Every Mariner fan was hoping to find our team back in the playoffs this season. Last year, we finally won enough games to clinch a spot in the playoffs, something we haven't done in 20 years! The drought was over! We had a great run in August pulling ourselves into a great spot for the final run for the playoffs. Then we hit a skid in September putting ourselves in a really hard situation at the end of the regular season. I honestly didn't think I would be able to go to another game. My friend Alicia wanted to go to a game and called me up a couple weeks ago to ask if I wanted to go with her to a Mariner game. I said, yes, it would be fun! She said it would be her treat and she would drive us to the light rail.
A few days later, Alicia bought tickets and let me know which day we were going to go. She picked the Wednesday game, and I immediately asked my boss if I could leave at 2:30, she said yes, so I put in my leave and blocked it off on the calendar, so my co-workers knew I was going to be gone. Once Alicia got her tickets, she emailed them to me so I could put them on my phone.
The Mariners beat the Astros the night before 6-1, keeping us in the playoff race. We had to win, or we were out. I got logged off at 2:30, and saw the weather was not favorable. I dressed in layers, wore my hiking shoes so my feet didn't get wet from the rain. I borrowed Doug's Mariner jersey since that is not a team jersey I own. I brought my hat, gloves, sweatshirt and blanket just in case we needed it. I wasn't sure how cold it would get.
She arrived at my house just after 3:00. We got onto I-5 north and headed to the Angle Lake light rail station. We decided to take the Link, so we didn't have to worry about parking when we got into Seattle. This was easier. Traffic wasn't bad but there were some slow spots near JBLM and in Tacoma. We got to the Angle Lake parking structure in about an hour. Because it was a workday and the Mariners were playing, we barely found a place to park. The parking structure was extremely full. I, personally, have never seen it that busy but most of the games I've ever gone to were on the weekends.
We left the parking structure and went downstairs to the ticket kiosk. We each bought ourselves a roundtrip ticket to and from the Stadium Station. We take the stairs up to the platform and wait for a northbound train to arrive. We did not have to wait that long. We boarded the train and off we went up to Seattle to watch the Mariners.
It took us roughly 45 minutes to get to the stadiums with all the stops the light rail makes along the way. It was approximately, 5:10 when we got off the train and walked up and around to T-Mobile Park. We got to one of the gates, they checked our bags at security, scanned our ticket and we went up the stairs and wandered around for a while. We were there so early; we saw the tail end of batting practice. I told her that I have a friend that is an usher over on the third base side of the 100 level and that I was going to go over and see her for a few minutes. Alicia said that was fine and she was going to go get some food. I told her I would meet her back at the seats when I was done.
I meandered my way over as I checked Annette's Facebook post telling us what section she was in. I found the section and I spotted her down in the aisle. Annette! She turned around and was excited to see me. We asked how each other were doing and she particularly wondered how the wedding planning was going. I gave her an update and as it got closer to game time it started getting busier and I didn't want to keep her from her job. We hugged and I told her I would see her soon.
On the way back to the seats, I stopped by Ivar's and grabbed myself a fish and chips. Pretty much when I am in Seattle, I will have Ivar's. I found our seats, Alicia was chillin' and taking in the ballpark ambiance. I ate my food while we waited for the game to start. We found out that we had to sit next to some obnoxious Astro fans.
We really needed this game to keep us in the playoff race. The first inning was awesome! JP Crawford hit a home run into right field. I really thought I was going to be able to get a home run ball. It went over our heads and I thought it would ricochet off of the scoreboard behind us and fall right where we were sitting. Sadly, it went the other way, and we did not get a souvenir home run ball.
The rest of the first and up until the third inning, each team left a lot of runners on when the side was retired. It was frustrating watching our team leave valuable runners on and not hitting them in. We needed as many runs as possible. At the top of the 4th, the Astros hit a solo homerun that tied up the game. We all thought, at the time, it's just one run, we need to get it back. Then somehow that same inning, we fell apart and put people on base. Then of course, the Astros hit a three-run home run, with one out, to put them up 4-1. The air was sucked out of the stadium and the fans were disappointed.
The bottom of the 4th the Mariners started showing some life. Finally, we got some baserunners on, and Suarez singled to left scoring Caballero and Raleigh. We were finally eating away at the Astros lead. The 4th ended with us trailing by one, 4-3. Our pitching will have to show up the rest of the game. We could not afford giving up any more runs.
The fifth and sixth innings were scoreless on both sides, but each side stranded more runners. I was okay with the Astros stranding their runners but not okay with us stranding ours. We needed our bats to come alive. In the last few weeks of September, our game really suffered with a bad hitting skid. We weren't winning the games we should have been winning and it made for a tough road to the playoffs for us.
Then came the top of the 7th inning. Sigh. Our pitcher put people on base, one intentionally, our fielders made an error, and they just base hit us to death. We finally put an end to it with a strikeout and a fly out to right field. They added to their lead, 7-3. We stood up and sang, Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the 7th inning stretch. Our bats really needed to wake up over the next few innings if we were going to close the gap that we created for ourselves. The bottom of the 7th for us was not fruitful, a couple of strike outs and a fly ball. Bummer.
The Astros hit one more solo home run in the top of the 8th inning. Other than that, the last two innings for both teams were either strike outs, fly balls or ground outs. The game ended around 10:20. I had a great time even though we lost 8-3. I was really hoping that we would rally and get those runs back. With that loss, it mathematically took us out of the playoff race. I hope the Astros lose the first round of the playoffs.
Alicia and I waited for most of the people in our section to leave before we got up and walked to the concourse. We used the restroom one more time, I got a picture of me with the field in the background and we exited at the left field entrance.
We walked up and over the road and to the train platform to wait for one going southbound back to Angle Lake. We had to wait a little bit, but we got on and it was really crowded. We stood and held on. As more and more people exited, we were able to sit in one of the vacant seats. It was interesting listening to the random conversations nearby. We got to Angle Lake just after 11:00. We walked back to her car, got back onto I-5 and headed south back towards home. We got back into Lacey and she dropped me off at home just before midnight. I thanked her and she drove home. I had her text me when she got home.
I got in a quick shower and got ready for bed. I sure hope the Mariner make it to the playoffs next season. Seattle fans desperately need it!
Game notes:
The Mariners threw 6 strikeouts, had 97 total strikes, they allowed 14 hits and 4 walks.
Houston threw 16 strikeouts, had 108 total strikes, allowed 8 hits and 9 walks.
Seattle had 8 hits, 12 total bases and left 13 on base.
The Astros had 14 hits, 26 total bases and left 9 runners on base.
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