You are going to very quickly sense a theme in this start-of-the-season’s-second-half loss to the Seattle Mariners.

The scoring started in the bottom of the fifth inning when Twins starter Bailey Ober walked the number eight hitter (wince). Predictably, nine-hole Mariner Josh Rojas doubled—but Max Kepler fired a one-hop strike to the plate from deep right field.

Alas, it would be for not, as the ball clanged off Christian Vazquez’s glove. If properly secured, it would have beaten the runner by half the baseline.

Fundamentals.

Fortunately, the Twins answered quickly in the top of the 6th, when hey-my-arm-isn’t-broken Carlos Correa hit the highest-trajectory home run you’ll ever see to put the Twins on top 2-1.

In a strong follow-up to his complete game shutout of Oakland, Ober hurled another gem in SEA: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 9 K. With a rested bullpen after a few Arizona blowouts, things looked promising—especially after Jorge Alcala breezed through the 7th.

But in the 8th, Griffin Jax WALKED THE EIGHTH PLACE BATTER AGAIN. How, mind you, did that runner eventually score? A throwing error charged to Jose Miranda that should have gone on Carlos Santana’s permanent record instead (it was a tough play and Carlos picks the hop 98% of the time). In a nice bit of damage control, Jax escaped without further harm.

Fundamentals.

In the bottom of the 9th, the Mariners had all kinds of action (hits, bunts, etc.) against Jhoan Duran—including a ball that Vazquez again could not pick up off the ground. But by the hair of Duran’s chinny chin chin, Twinkie Town After Dark got even longer (suppresses chuckle).

In the 10th, the Twins could not move Manfred Man Miranda off second base until it was too late. Against Cole Sands, Seattle had no such issues—a grounder moved J.P. Crawford to 3B and a slow roller from Cal Raleigh allowed the Mariners to wear Double Bubble cartons on their heads while shaking hands.

Fundamentals.

Your final: Seattle Mariners 3, Minnesota Twins 2. The Twins cannot capitalize on a Cleveland loss and remain 7 GB the Guardians—and are now also tied with Kansas City.

Studs

• Ober’s gem, even if wasted
• Correa’s clutch-ness

Duds

• Vazquez—just Vazquez