CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Seattle Mariners rained on the Cleveland Guardians opening day parade Friday.
The M’s rallied from a 3-0 deficit by scoring five times over the fifth and sixth innings, capped by Julio Rodriguez’s two-run home run to beat Cleveland 5-3.
Time to Scan the Scorecard from Friday’s opener.
1. No late inning magic for the Guardians Friday afternoon. “It was a good atmosphere. I wish we'd have won,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said.
2. Major League Baseball’s speedball debuted at 2 hours and 34 minutes in Cleveland.
3. In person, the quicker pace of play is noticeable, but the pitch clock in center field isn’t obtrusive. If anything, the new rules force fans to pay attention to the action because if you look away for a moment, you could miss something significant.
4. The sun was out, so the Guardians had that going for them but the temperature at first pitch was a chilly 41 degrees. “It's definitely no fun, but I think the mantra is if it's cold for us, it's definitely cold for them, so it's hard to have an excuse there,” left fielder Steven Kwan, who went 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts at the plate, said. “But yeah, definitely would prefer to have it a little more warm when we play.”
5. Guardians starter Aaron Civale saw his scoreless streak to begin the season end at 11 innings when the Mariners scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning. “I think, just the fifth inning [I] started leaving some pitches over the plate,” Civale said. “Tried to make the adjustment and just, yeah, I mean, did the best I could though, left all my energy out there.” Civale was charged with four runs on nine hits with a walk, five strikeouts and a wild pitch.
6. Rodriguez smashed a two-run homer to left in the sixth inning and that was the difference on the scoreboard for Seattle.
7. Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford did the most damage off Civale from the bottom of Seattle’s lineup. Crawford got the Mariners, who trailed 3-0, on the board in the fifth with an RBI double down the left field line scoring Cooper Hummel, who led the inning off with a single, and added an RBI double to right center in the top of the sixth that tied the game and sent Civale to the showers.
8. Tim Herrin had a solid relief outing for the Guardians with three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings of work. “It felt really good,” Herrin said. “First hitter was having a little trouble finding the slider and we called some backdoor ones that kind of keep me more directional toward towards the plate, which kind of helped me with the few guys after that to kind of throw that for a strike more. But yeah, I felt really good. I came in a lot of adrenaline home opener. The crowd in Cleveland the great, I was really excited to get my first one here in Cleveland.” Herrin is currently tied for the league lead among relievers with nine strikeouts.
9. It must have been the wind. That was the Guardians reaction to Jose Ramirez’s drive down the right field line that was caught at the wall in the corner to lead off the bottom of the eighth. “We thought that was in the second deck, so I think Josey thought that as well,” center fielder Myles Straw said. “I mean a lot of the times in the summer you'll get the wind blown out to right field here and right center and today was the exact opposite.” Designated Hitter Josh Bell could not believe the ball stayed in the park either. “I feel like any other day that's gone,” Bell said. “Maybe a different ball game after that. But that, that's his life. That's the game. Sometimes they fall for you and sometimes they don't. But I feel like he's in a good spot.”
10. Ramirez extended his hit streak to start the season to eight games. He finished the home openers 1-3. Dating back to last season Ramirez has hit safely in 13 consecutive games.
11. Coming into the game Bell was off to a 2-22 start to the season but Francona expressed no concern prior to first pitch. “He'll be fine If you read his baseball card, there's a lot of crooked numbers there,” Francona said. “Just he, he's going to have to click one and then hopefully he'll settle in and be who he is.” Bell drove in his third run of the season with an RBI single in the third inning. Bell is anxious to contribute to some late inning magic soon. “I feel like I trust this lineup more than any other lineup in the league, against any bullpen.,” Bell said. “So hopefully we stay ahead tomorrow. But if we [have to] grind way back into a game, I definitely like our chances.”
12. Progressive Field’s opening day sellout streak rolls on. A total of 34,821 were on hand Friday afternoon.