LL’s commentary stopped working just as Michael Rucker turned to see his bases-loaded disaster turn into a go-ahead hit. Little mercies. Tonight’s 4-1 loss had the decency to come before sunset in Seattle, but the winter equinox is approaching much faster for the Seattle Mariners than it is for the rest of us. Bryan Woo was nailed, though only for five frames, racking up his third shutout in four appearances at Yankee Stadium, with the only outlier, last year’s 7.1-inning gem ruined late by two big fly balls. Similar to a season ago, the M’s bullpen suffered a loss on a night that could have been avoided earlier by a more competitive offense. Instead, they had Randy, at the bottom of the list, for the umpteenth time this year. An opposite-field home run was fine for a while, as left-hander Ryan Weathers fooled Seattle’s bats by spraying his offerings around the plate area and allowing the limp-hitting M’s to design and furnish their own mausoleums. Unable to adjust or demonstrate knowledge of the prior existence of the pitcher they were facing, Seattle gave Weathers the courtesy of 5.2 frames before allowing a pair of lefties to continue going into Seattle’s ideal lineup to face the lefties. Tim Hill took 10 pitches for his frame and a third, Brent Headrick only needed nine. A bad play by Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave the M’s a chance with Dom Canzone on board and just one out in the ninth, but Chisholm made up for it with a stellar hook and pitch to deny Cole Young a hit in the next at-bat, giving Cal Raleigh three more fly balls to add to his scouting report as he hit and finished. Tonight’s moment is about Dan Wilson, of course, because it should be. Wilson reported after the game that despite a day off after serving his two-game suspension for pitching to Gleyber Torres in the Tigers series, forcing Seattle to be shorthanded for most of the Rays series, Gabe Speier was unavailable due to back soreness. Following Woo, José Ferrer worked a clean sixth with 16 pitches, breaking the Yankees’ 1-2-3. With LHHs Luis García Jr. and Chisholm up top, both with significant splits on the year and in their careers, Wilson opted for RHP Michael Rucker. Speier’s absence at the time was externally unknown, but it was still a surprising choice ahead of time. Eduard Bazardo’s performance of late has not gained immense confidence with a 1-0 lead, and newcomer Seranthony Dominguez is far from being famous for his easy innings. Lefty Josh Simpson has had almost no high-leverage experience in the bigs. And that’s why he opted for Rucker Wilson, facing nine straight games against three playoff teams, not wanting to extend Ferrer to a second frame either. A double, a single, a strikeout and a four-pitch walk to another left-hander later, Rucker stayed with the bases loaded against Ryan McMahon, also facing from the left side. McMahon scalded a breaking ball for a single, a .500 xBA that evokes a coin that will eventually be equalized, if not necessarily, in the Holocene. Eduard Bazardo arrived at last, hoping to maintain a 2-1 lead that didn’t need to be bothered. An Austin Wells ground ball crawled into the 5-6 hole as if it had been grounded there to triple New York’s lead. On a night in which only Julio Rodríguez had a hit with an expected batting average above .500, Seattle began their journey from hell exactly where they expected to be.
