Top of the second, Mariners had a 1-0 lead, but things quickly spiraled. Oscar Gonzalez led off with a single on an 0-2 pitch. A perfect bunt put runners on first and second, and then Robbie Ray walked the next batter on four pitches. Bases loaded, no outs. Ray needed a miracle to limit the damage and got a shallow pop-up that held the runner at third. But the throw home hit the runner right in the back. Chaos followed. Gonzalez broke for the plate, and instead of holding the ball, Ray made an ill-advised throw. It didn’t help. Gonzalez scored. The catcher tried to recover, but it was already falling apart.
Painful for Seattle, because they almost escaped. The throw home was solid, but unlucky contact with the runner turned it into a disaster. Ray couldn’t recover, tried to do too much, and it backfired. On top of that, the ump had the perfect angle and got the call right. Manager came out to argue, but there was nothing to challenge. It was just one of those plays where everything went wrong all at once. A mix of poor execution, bad luck, and smart base running flipped the entire inning.