Expedition stalled! Players hit brick wall! (Or, the tale of a 4-1 loss)

Mariners 4, Angels 1

The quest: set

The path: set

The goal: set

The obstacles: moving yet visible

The expedition: collapsed

Our erstwhile heroes entered the latest stage of the quest on Thursday evening, facing one Marco Gonzales. Facing a lack of command, David Fletcher, patriotic friend, and Andrelton Simmons, gentle lion, reached base, and Mike Trout was called out on strikes on a pitch out of the zone.

Thanks, Mark Ripperger.

There are papers and studies and loads of research about the Butterfly Effect, whether it means anything, whether you can go back in time and figure out the true course of history with just some events changed. The Angels didn’t score in the first inning. And while there were other opportunities after Trout struck out, the facts are simple:

Trout struck out. When he shouldn’t have.

Meanwhile, in the fourth inning, the questers scratched together a run after some aggressive baserunning by Ian Kinsler, who went first-to-third on a hard-hit ball to left-center. He would score on Kole Calhoun’s sacrifice fly.

In the fifth, Trout returned for a shot at redemption, only to be called out on strikes on a Ball 4.

Thanks, Mark Ripperger.

Meanwhile, the obstacles (the Mariners) were racking up the runs, with Dee Gordon slashing an RBI single off Jaime Barria in the third, and Guillermo Heredia RBI double off Jaime Barria in the fifth with which Justin Upton had an adventure, and the icing on the cake, Cam Bedrosian in the game in the seventh.

Because it’s always fun to watch heroes down to their last life, if only to see what they are capable of when faced with ultimate defeat, in the eighth, the Angels had two runners on for Jefry Marte. Mike Scioscia decided to play 4D chess with Shohei Ohtani on the bench, and he put Luis Valbuena in the game. (He struck out).

Ian Kinsler was then robbed, and the last pre-Edwin Diaz chance was over. Just like that.

Ohtani got to hit in the ninth, for baseball reasons.

Things you may have missed:

Victor and Gubi campaigned for Andrelton Simmons to make the All-Star Team.

Mike Trout angrily argued balls and strikes and very nearly got ejected.

Things you probably didn’t miss:

Albert Pujols being Albert Pujols (GIDP)

Luis Valbuena being Luis Valbuena (K)

Cam Bedrosian being Cam Bedrosian (1/1 inherited runners scored)

Mike Scioscia being Mike Scioscia (no explanation needed)