HR robbery denies Raleigh, Mariners of comeback bid

SEATTLE -- It had the look off the bat, the reaction from the crowd and it certainly had the drama of a two-out sequence in the eighth inning, one that would’ve pushed the Mariners ahead and potentially to victory.

Instead, Cal Raleigh was dealt a gut punch when his sky-high flyball that cleared the center-field fence was robbed by Parker Meadows, sealing Seattle's fate in a 6-2 loss to Detroit on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Park.

Raleigh’s blast left his bat at 103.7 mph, traveled 396 feet and would’ve been a homer in four ballparks, per Statcast. It also would’ve represented his fourth career game homering from both sides after he put the Mariners on the board with a two-run shot batting righty in the fourth, the lone blemish off Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, who was dominant.

And it would’ve put the Mariners ahead by one run after trailing all night.

“You can look at that moment, but it's a full-game thing, too,” Raleigh said. “We should have taken advantage earlier in the game. I thought we pitched pretty good tonight. We just didn't produce enough runs. But yeah, usually people look at that one moment.”

Runs would always be at a premium on Wednesday, with Skubal entering play with a 2.57 ERA and firmly the front-runner for the American League Cy Young Award. That’s what made the robbery all the more agonizing, given that the Mariners had finally dipped into Detroit’s leaky bullpen and kept the game within reach despite a shorter-than-anticipated outing from George Kirby.

The robbery also prevented Mariners manager Scott Servais from using Andres Muñoz, who would’ve entered the ninth with a lead. Instead, Servais turned to Jonathan Hernández -- claimed off waivers from the Rangers last week -- and then Trent Thornton, who’s in the midst of his most trying stretch of the season. Combined, Hernández and Thornton gave up two more runs, putting the game out of reach for Seattle's final three outs.

Given Muñoz’s heavy workload -- and Seattle already losing leverage relievers Matt Brash for the season and Gregory Santos for all but six games due to injuries -- the Mariners only intend to use Muñoz with a lead or tie at this stage. Same for Yimi García, who would’ve been deployed in the eighth had the Mariners tied.

“It depends how much they've been used recently, and I think all that goes into the equation,” Servais said. “And it's really great to say, 'Yeah, just put him in the game. You're down by one.' There's just a lot that goes into it. I certainly understand that everybody is frustrated, but that's why everybody's got a job to do in the bullpen.”

Beyond the bullpen, though, the Mariners’ offense has been feast or famine for most of the past month. They’ve now lost 12 of their past 19 games, scoring at least six in each of those wins and two or fewer in 11 of those 12 losses.

“You've seen a lot of good, and you've seen a lot of bad, so a lot of ups and downs,” Raleigh said. “To me, it's just bringing the energy every night. You look at this game as a midweek game, not as many fans ... We haven't brought the same energy the past couple of days. I think that's kind of prevalent. We have to bring that night and night out.”

The Mariners also were banking on Kirby going toe-to-toe with the Tigers ace, or at least close to it.

Instead, he surrendered a leadoff homer to rookie Wenceel Pérez and then a solo shot to Jake Rogers in the fourth. Both were on fastballs that weren’t necessarily mistakes -- low-and-in at 98.1 mph to Pérez and way above the zone at 95.2 mph to Rogers -- and were each in a 2-2 count.

Kirby needed 28 pitches to clear the first inning and was at 97 after clearing the fifth when he was taken out. The most taxing cause of his elevated pitch count is a lack of execution on his secondary pitches early in the count.

“The ones that I was throwing in the dirt, they didn't really have to honor them,” Kirby said. “So that was on me.”

If both teams stay on rotation, Kirby will get another chance vs. Skubal when these teams open a three-game series on Tuesday at Comerica Park.