Seattle Mariners slip to Tampa Bay Rays 3-4 – MLB
Seattle Mariners lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 3-4 in the first game of their three-match regular series encounter on Friday, July 20 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
Mariners’ played poorly and could not just match the Rays brilliance. They did not show any fighting spirit and lost in the end.
This defeat was a worrying moment for the Mariners’ management as they are not performing well since they have entered in the second half of the regular season.
They needed at-least .600 winning percentage to qualify into the post season, but they are losing crucial games consistently.
Again on Friday, the Mariners’ top batting line-up failed against the Rays’ brilliant pitchers.
They did not attack the Rays’ pitchers and lost in the end.
Only three veteran players contributed in the Mariners’ three total runs.
Right fielder Ichiro Suzuki with his one run and one hit on six at-bats, Mariners somehow tried to match the Rays’ constant hammering as they players kept scoring on consistent bases.
Third baseman Kyle Seager added one and Carlos Peguero also scored one run and two RBIs for the Mariners.
No other player from the Mariners’ side was able to score against the Rays’ top class pitching.
Especially James Shields played well for the Rays and never allowed too many runs.
He pitched 7.2 innings and received only three runs on four hits. He also retired ten Mariners’ hitters as his ERA remained consistent at 4.39.
“I made just one bad pitch tonight and that's about it," Shields said. "I was trying to go with a back-door cutter right there and I left it middle-in and he yanked it. [Peguero] is a pretty good hitter. We did well tonight, though. It was nice to get the win."
Rays’ manager Joe Maddon said, "Missing the cutoff permitted that to happen, We got very fortuitous that particular moment."
Later Mariners’ manager Eric Wedge said, "We just weren't able to get anything going offensively in extra innings, Our pitching staff did a great job."
Overall the game was played at a high pace but the Rays proved more determined in the end and took the game away in style.
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