The M’s dropped their series opener to the A’s in a brutal 7-4 loss Thursday, and seriously, what was that? This was supposed to be a total pie stroll, an easy win against baseball’s absolute worst team, but instead, it went completely sideways at T-Mobile Park. We watched our guys strike out a whopping 18 times, and even Dan Wilson got ejected, showing just how frustrating things got out there.
Kade Anderson’s Leash Is Getting Shorter
Look, we know the Mariners are desperate for length from our rotation right now, especially with the bullpen being the absolute worst in the majors. So Kade Anderson, in just his third career start, had a lot riding on him. He’d never even thrown more than 80 pitches in the minors, hit 81 in his debut, and then 85 in his second start, where he couldn’t quite make it through five innings. On Thursday, he was fairly efficient through 4 2/3 innings at just 64 pitches, but calling him “better than OK” is a stretch. He gave up a solo homer to Zack Gelof in the first on a middle-middle fastball. Then in the second, he loaded the bases with nobody out after a leadoff walk and two singles, though he limited the damage to just one run with a double play and a strikeout. The third inning saw another leadoff single, another double play, another single, and then a pop out to escape.
He breezed through the fourth and got the first two outs in the fifth, but then the A’s lineup turned over for the third time. Anderson walked Henry Bolte on four pitches, gave up a rocket single to Gelof, let Gelof steal second, and then another rocket single to Lawrence Butler plated a pair of runs, putting the A’s up 4-3. Anderson finished the fifth at 79 pitches, giving up four runs on seven hits, two walks, and three strikeouts in five innings. He said it himself postgame, “Tonight doesn’t hold up to the standard I put on myself and my teammates put on me. Just a little unacceptable tonight. The [in]ability to put dudes away when I should have and walks is not really part of what I am as a pi…” Yeah, Kade, we felt that. It never felt easy out there, even with flashes of a big curveball or a slider. The A’s might have struggled to square him up, but they had no problem putting the ball in play.
Julio’s Uncelebrated History in a Messy Loss
Amidst all that frustration, Julio Rodríguez actually made history. He stole three bases, making him the first player ever to begin a career with five consecutive 20-20 seasons. Five straight! That’s insane, but honestly, it went totally uncelebrated. How can you cheer for an individual milestone when you’re watching your team drop a game 7-4 to a squad that’s supposed to be an automatic W? It’s just a gut punch. After this, it’s clear: it’s not going to be a perfect September in Seattle after all. We need our guys to bounce back hard. We can’t be losing to the A’s like this, especially with that bullpen needing all the help it can get. We gotta turn it around quick and show them what the Emerald City is really made of.
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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