Kansas City Royals vs Seattle Mariners Picks and Predictions June 8th 2024

Mariners Aim to Shake Off Collapse Against Royals

The Seattle Mariners are looking to rebound from a dramatic collapse against the Kansas City Royals as they continue their three-game series on Saturday.
Recent Collapse

The Royals staged a remarkable comeback from an eight-run deficit to beat the Mariners 10-9 on Friday. Bobby Witt Jr. hit a game-tying triple in the bottom of the ninth inning and then scored the winning run on Nelson Velazquez’s fielder’s choice after the Mariners intentionally walked the bases loaded.

“It was a crazy game,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We played that game here a few times.”

On September 25, 2022, the Mariners, planning to end a 20-year postseason dry spell, lost a nine-run lead at Kauffman Arena in a 13-12 loss yet at the same time made the end of the season games. This time, the Mariners, who lead the AL West, scored seven runs in the first inning, which was capped by Ryan Bliss’s first home run in the majors. They led 8-0 going into the fourth.

“You must give (the Royals) a lot of credit,” Servais said. ” They continued coming down on us and setting out open doors and they at long last got through. We must let go of it. We have a strong team and are in a good position. Our offense ended up being useful things (Friday) and we’ll expand on that. I like our possibilities assuming we emerge and score nine runs (Saturday).”

Royals’ Resilient Comeback

MJ Melendez sparked the Royals’ comeback with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth.

“I feel like we’re never really out of any game,” Melendez said. “Even though we got down early, we gave ourselves time to come back.”

With the Royals trailing 9-7 in the ninth, Nick Loftin drew a leadoff walk off Mariners reliever Ryne Stanek, and Garrett Hampson reached on an infield single, with Josh Rojas’ errant throw advancing the runners. Maikel Garcia’s groundout pulled the Royals within a run before Witt’s triple tied the game. The Mariners then intentionally walked Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez to load the bases for Velazquez, who hit a hard one-hopper to shortstop. J.P. Crawford made a diving stop, but Seattle couldn’t turn a double play.

“Just put the ball in play and something good can happen,” Velazquez said. “We stand together the whole game, no matter what. We still play hard for 27 outs.”

Witt extended his hitting streak to eight games with a 3-for-5 performance.

Witt stated, “We’re never out of a game.” With this team, you just need to do your part and the next person will do theirs. That is the means by which tough we are.”

Pitching Matchup

Mariners starter Bryce Miller, who allowed seven runs in five-plus innings, felt the blame for the loss. “That should have never been a game,” Miller said. “After we scored seven, I’ve got to do my part and I didn’t.”

Despite the loss, Bliss’ milestone homer was a notable moment. “It’s definitely a moment I’ll never forget,” Bliss said. “But baseball happened and we didn’t come out with the win.”

Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (5-6, 2.99 Time) is set to confront Royals righty Alec Bog (4-3, 3.76 ERA) on Saturday. In six career starts against the Royals, Castillo is 2-1 with a 3.28 earned run average. In his past 10 starts, he has gone 5-3 with a 2.01 earned run average and not allowed more than two earned runs.

In three appearances against the Mariners, Marsh has made two starts and gone 0-2 with a 2.87 ERA. He battled in his last two trips, permitting 10 runs and 12 hits in 12 innings.

As the Mariners try to recover from their recent collapse and the Royals aim to keep up their strong play, Saturday’s game will be another exciting contest between the two teams. Both teams have much to demonstrate and star players aiming to make a difference, so fans can anticipate an exciting competition on the baseball field.