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Rays vs. Mariners, game 1 recap: Marte powers Mariners to 5-2 victory.

The next middle infield trade target of the Rays burned them last night.

By jtmorgan
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The game went as you might have expected with the Rays facing Felix Hernandez and the Rays with a shallow bullpen that had Alex Colome and Erasmo Ramirez unavailable. The Rays lost 5-2 due to a huge game by Ketel Marte as he went 4-5 with two doubles and the game deciding three run home run.

Innings 1-3: Moore was in trouble, Rays put up threats without a hit, and Forsythe injured. 1-0 Mariners.

Both offenses wasted opportunities to put runs on the board throughout the first three innings of the game.

In the top of the first, Brad Miller walked with one out and stole second base during Corey Dickerson's at bat before being stranded.

The bottom of the first started off with Matt Moore in trouble as he allowed a single to Nori Aoki and a double to Ketel Marte. The Mariners threatened with runners on second and third. Moore expanded the zone and struck out Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz before being fortunate on a line drive by Franklin Gutierrez that Evan Longoria made a good play on that kept the Mariners off the board.

The bottom of the second saw the Mariners threatened with a single by Kyle Seager and walk by Dae-Ho Lee that placed runners on first and second with one out. Moore struck out Leonys Martin in another big spot before Aoki stranded the runners after flying out to Brandon Guyer.

The Rays put up a threat in the third after Logan Forsythe got hit squarely in the shoulder on an 0-2 pitch and Brad Miller walked to put two on for Longoria. Longoria didn't come through as he grounded out to Kyle Seager.

Forsythe left the game after the inning when he was unable to make it through the fielding warm up in the middle of the third. The Rays received good news, as the injury is just a bruise that should see Frosty miss limited time. He's day-to-day.

In the bottom of the third the Mariners would finally take advantage of their baserunners after a leadoff double by Marte. Cano grounded out to first and moved Marte over to third ahead of a Cruz sacrifice fly to put the Mariners up 1-0.

Innings 4-5: Rays took advantage of mistakes by King Felix and Moore continued to dodge the big inning. Game Tied at 2.

The first pitch of the top of the fourth was a low and away sinker that Corey Dickerson flicked into the left field seats to tie the game at one. The power was impressive for a pitch that Dickerson didn't seem to get all of.

Logan Morrison singled with one out ahead of Brandon Guyer's league-leading tenth hit by pitch. No more runs would be scored as Kevin Kiermaier and Hank Conger failed to drive them in.

The bottom of the fourth was the cleanest inning for Moore, as he allowed a one out single to Dae-Ho Lee.

With two outs in the top of the fifth Longoria crushed a home run to dead center on a full-count fastball.

The bottom of the fifth saw Moore in trouble again. Marte and Cano led off the inning with back to back singles. Moore struck out Cruz in another big spot against the lefty masher. Moore threw a wild pitch that scored Marte before eventually walking Gutierrez and Chris Iannetta surrounding a strike out by Seager.

Dana Eveland was the first man called out of the bullpen, having to face a two out, bases loaded threat with Dae-Ho Lee at bat. I agreed with the call to bring a left-handed pitcher in, because of Adam Lind's presence on the bench. Eveland rewarded Cash's confidence with a soft fly ball to Tim Beckham at second base.

Inning 6: Eveland lost control and one bad pitch by Geltz cost the Rays the game. 5-2 Mariners.

The Rays put up their last good scoring opportunity on a Guyer line drive double. Guyer was picked off second to end the inning.

With the limited options out of the bullpen available for last night's game, Eveland was put back out to start the sixth. Eveland walked Martin on four pitches. Aoki coaxed a walk on nine pitches before the bullpen was called for help.

Steve Geltz's first pitch saw too much plate and was crushed to right center field by the Mariner's hero of the game, Marte. After the home run Geltz was able to put down Cano, Cruz, and Gutierrez while striking out the last two.

Innings 7-9: Offenses put up very little as pitchers close out the game. Mariners win 5-2.

The Rays offense doesn't put anything together as Longoria was the only baserunner for the Rays in the final three frames when he earned a four pitch walk in the eighth inning.

Geltz induced flyballs by Seager and Iannetta in the seventh before he allowed a single to Lee.

Enny Romero induced a first pitch lineout by Martin to end the seventh. Romero came out to start the eighth and induced ground outs by Aoki and Marte. The inning ended with a four pitch strike out of Cano. On a positive note Romero didn't throw a single ball and filled the zone with strikes.

Observations:

- Marte carried the Mariners to victory with a 4 for 5 day including two doubles and a three-run homer. He had a hand in all five runs as he drove in three and scored three.

- The two biggest threats coming into the game, Cano and Cruz, were kept in check going a combined 1 for 8 with 5 strikeouts and a sacrifice fly.

- Felix Hernandez’s changeup is still a contender for best in baseball even when he throws it at 88 with a 90 MPH fastball.

- The Rays put up a few threats, but only managed four hits. Two of which were solo home runs by Longoria and Dickerson.

- The Rays were able to rest Alex Colome and Erasmo Ramirez after working them hard over the last 5 days.

- Enny Romero had a rough stretch recently where he wasn’t able to throw strikes. He'd walked five over his previous two outings while only recording two outs. He didn’t throw a single ball to any of the four batters he retired tonight.

- The best news was that Forsythe wasn't seriously injured on the hit by pitch.

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