A sampling of national-media reaction about the Mariners, who have slipped behind the Rangers after getting swept in Texas on the heels of a huge comeback in San Diego.
Well, at least there was the insane comeback in San Diego to savor.
The Mariners returned home after getting swept in Texas in a first-place showdown with the Rangers over the weekend. Seattle entered the series riding high after rallying to beat the Padres on Thursday night and tied for first place in the AL West with Texas. After Sunday’s 3-2 loss, the Mariners left town three games behind the Rangers.
All told, the Mariners went 1-4 on their trip and lost a road series for the first time all season. They were outscored 47-32 (with half of their runs coming in that comeback win) and the starting pitching put up a 9.62 ERA.
Despite a downer of a trip, the Mariners still drew plenty of attention from the national media. Below is a sampling from the past week:
Most Read Sports Stories
ESPN.com’s FiveThirtyEight has lowered the Mariners chances of making the playoffs to 42 percent and winning the AL West to 24 percent with a projected final record of 85-77.
ESPN’s Stats and Information team pieced together a blog post with plenty of remarkable numbers from the Mariners’ comeback win over San Diego:
“Mariners starting pitcher Wade Miley allowed nine runs and 12 hits and didn’t lose. He’s the first pitcher who can say that since Zack Greinke, who had such a game against his current team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, on June 10, 2005.”
Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated attempted to put the Mariners’ wild comeback against the Padres in perspective:
“The ten-run comeback is the largest in the majors since July 20, 2009, when the A’s came back to beat the Twins, 14–13; that one ended with Minnesota’s Michael Cuddyer being thrown out at the plate. Less than two months before that, the Indians had a 10-run comeback against the Rays on May 25, 2009—one that included seven ninth-inning runs. Believe it or not, there have been four comebacks even larger than those and that of the Mariners since the start of the 20th century.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Dennis Lin described the comeback from the Padres’ perspective:
“The Padres, so often on the wrong side of history, took a pleasant detour Thursday night. They might be unlikely to finish this season near the .500 mark executive chairman Ron Fowler has publicly targeted, but a few laughers would help the medicine go down. For five innings, that is exactly what this contest appeared to be. Then the detour turned into a mind-boggling nightmare. In a record-setting, 16-13 loss to Seattle, the Padres marked the first time they had ever scored 10 or more runs in back-to-back games at Petco Park, watched Jon Jay rack up a career-high in hits, took a 12-2 lead … and saw it all crumble in spectacular fashion.”
Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News on Friday thought the comeback would sap the energy out of the Mariners heading into their showdown with the Rangers. That prediction looks smart on Monday morning:
“The Texas Rangers will face a bleary eyed team on Friday with a series-opener against the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Park. On Thursday night, the Mariners overcame a 10-run deficit to win 16-13 at San Diego. The drawn-out game pushed back the Mariners’ overnight travel. They reached their area hotel about 4:30 a.m. Anecdotal evidence said the Mariners will feel the full effects of the red-eye travel on Saturday. Managers, coaches and players are almost unanimous in the opinion that on the second day after an overnight flight, energy is low.”
ESPN.com put together a list of the 100 most famous athletes in the world, and Robinson Cano is ranked 85th:
“IT’S GOOD TO BE: A client of Jay Z’s agency, which negotiated a contract for Cano with the Seattle Mariners (10 years, $240 million) worth $75 million more than the Yankees were willing to pay to keep him. Cano was hampered by injuries last season but is healthy and productive again this year, helping Seattle become a contender again.”
ESPN.com’s MLB power rankings had the Mariners seventh:
“The Mariners pulled off the largest comeback in franchise history Thursday, coming from 10-runs down to stun the Padres. They couldn’t carry the momentum into the weekend though, as they dropped three straight to the Rangers. The team is looking to get CF Leonys Martin and SS Ketel Marte back this week from the DL.”
CBSSports.com’s Matt Snyder was clearly still smarting from the Twins sweeping the Mariners at home when he ranked them 10th in his power rankings last Wednesday:
“How can you get swept by the Twins? Go stand in the corner and think about your actions for a bit, Mariners. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You think about what you’ve done with this demotion.”
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News placed the Mariners fifth in his MLB power rankings:
“Went 11 for 12 in RISP at-bats in wiping out 12-2 deficit at San Diego.”