It’s spring but it’s definitely not spring training anymore, as 30,000 fans shivered through the Mariners-Guardians series finale before being rewarded by a convincing 8-0 win. It might have felt like spring training metaphorically though, as the runs stacked up for the Mariners, and Emerson Hancock carried his impressive spring into the chilly confines of T-Mobile Park.
Hancock wasn’t pumping heat like he did in Arizona, dialing his heater down to 94 and occasionally 95 rather than 96 and up and dropping
to 91-92 later in the game, but he didn’t need big velocity today. He bewildered, befuzzled, and bamboozled the Guardians hitters from top to bottom, spinning six no-hit innings and racking up a career-high nine strikeouts. It was quite a contrast to Hancock’s last season opener, when he got roughed up by the Tigers on March 31st for six runs and left without completing the first inning.
“He is really determined,” said Dan Wilson about his starter. “His focus was incredible. And his execution was outstanding.”
“In the past I’ve gotten in trouble of like, looking up and seeing it,” said Hancock of his velocity. “And then you try to do too much, you try to throw a little too hard. So you kind of run yourself into that trap. I try to just continue to execute with what I have. I know that as things warm up the velos will creep up, that’s not something to worry about. I just want to execute each pitch the best I can.”
Execute he did. Hancock had the Guardians on their heels all game, working ahead in counts, throwing first pitch strikes, and keeping them off-balance with his mix of fastball, sweeper, changeup, as well as a handful of cutters. The Guardians couldn’t square up Hancock’s fastball at all; they had two batted ball events with exit velocities higher than 90 mph and both were put on the ground, including an inning-ending double play off the bat of Brayan Rocchio in the sixth that cleaned up a hit by pitch committed by Hancock earlier in the inning.
It was a dominant outing from Hancock, pitching in the marquee moment of Sunday Night Baseball. The newly revamped sweeper was especially shiny tonight, gaining national attention:
Hancock explained that he’d gotten a feel for the sweeper in bullpens this week, noting which ones will “catch a seam and really take off…up here the ball moves a bit differently, not much you can do about that.” The sweeper seemingly allowed his fastball to play up, even at the lower velocity.
“With that pitch, you’re playing the speed game and the break game. It’s something slower, it’s something that was breaking a lot through the zone. And if you can throw it in the zone it can help a ton. And the heater, I’m just trying to see it at [Cal’s] mask and just kind of rip it through there.”
The only complaint that could be lodged against Hancock’s outing was that it was over after six innings, as a few long battles ate away at Hancock’s pitch count. But even with the no-hitter intact, Dan Wilson said there was no thought of sending Hancock back out for the seventh inning.
“I was getting stressed at 90,” said Wilson. “At 94, it was like, I hope he gets a double play – he did, and that kind of saved him…But this is a game for him that, you know, we talk about games you can build on and get confidence from, and this was definitely one of those for him.”
José Ferrer had been warming in case Hancock needed to be bailed out of the sixth, but instead Hancock got through it quickly, allowing Wilson to use Cooper Criswell for the final three innings with a big lead. Criswell couldn’t keep the no-hitter going in the seventh, giving up a sharp single to DeLauter on a sinker, but he did spin a clean inning thanks to a handy-dandy double play. Likewise, he got touched up for a hit in the eighth, a parachute shot when Daniel Schneemann reached out for a changeup and flicked it into left (GUARDSBALL™), but came back to strike out the final two hitters of the inning, both on pitches challenged by ABS: one a called strikeout on Gabriel Arias (Guards lost, clearly a strike), and one a called ball on CJ Kayfus (Mariners won, barely a strike but enough of one). Criswell finished things off in the ninth, notching the rare three-inning save and probably ruining a bunch of bets about who would have the Mariners’ first save of the year. Criswell’s ability to hold things down over three innings also helped save the bullpen, putting the Mariners in a favorable spot with the Yankees coming to town tomorrow.
With Hancock and Criswell totally shutting down the Guardians, the Mariners could have scored just one run and won this game, but the offense decided to also be a little showy tonight. Maybe as penance for some well-struck outs earlier in the game, the baseball gods gifted the Mariners their first run in the bottom of the fourth in hilarious fashion. Dominic Canzone hit what looked like a routine flyout for the third out of the inning, dropping his head in disgust as it came off his bat and running dutifully to first, but Guardians left fielder CJ Kayful inexplicably went into a dive to field it, having the ball clank off his…errr..glove, let’s say glove, and Canzone had to quickly pick up his feet for a double. He’d then advance to third on a wild pitch as Guardians starter Slade Cecconi either lost the handle or opted to pitch around newly-minted powerhouse Cole Young to get to Leo Rivas, who came up with a clutch single to score the Mariners’ first run of the day.
