JP Crawford and Scott Servais are ejected after frustrated Mariners fall 8-0 in Cleveland

CLEVELAND — From the very first pitch of the game, the Mariners trailed.

And furious.

JP Crawford, visibly irritated by umpire Doug Eddings’ strike zone, struck out in that first at-bat against Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee.

The Mariners shortstop struck out again in the third inning, and then a third time in the fifth inning, before popping his helmet and getting into Eddings’ face.

Crawford was immediately ejected. Manager Scott Servais was also thrown out shortly afterwards.

And then things got really bad for the Mariners when they lost 8-0 at Progressive Field to the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday.

“We’re all trying to have good, competitive at-bats,” Crawford said afterward. “But personally, when the at-bats are taken out of your hands from the very first pitch, it’s hard to come back from that.”

Bryan Woo, making his first start in 13 days, worked through a 30-pitch first inning and managed to complete just four innings, giving up three runs on four hits, with one walk and one strikeout.

“We knew there would be some rust,” Servais said. ‘That’s the concern when someone doesn’t throw for twelve or thirteen days. You know, sometimes the command is usually the problem.”

Woo came in with a strict number of pitches, and the Guardians committed an error on 22 of the 64 pitches he threw. Afterwards he was asked how he felt physically on the mound.

“Not great,” he said. “But it is what it is.”

In his seventh start, Woo suffered his first loss of the season.

“Pretty bad,” Woo said. “Just not efficient. A walk to the leadoff man in the first inning leads to a 30-pitch inning with an even lower pitch count (overall). … I just didn’t do my job.”

On an encouraging note, Woo retired the last seven batters he faced — after surrendering a two-run homer to Steven Kwan in the second inning — and was able to effectively mix in some off-speed offerings.

However, Woo’s return became the secondary storyline as frustration with Eddings increased among Mariners hitters through the first few innings.

“You definitely feel it in the dugout because those are balls,” Servais said. “Our leadoff hitter has one of the better eyes in the league, and if the first pitch of the game is four to four inches out of bounds and it’s called a strike, there’s going to be problems.”

The 25-year-old Bibee hit a career-high 12 over six shutout innings in his first start against the Mariners. The Mariners were able to get runners into scoring position only twice, and no runner ever advanced beyond second base.

Crawford, the AL leader in walks last season, had reason to be furious.

Two of the pitches in his first at-bat were clear balls. Two more in his final at-bat were borderline strikes at best at the top of the zone, including the called third strike.

“I don’t make excuses; I mean, (Bibee) had his best stuff tonight. He threw really well,” Crawford said. “But when at-bats are taken out of your hands … it becomes difficult. It’s very frustrating.”

The Mariners ultimately struck out 14 and walked just two, a notable step back for an offense that showed signs of continued improvement in June.

“It’s the first time we’ve seen (Bibee), and there’s a reason he has really good numbers in this league,” Servais said. “He has some really good stuff.”

Mike Baumann took over in relief of Woo in the fifth inning, just after Crawford’s ejection ended the top of the inning, and things quickly unraveled for the Mariners.

With two outs, Jose Ramirez hit a bouncing ball to the right of rookie second baseman Ryan Bliss, who had entered the game as Crawford’s replacement (with Dylan Moore moving from second to short). Bliss played the ball cleanly on the move to right, but he made an off-balance throw and the ball skipped twice before reaching Ty France at first base – and Ramirez beat him.

A point was scored on the play when Andres Gimenez rushed all the way from second and slotted home before France’s throw. That extended the Guardians’ lead to 4-0.

The next batter, Josh Naylor, turned on a 97 mph fastball from Baumann and hit it to right field for a two-run homer, making it 6-0.

The Mariners then effectively waved the white flag.

Naylor added a solo homer off Eduard Bazardo in the seventh.

The Mariners (44-32) had their four-game winning streak broken.

They will turn to Luis Castillo for the series rubber match on Thursday afternoon. It’s a big game in the American League playoff landscape; the Mariners chase the AL Central-leading Guardians (45-26) for the No. 2 seed, which comes with a first-round bye.

“We have to forget the loss,” Servais said. “Tomorrow we show ourselves with a chance to win a series here against a good team, and we are certainly capable of doing that.”

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