When Toronto came back with seven more runs, however, youthful enthusiasm only went so far – which left Seattle well back in a 13-7 loss to the Blue Jays on Tuesday.
No, there’s no quit in a team heavy with rookies.
Against the Blue Jays, there simply wasn’t enough pitching.
Jason Vargas gave up six first inning runs and eight all told, and relievers Tom Wilhelmsen and Aaron Laffey couldn’t stop Toronto, either.
“Vargas was off and over the plate early and that’s a good hitting ballclub,” manager Eric Wedge said. “He threw a lot of pitches. He had a good fastball, a good breaking ball, he had some bad luck.”
So coming back to tie it, 6-6, getting back-to-back home runs from Casper Wells – yes, another one! – and Miguel Olivo, getting two RBI each from rookies Trayvon Robinson and Kyle Seager …
Well, nice as it was for the Mariners fans in a crowd of 23,089, it wasn’t enough. Not even close.
Maybe the Mariners were punched out after scrambling back. Maybe watching 13 runs go on the board against them was too daunting.
Put another way, not even a hot-hitting Seattle team was up to two six-run comebacks in one game. And their pitching wasn’t up to keeping them within striking distance.
When Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista homered in the sixth inning, for instance, it illustrated just how far the Mainers have to go before they can win these slugfests. It was Bautista’s 35th home run.
The Mariners starting lineup began the night with 36.
Not that they went quietly. Designated hitter Wells, for instance, homered in his fourth consecutive game for Seattle, pushing his season total to nine – five in his 12 games since coming to the Mariners from Detroit.
And Mike Carp continued the American League’s longest active hitting streak with a third-inning single that pushed his run to 16 consecutive games.
Even in the ninth inning, down six, the Mariners kept after the Blue Jays, with Carp and Josh Bard singling to get on base with one out. Robinson and Seager left them out there.
Whatever Vargas had warming up in the bullpen didn’t immediately translate to the mound in the first inning – and the lefty walked two batters and gave up four hits to fall behind 6-0.
With two outs, he walked Edwin Encarnacion to load the bases, and outfielder Colby Rasmus unloaded them with a three-run double. And after Brett Lawrie singled, Vargas served up an Aaron Hill home run.
The Mariners came back to tie it in the third inning – and Vargas gave up two more runs in the fifth inning, when Wilhelmsen was wild and allowed two of his own.
“Wilhelmsen said he felt good, felt real strong. He’s still learning how to pitch, learning what to do in these situations,” Wedge said. “He made a couple bad pitches but his stuff was good.”
Down 10-6, Seattle got three two-out hits, by Robinson, Seager and Jack Wilson, to push one run home and bring up Ichiro Suzuki.
On a 2-0 pitch, Ichiro bunted to the mound and was easily thrown out. The Mariners never got closer than 10-7.
Wedge wasn’t pleased with Ichiro’s decision.
“I talked to Ichi – I know what he’s trying to do, keep the inning going – but in that situation with two outs, I want him to swing the bat,” Wedge said. “He understood. It was just a quick conversation we had.”
Still, it was a reminder that the Mariners search for a better offense has produced hitters capable of scoring runs. On Monday, they came from behind to beat Toronto, 6-5. On Tuesday, seven runs didn’t get it done.
That it was Vargas who stumbled badly wasn’t a huge surprise. He’s now lost six of his past seven decisions, going back to July 6, and his season record is 7-11, his earned-run average is 4.37.
The Mariners are no longer the one dimensional, pitching and a run or two team they were in the early months.
They did lose catcher Olivo after he’d homered, when he was hit in the fifth inning by a foul tip. He stayed in the game for another inning, but Wedge said he “didn’t look right” and was pulled.
He’ll be evaluated again today.
TODAY
Toronto (Brandon Morrow: 8-7, 4.55 ERA) at Seattle (Blake Beavan: 3-3, 3.59), 7:10 p.m., Root Sports, 710-AM
