The M’s dropped another one to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, falling 6-2, and man, that first inning set the tone in the worst way. It felt like deja vu all over again out there, watching us concede an early lead yet again in LA.
That First Inning Was a Gut Punch
Our starter was one strike away from cruising through the first inning on 21 pitches, keeping the Dodgers off the board, but Mookie Betts had other plans. With a two-strike count, he hammered a two-run double, giving the Dodgers their third consecutive first-inning lead against us. Talk about a punch to the gut right out of the gate! On the other side, Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, despite allowing an early baserunner, managed to complete a scoreless first on 20 pitches. Our guy did settle down a bit, though, and the Dodgers actually struggled to get anything going against him over the next two innings. But then the bottom of the fourth happened. A one-out walk to Kyle Tucker started a rally, Teoscar Hernández singled, and then Dalton Rushing absolutely obliterated a three-run home run into our bullpen. Just like that, the Dodgers had their largest lead of the series at five runs. Ouch.
A Glimmer, But Not Enough
We finally got to Sasaki in the top of the sixth, which was a relief to see. One of our guys led off with a triple, and then another Mariner drove him in with a double. After a four-pitch walk to another one of our hitters, Julio Rodriguez, facing Max Muncy, lined out on the first pitch for a crucial first out. Another M’s hitter then singled to load the bases, bringing up Cal Raleigh as the potential tying run. Sasaki walked Raleigh on five pitches, bringing home a run to cut his night short after 5 1/3 innings. Sasaki showed some improvements, racking up seven strikeouts against us, his most in a home start since June. But that was all we could manage. The Dodgers added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth against our reliever, with Teoscar Hernández socking his first home run since July 3 against his old team, pushing the lead back to four runs.
It was a tough night, Seattle. After two quick outs in the top of the seventh, the Dodgers’ Edgardo Henriquez let us get two baserunners, but then he won an eight-pitch battle against Julio Rodriguez, getting him to ground out and leave them stranded. Tanner Scott almost let things get away from him in the eighth, walking two batters, but the damage was done. We lost 6-2. We need to find a way to stop giving up those early leads, because it feels like we’re always playing catch-up. Gotta shake this off and come back strong. Next game, we need to show up from the first pitch. Let’s go M’s!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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