SEATTLE - As the fans poured out of T-Mobile Park Friday night, the same words could be heard that were emanating out of New England the evening before.
"World Series back on!"
Such is life in the first week of the regular season, with fans embracing the lunacy of overreacting to Game 1 or Game 2. This time it was the Mariners' followers' turn thanks to a 1-0 win over the Red Sox.
The everything-went-right mantra that permeated the Sox' clubhouse after their Opening Day win was now rooted in reality. There would be no 162-0. But putting the dreams of a sweep in Seattle aside, what this 2 hours and 24 minutes did was continue to answer at least a few early-season questions.
Most striking was the Red Sox' inability to manufacture any offense, with the dominance of Seattle starter George Kirby serving as the primary impetus for the goose egg. He pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits while retiring 19 of 20 batters after walking a pair in the first inning.
Kirby is really good, and that was a big part of the problem.
"Good stuff on the other side," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "He’s one of the best pitchers in the league. He doesn’t walk people he walks two in the first inning we have shot, we didn’t cash in and he found his rhythm. Good fastball, mix up his slider, the split, the knuckle curve and that's why he is who he is. He’s a tough customer."
But there was a long-term wake-up call, as well. The Red Sox were reminded that there is no scenario where they can live life without the presence of Rafael Devers.
Devers was a late scratch from the lineup because of a sore left shoulder which had been acting up over the final few days in spring training. After testing it out in pregame batting practice, the Sox decided to not take any chances.
"In Fort Myers, the pain wasn’t that big," said Devers through translator Carlos Villoria Benitez. "I was able to handle it and play with it. But playing with that pain, it was getting worse and worse and worse to the point where I decided to stop."
He added, "It happens with the hitting machine. Sometimes the hitting machine is not very consistent. Sometimes it throws hard. Sometimes it throws changeups. I’m always gearing up to swing hard to the fastball and there is sometimes I swing to those slow pitches to those changeups that pulls me a little bit, and that’s where everything started. ... I think if I feel better there is a good chance I play tomorrow."
It took just one game to witness the difference Devers can make thanks to a homer and double in the opener. And then came another version of the reminder regarding the third baseman, whose team is 105-32 for his career in games he has driven in two or more runs.
But within these first wave of games, there is also the opportunity siphon the long-term optimism. That's exactly what Nick Pivetta delivered in the loss.
The righty dominated over his six innings, striking out 10 for the second time in his career (the other also coming in Seattle) while not allowing a walk and just three hits. Unfortunately for Pivetta, one of his miscues came in the form or J.P. Crawford's solo homer in the sixth inning.
"You saw his stuff, it's really good," Cora said. "Today, finally, the breaking ball played. He struggled with it the whole spring and tonight he threw it for strikes, the cutter was good. The sweeper was great. The fastball played at 93-94. So a good one. That's pretty good two nights for the starters. That's plus-11 (innings). We got three more starts of five or more and that's what we’re trying to shoot for. If we do that we're going to have a chance to win a lot of ballgames."
For the pitching staff as a whole, it has been a positive couple of days. Pivetta got 17 whiffs on the 43 swings against him, including eight of the 19 cuts taken against his sweeper. He was followed by two scoreless innings from reliever Josh Winckowski. Considering what the combination of Brayan Bello, Isaiah Campbell, Joely Rodriguez, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen did the day before, that piece of the puzzle
"I think just building a good structure for the guys," Pivetta said. "I think everybody is equal at this point. We’re all men, we’re all here, we all have a job to do, we all love playing baseball. I think it’s just getting on a natural level with everybody, with respect and understanding the best I can help in any situation, I can. I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger so just making sure these guys are doing everything they can and helping them when I can. But we’re all equals."
Equals. But still somewhat unknown equals. Little by little - as Friday showed - the picture is becoming clearer.