The M’s dropped another one, a brutal 10-5 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday night, but man, Lazaro Montes gave us a moment none of us will forget, launching the longest home run T-Mobile Park has ever seen. That monster shot was a jolt of pure energy in an otherwise miserable game, a beacon of what could be, wrapped in the frustration of what is right now.
Montes Blasts One Into The Stratosphere
Forget the final score for a second and just picture this: Lazaro Montes steps up in the fourth inning, gets a middle-middle fastball from Cal Quantrill, and absolutely obliterates it. We’re talking 116.1 mph off the bat, a 24-degree launch angle, and a staggering 474 feet. But you know what? The numbers don’t even do it justice. This ball wasn’t just “long,” it went so far up into the stands, it landed on the concourse in center field. Seriously, on the concourse! Most of the impressive dingers at T-Mobile head for the Hit-It-Here Cafe or the bleachers in left. Even the ones with incredible metrics that land between left-center and right-center usually just reach the first few rows. I’ve seen Montes’ power, I knew it would be a bomb, but when the camera kept zooming and the ball kept going and going and going, I just stared. I still don’t know what I witnessed, except maybe a ghost of Carlos Peguero’s 2013 blast. That absolute moonshot was most of our offense on Tuesday, and it was a masterpiece.
Our Pitching Staff Is Making Us Want To Scream
While Montes was busy making history, the rest of the game felt like a broken record. Our pitching staff continued to pitch like the worst in the majors, a trend that’s been going strong since the All-Star break. We’re talking last in just about every pitching category, and there’s no end in sight. Bryce Miller got the start, and it was bad and brief, followed by the bullpen folding behind him. It’s tough to watch. Miller was just moved to the bullpen in late August, only to be back in the rotation because Emerson Hancock landed on the injured list. Even in his first start last week, he was pulled in the fifth inning after only 63 pitches, which implies the organization sees him in something of a hybrid role going forward. Whatever the plan was on Tuesday, it didn’t work. Giving up 10 runs against anybody is a brutal way to lose.
We scratched across nine hits and a walk, even picked up a couple more runs in garbage time, totaling five runs on the board. But five runs just isn’t enough when you’re giving up double digits. This team has flashes of brilliance, like Montes’ historic homer, but until the pitching stabilizes, these games are going to keep feeling long, boring, and predictable. We gotta find a way to turn this around, M’s fans. What’s it gonna take for this staff to lock it down?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Lookout Landing.
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