Written by Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA – The Seattle Mariners fell to the Tampa Bay Rays in the first matchup of their four-game series. While the Mariners scored the last three runs of the game, Tampa Bay’s four-run fourth inning proved to be the difference. Former Mariner Mike Zunino hit a three-run homer off of Mariners starter Robbie Ray, and the Rays bullpen barely held on to that lead. Seattle has now lost four straight games, and have only won one of their last nine. 

New additions make their presence felt 

Offseason acquisitions Jesse Winker and Adam Frazier had their fingerprints on this game, as both players hit their first homers in Mariner uniforms. Winker has been in somewhat of an unlucky slump during his young Mariners tenure, currently batting at a .189 average. His expected batting average (what statistics tell us he should be hitting) sits at .326, good for the 94th percentile in all of baseball. 94th percentile is good, in this regard. Frazier has had his ups and downs, but has seen moderate success batting leadoff for Seattle. 

Zunino homer in former home ballpark wins it for Rays 

Mike Zunino has had a unique career, often seen as a player that has two outcomes at the plate: strikeout, or homer. Zunino has mostly struggled this season, hitting at a .143 average with only three homers and nine RBIs on eight hits. None of that seemed to matter when the fourth inning of this game came around. With a run already scored on an RBI single earlier in the inning, Zunino came to the plate with runners on the corners. Mariners starter Robbie Ray threw him five straight fastballs, and Zunino hammered one near the bottom middle of the zone. The three-run shot had an exit velocity of 98.4MPH, and traveled 379 feet to left field. 

Seattle again had issues with leaving runners in scoring position, most notably in the bottom of the sixth when JP Crawford was left stranded at third base. The Mariners only had one out against them with a runner on third base. They responded by striking out looking and flying out to center field. If you want to win ball games, especially against teams like Tampa Bay who regularly battle for playoff spots, you need to be able to score runners in scoring position. It’s an issue that has plagued Seattle early in this 2022 season. 

The Mariners will face the Rays tomorrow, May 6th with a first pitch time of 6:40PM in game two of the four game series. Young Mariners star Logan Gilbert gets the start on the mound for Seattle, fresh off of being awarded the American League Pitcher of the month for April. Left hander Josh Fleming starts for Tampa Bay, currently boasting a 2–3-win loss record and a 6.23 ERA. 

Thank you to Liv Lyons for the incredible photos used in this article. Thank you Liv!

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