Hits with runners in scoring position! It can be done! Brendan Donovan then cleaned off those dirty bases with his second homer as a Mariner, taking a fastball at the top of the zone and depositing it just over the fence in right field to give the Mariners a 4-0 lead.
According to Donovan, he wasn’t even looking to homer; he was hoping to lay down a bunt to score the runner from third.
“Ironically, I was looking at where the third baseman was. I was gonna lay a bunt down. It was cold out there. I’m looking where the third baseman is, and I’m thinking, I’m not moving real fast today. I don’t think anybody is, to be honest, but he was in a spot where I didn’t like it. So I was like, let me just try to get on top of a heater, hit a low liner somewhere and… [shrugs modestly].
Donovan is new to T-Mobile Park (“That’s one of the colder games I think I’ve played…I feel like there’s a little bit of like, a draft inside the building?” Yeah you could say so!) but he’s already been out every day learning the angles of his new home park.
“I’m very conscious of my angles, I know if I try to hit a ball anywhere to like left of right center it’s pretty much an out for me if it’s in the air. So I’m very conscious of my angles: low oppo and higher pull side. So that’s something that I work on every day.”
4-0 also would have been enough to win this game, but the Mariners continued to add on against Cecconi in the next inning; Julio Rodríguez walked and then Randy Arozarena doubled him home, and Luke Raley brought Randy in with a single, ending Cecconi’s day. But the Mariners, and more specifically their new third baseman, weren’t done yet; in the sixth, Donovan stung a single off Peyton Pallette, whose name sounds like a character on a WB show, and took second on a wild pitch, and romped home on a ground-rule double off the bat of Cal Raleigh, who encouragingly only struck out once this game.
“I think [Donovan’s] uniform is dirty every single night,” said Wilson postgame. “That just shows you the type of player he is and how much of a gamer he is. He’s going to leave it all out there every single night.”
7-0 definitely would have been enough to win this game, but the Mariners added another run against Colin Holderman in the bottom of the eighth during the “just getting your work in” portion of the game, again taking advantage of some sloppy play by the Guardians: Julio reached on an error, moved to second on a Naylor walk, and then scored on yet another hit from Arozarena, who seems to be on one of his hot streaks. After some shaky performances earlier in the series with not capitalizing with runners on, it was nice to see the offensive machine of the Mariners fully operational in today’s game. It’s definitely something that stands out to the new Mariner Donovan.
“We have the ability to flip a game, like today. You get a good start, you get a couple big swings here and there, and we had a couple add-on innings…I think that’s all of us starting to mesh a little bit better together and go from there.”
But the first thing Donovan said when asking about what stands out to him about his new team, now that he’s played a full series in Seattle?
“Our pitching is really good. That’s one thing that really stands out. I knew it was good as an opposing player, but seeing these guys go about their business every day…our pitching is really, really good.”
It certainly was today, as Emerson Hancock announced himself to the rest of the league. But don’t think this is any different an Emerson Hancock, person, even if it’s improved results for Emerson Hancock the pitcher. Cole Wilcox, who’s known Hancock since college, says Hancock’s superpower is his ability to remain consistent and be the same person no matter what is happening on the field.
“A year ago we were having a completely different conversation,” acknowledged Hancock. “But that’s just part of the game. You’re going to struggle…but I think if you’re able to be fully committed to what you’re doing in your process of how you go about each day, you’re just growing. You’re just constantly evolving, adapting. And if you have that mindset of, yeah, this happened, but I can learn from it, and I can move on from that, I know that you can overcome these certain things and go out there and do the best you can.”
“It’s easier said than done, it’s very hard to do. But it’s kind of like what [Donovan] said the other day, where he’s just trying to show up and be the same person every day. And it helps when we have guys in the clubhouse that go out and do these things that I can look up to and learn from.”
Hancock said he and Wilcox were riding to the ballpark together the other day and he said “six years ago, what if I’d have told you we’re driving into T-Mobile Park together to start the season? How cool is this?”
Pretty dang cool, Emerson.
