J-Rod, Gonzales bright spots as Mariners fall to Crew

SEATTLE -- The Mariners started a trident trend on Wednesday. They hope it will buoy them to a winning streak.

Seattle unveiled a sparkling new home run celebration tool on Wednesday afternoon, a gold pitchfork that hearkens back to the early days of the nautically-themed franchise and looked very snug and fitting in the hands of Julio Rodríguez after he lasered a two-run shot in the third inning against Milwaukee.

The homer stood up for six innings, but the Mariners were undone by a rough seventh in a 5-3 loss to the Brewers that led to a three-game sweep at T-Mobile Park.

In the midst of what Seattle hopes will be a brief blip on the radar of a second consecutive trip to the postseason, the shiny prop showed that the team still has the camaraderie that will help it navigate through occasionally choppy waters.

“We're very capable of beating these teams,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I think coming into the series, the way we were playing, we felt really good about our chances of winning the series. They executed better than we did, they walk out of here with three wins.

“We have to wash it away. We have a lot of baseball to play. And we're not even close to playing how we can play when we're at our best, so we’ve got that to look forward to.”

There was good news, to be sure, for a talented club still trying to find its footing.

Rodríguez looked a lot like the Rodríguez whom the Mariners hope will stick around for the rest of the year. He came into the game with a .247 batting average and only 10 RBIs, but he electrified the crowd with his home run off Brewers starter Eric Lauer -- the fourth long ball of the season for the reigning American League Rookie of the Year. The ball left his bat at 110.7 mph with a 20-degree launch angle, clearing the left-center-field wall on a line.

Starter Marco Gonzales was a bright spot, too, in his return from paternity leave following the birth of his second daughter, Siena.

Gonzales went six-plus innings, giving up two runs on four hits and tying a career high with nine strikeouts. The last time he had fanned nine in a game was Aug. 12, 2021.

During that season, Gonzales went on a tear after returning in early July from paternity leave for the birth of his first daughter, Grace. In 16 starts over the remainder of 2021, he went 9-2 with a 3.39 ERA while holding opponents to a .221 batting average.

“I felt really good,” Gonzales said. “Like riding a bike. … I think I took only two days off of throwing, so I was able to keep myself going and be ready for today.”

Things were looking promising for the Mariners entering the seventh. Gonzales had a 2-0 lead courtesy of Rodríguez’s homer, and he looked like he was on cruise control.

Gonzales gave up two quick singles before being replaced by reliever Matt Brash, and then the Brewers just kept on hitting singles. Brian Anderson greeted Brash with a 64 mph bloop hit to load the bases, and Luke Voit followed with an RBI single at 87 mph. Brash got the next two outs, but Brice Turang made him pay, lining a single to left for two more runs, and pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez followed with a single to center. All of a sudden, it was 5-2. Seattle’s lead and momentum had disappeared.

“They put the bat on the ball,” Servais said. “They got some big hits there. … They got the big hits at the end. That was the factor in this entire series, not just today.”

As usual, the now-playoff-tested Mariners didn’t give up.

Despite scratching out only four hits against Lauer in the first 7 2/3 innings, they made some noise in the ninth. Facing Brewers righty Peter Strzelecki, Ty France led off with a double, Eugenio Suárez was hit by a pitch and Teoscar Hernández singled to load the bases.

Jarred Kelenic continued his clutch hitting with a one-out RBI single, chasing Strzelecki and cutting the lead to 5-3. But reliever Matt Bush got pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella to fly out to right field and Jose Caballero popped out to third to end the game.

“We hit the ball hard today, but no luck,” said Hernández, who went 1-for-4 and is batting .240 this season. “That's the game. Sometimes it goes the way you want it to go. Sometimes you have good at-bats and the results are not there."