A helpful gust of wind was all that was needed. Instead, Seattle Mariners new left fielder Jesse Winker settled under Gary Sanchez’s long fly ball with two outs in the ninth inning, his back to the wall and glove raised above his head and let the ball pop into his mitt to secure a 2-1 Mariners win on Opening Day.
Mariners fans can thank the cold, dense air that was present on this 46-degree day in Minneapolis. They can thank the architects who made sure the left field wall was approximately 355-feet at the point where Winker caught Sanchez’s potential game-winning home run, rather than 353-feet. Either way, they and their team can be thankful Sanchez only had warning-track power on this day as all of the energy, hype and positive vibes around the 2022 iteration of this Mariners club were able to remain undisturbed after game 1 of 162.
Robbie Ray, the reigning American League Cy Young winner pitched a fairly solid debut outing with his new club. Ray worked seven innings, yielding three hits and one earned run off a Giovanny Urshela solo homer in the fourth inning. He walked four, hit a batter and struck out five.
After a relatively easy first four innings Urshela’s homer aside, Ray pitched his way out of jams in the fifth and sixth in which he allowed multiple baserunners. Sitting at 89 pitches after six innings, Ray persuaded Mariners manager Scott Servais to allow him to return for the seventh inning. He didn’t let his manager down as he retired the bottom of the Twins lineup in order.
Mariners relievers Paul Sewald and Drew Steckenrider retired six of the seven hitters they faced over the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the first 1-run victory of 2022. It was the theme of 2021 as Seattle won 33 1-run games. Apparently not a 99-day lockout, nor six key additions to the lineup and rotation have altered that tendency the Mariners have of playing close games.
It didn’t need to be left to two feet. The Mariners left 10 runners on base in this game, two each in the third, fourth and fifth innings. In fact, Seattle had runners on second and third with nobody out after consecutive hits by Ty France and Winker to lead off the inning and a wild pitch by Twins reliever Jhoan Duran.
But Duran settled in and his elite fastball (touched 100 mph) and solid curveball pitched him out of the inning by striking out the heart of the Mariners order — Haniger, Suarez and Kelenic.
Aside from Haniger’s first-inning two-run homer, the Mariners didn’t get much going offensively. The offense generated five hits and six free passes which included a hit-by-pitch of France ahead of Haniger’s home run. Twins rookie Joe Ryan worked slowly and was effectively wild at times, keeping an aggressive Seattle lineup eager to get off on the right foot on Opening Day in check. Ryan pitched four innings, allowed two runs on two hits and walked four while striking out five.
France enjoyed a good afternoon at the plate, reaching base four of five times with two walks and a single to add to the HBP. On the other end of things, it wasn’t the best of debuts for Eugenio Suarez or Jarred Kelenic. Each finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Seattle played a good defensive game led by catcher Cal Raleigh. Raleigh, a rookie last season, got the start and helped lead Ray to his first win with the club by getting his pitcher through multiple jams and keeping every ball in the dirt in front of him. The Mariners turned two double plays and looked good on every batted ball in play.
The Mariners staff also kept a good Twins top of the order in check with a 2-10 day. Carlos Correa making his Minnesota debut after signing a three-year, $105.1 million deal after the lockout ended, finished 1-for-3 with a single and Byron Buxton was 0-for-4 leading off.
There are 161 more to play, but it was a successful beginning to a season which has as much energy behind the Mariners as any.
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