Opening Day Heartbreak: Mariners Hit Four Homers But Still Fall to Guardians
Well, that's not how you want to start a 162-game season. The Mariners put on all the Opening Day pageantry at T-Mobile Park in front of 44,938 fans, but they couldn't get the W when it mattered. A 6-4 loss to Cleveland on Thursday night showed both the promise and the problems with this squad.
Four Homers Should Be Enough. Should Be.
Here's the frustrating part: the Mariners went deep four times. Brendan Donovan led off the bottom of the first with a leadoff homer, a historic first for Opening Day in franchise history. Dominic Canzone went yard twice, including a 444-foot bomb to right-center in the seventh. Luke Raley added another. That's a lot of power. That's a lot of noise.
But almost nothing else worked. Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor, and Randy Arozarena, the guys in spots 2-4, were hitless in 13 at-bats with seven strikeouts combined. Yeah, you read that right. No runners on base when it counted. Manager Dan Wilson nailed it after the game: "We weren't able to get any consistent traffic with guys on base for those homers."
The Bullpen Meltdown in the Seventh
This is where the night really fell apart. Logan Gilbert had been solid through 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. But then the bullpen showed up for the top of the seventh and things got ugly. Gabe Speier came in and gave up a single to Brayan Rocchio. Chase DeLauter singled next. Then Jose Ramirez, the Guardians' best player, golfed a slider that was basically at his shoetops and somehow turned it into a two-run double into left-center. Just like that, it was 5-3 Cleveland.
Canzone cut it back to 5-4 in the bottom half, but that was as close as we'd get. DeLauter added an insurance solo homer in the ninth off Cooper Criswell. The bullpen never got top leverage arms Matt Brash or Andres Muñoz into a tie game or with a lead. That's the kind of thing that haunts you in March, and it'll haunt you in October if it keeps happening.
Tomorrow's Another Day
Brendan Donovan said it best: "This group isn't going to quit. There's going to be nights where the ball goes our way, and there's gonna be nights where it doesn't like tonight." It's one game. It's Opening Day, and yeah, it stings. But the Mariners have 161 games left to figure out how to get those homers and the timely hits in the same game. That's the real test ahead.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.