royals don’t really have a lot of options at this point. After Monday night’s rout, the franchise designated lefty Jonathan Sanchez for assignment. Verdugo and Sanchez were what we got for Melky “Discharge” Cabrera. Though we didn’t exactly need another outfielder, thus far we don’t seem to have gotten much in return.
And speaking of the Sanchez collapse yesterday, it naturally left the guys in the radio booth bored and in need of something to jabber about. They settled on speculating about whether Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager was related to Pete Seeger and whether their names were spelled the same way and whether Pete Seeger was still alive and whether Pete Seeger was ever bit by Charlie-O (okay, I made that last one up).
For what it’s worth, Pete Seeger is in fact still alive, probably currently at work on a folk song promoting peace, love and understanding among Royals fans. “Inch by inch, row by row, please don’t boo Robinson Cano.” Sung line by line so the audience can learn the words, the Pete method.
Back to the game. The Royals took a stab at a comeback in the third. Jarrod Dyson hit a long fly into the gap between center and right, using his speed to stretch it into a triple. Not to be outdone, Alex Gordon hit one to the same spot with the same result (though the result was closer because Gordon isn’t as fast as Dyson). Then Alcides Escobar singled Gordon in, stole second, made it to third on a ground out by Eric Hosmer and scored on a single by Billy Butler.
Scoring in threes seemed to be the rule of the evening. The Mariners did it again in the fifth, and the Royals did it again in the seventh. By that point Seattle was playing pitcher roulette, bringing in Charlie Furbush (whose jersey made it look like his name was Fur Bush) to face one batter before suffering a fake-looking injury. The new pitcher, Shawn Kelly, gave up a home run to pinch hitter Lorenzo Cain before being replaced in turn by Lucas Luetge.
In a long game on a hot evening, it was a frustrating way to play baseball. Still, eventually it worked for them. Luetge got Escobar to ground into a double play, and that was it for the Royals.
This was one of those quirky games with plenty of odd moments. Hosmer ran way outside the baseline trying to duck a tag at first. Suzuki hit a foul that hit one of the backstop support wires and bounced back onto the field. The fake-looking injury. The back-to-back triples. And so on.
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| Because biting Pete Seeger is thirsty work |
The box score:
MARINERS (9) AT ROYALS (6)
MARINERS AB R H BI ROYALS AB R H BI
Dustin Ackley 5 1 2 1 Alex Gordon 4 1 2 1
Ichiro Suzuki 5 1 1 0 Alcides Escobar 4 1 1 1
Casper Wells 5 1 1 0 Eric Hosmer 4 0 1 0
Jesus Montero 4 2 3 2 Billy Butler 4 0 1 1
Justin Smoak 3 1 1 2 Mike Moustakas 4 0 0 0
Kyle Seager 4 0 1 2 Jeff Francoeur 3 1 1 0
Miguel Olivo 5 1 2 0 Salvador Perez 4 1 1 0
Michael Saunders 5 1 2 2 Chris Getz 4 0 0 1
Brendan Ryan 4 1 1 0 Jarrod Dyson 2 1 1 0
Lorenzo Cain 1 1 1 2
TOTALS 40 9 14 9 TOTALS 34 6 9 6
MARINERS 330 030 000 -- 9
ROYALS 003 000 300 -- 6
LOB--MARINERS 9, ROYALS 2. 2B--Brendan Ryan, Jesus Montero,
Michael Saunders, Kyle Seager, Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez.
3B--Dustin Ackley, Alex Gordon, Jarrod Dyson. HR--Michael
Saunders, Justin Smoak, Lorenzo Cain. HBP--Justin Smoak,
Jeff Francoeur. SB--Alcides Escobar.
MARINERS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Blake Beavan 6 7 5 5 0 3 0
Charlie Furbush 0 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Shawn Kelley 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
Lucas Luetge 1 2-3 1 0 0 0 2 0
Tom Wilhelmsen 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
ROYALS
Ryan Verdugo 1 2-3 8 6 6 2 2 1
Vin Mazzaro 2 1-3 4 3 3 1 3 1
Tim Collins 2 2 0 0 1 2 0
Kelvin Herrera 1 0 0 0 0 2 0
Aaron Crow 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
Greg Holland 1 0 0 0 0 2 0
WP--Vin Mazzaro. SO--Brendan Ryan (2), Ichiro Suzuki, Miguel
Olivo (2), Michael Saunders (2), Casper Wells (3), Dustin
Ackley, Justin Smoak, Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, Alcides
Escobar, Eric Hosmer (2), Salvador Perez. BB--Brendan Ryan,
Jesus Montero, Justin Smoak, Kyle Seager.
Buck seat: W-
Guard: McConnell AFB
Anthem: Okay
Umpires:
H: Hoye
1: Joyce
2: DiMuro
3: Reynolds
Time: 7:10
Temp: 98
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