AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray allowed home runs to both Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus as the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Wednesday. The loss against Oakland put the Mariners on the bottom of the AL West standings.
The Athletics took two of three and moved ahead of the Mariners in the standings for the division. Seattle (18-27) is only 45 games into the season, but they have lost eight of 10 and 21 of the past 28 games.
“We’re not playing good baseball. We know that” Scott Servais, Seattle manager, said. “We have to make some adjustments here, and it needs to happen quick.”
Oakland vs Mariners match highlights
Although Ray struck out a season-high 10, he allowed a home run in his fifth straight start. Brown hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to put Ray on the board. Brown had only one hit all season against the left-handed pitcher, but he doubled off Ray in his first at-bat and then hit his third home run.
https://twitter.com/NBCSAthletics/status/1529570428750024704
“Seth and I talked about being aggressive against Robbie,” Mark Kotsay, Oakland manager, said. “I felt Robbie was going to challenge him with fastballs, and Seth put two good swings on two heaters.”
Andrus contributed to the scoring with a home run in the sixth inning, his first of the season. Andrus blasted a high fly ball that seemed like a typical fly. Still, it continued carrying until left fielder Jesse Winker ran out of the room at the wall.
https://twitter.com/NBCSAthletics/status/1529579762108309505
In the second and fifth innings, Ray (4-5) pitched out of trouble with key strikeouts with runners at third base. This was the first time the Seattle pitcher allowed more than 10 home runs.
Despite control challenges, Oakland’s Paul Blackburn maintained his excellent start to the season. He allowed one hit during 5 1/3 innings before giving way to the Oakland bullpen. Due to walks, Blackburn’s day was cut short, but he still managed to drop his ERA to 1.70.
In the ninth inning, Luis Barrera added a two-out RBI single. Dany Jiménez was the final of four relievers to pitch the inning, remaining flawless in ten save opportunities.
Mariners’ Robbie Ray seeks improvement
Blackburn of the Oakland Athletics is a star of the season. In contrast, Ray of the Seattle Mariners, a AL Cy Young Award winner for the past two seasons, has been plagued by crooked stats almost daily.
Blackburn, who is 1-2 with a 5.95 ERA, allowed only two runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Angels on Friday. In his final inning, he struck out Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
On the other hand, Ray (4-4, 4.77 ERA) gave up a four-run inning four times this season, along with a three-run inning and three two-run innings.
The only runs Ray allowed over six innings was during his most recent start against the Boston Red Sox on Friday, where Ray allowed a grand slam to Trevor Story.
“It’s super frustrating,” Ray said. “I always talk about the big inning, but this was one pitch, and it’s it’s super frustrating.”
