SEATTLE -- The hits just will not stop coming for the Mariners.
Even after returning Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford from the IL one day earlier, Seattle absorbed another injury on Wednesday -- and maybe their biggest yet -- as Julio Rodríguez was forced to exit to begin the seventh inning of of a 5-3 loss to Baltimore with what manager Dan Wilson described as a hamstring spasm
It first surfaced on a running catch he made in the top of the sixth, per Wilson, when he raced into the gap to make the leaping snag that robbed Adley Rutschman of extra bases.
And it’s a day-to-day situation.
“We thought it best -- given what we've got going on right now, in terms of injuries -- that it was smart to get him out of there and give it a little bit of a rest,” Wilson said.
The three-time All-Star selection was seen conferring with head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson in the dugout before grabbing his equipment and receding to the home clubhouse. Yet, this appeared to be a continuation of a discussion between the two from earlier in the game.
“It's something that we just wanted to be careful with,” Wilson said, “and we'll see how he is tomorrow.”
Rodríguez was replaced in the lineup by Rob Refsnyder, who took over in right field, as Victor Robles shifted from right to center. And his spot in the lineup came up in a critical moment in the eighth, when Refsnyder represented the tying run with runners on the corners and two outs.
Refsnyder then fell into an 0-2 count and popped out on a slider from reliever Yennier Cano above the zone.
In a more preferable matchup, that at-bat would’ve gone to lefties Luke Raley (lower back tightness) or Josh Naylor (right wrist soreness) -- though each themselves were unavailable due to their own day-to-day situations.
“Injuries are just part of the season,” Wilson said. “It happens. It happens to every team, happens with all teams. It seems to have happened kind of simultaneously here with us, with a lot of different guys. But that's just the way the game is sometimes, and we're battling through it.”
Indeed, the Mariners were already using a fill-in in left field, as Connor Joe was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma earlier Wednesday to take that spot for Randy Arozarena, who was placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to last Saturday) with a left hamstring strain just one hour before first pitch on Tuesday.
The Mariners did not want to place Arozarena on the IL but were forced to -- given the rest of their very limited bench options -- after an MRI revealed mild inflammation in the area from when his issue first surfaced on Friday in Washington.
“I've really never seen anything quite like this on the position player side,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said Tuesday, even before Arozarena was placed on the IL and Rodríguez went down. “I've been part of this in like their 2018-19 window -- '17, maybe, with pitchers -- but this is very unique with this many position players. Every day feels like a little bit of a juggling act.”
The lineup they did piece together on Wednesday was unable to get much going against Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish, who came one out shy of clearing the eighth inning and racked up 12 strikeouts.
Rodríguez was Seattle’s only hitter to tag him for extra bases, punching a 103.5 mph double that one-hopped the right-field wall in the fourth, then scoring on an up-the-middle single from Dominic Canzone.
Canzone and Cole Young went yard on consecutive pitches off closer Ryan Helsley. But the Mariners were already trailing by four entering the final frame and went quietly after.
That led to a tough-luck loss for George Kirby, who surrendered a two-run homer to Gunnar Henderson and an RBI triple to Leody Taveras but otherwise cleared the sixth for his second straight quality start. The other came against these Orioles one week ago in Baltimore, when he had 10 strikeouts but zero runs of support.
The Mariners have now lost five of Kirby’s past six starts; he’s received a combined two runs of support in those defeats.