July 5th: SEA vs. PIT

When I got inside T-Mobile Park on Saturday, it was warm and sunny. A great day to watch some Mariners baseball. I got my J.P. Crawford basketball jersey, a size too big, and a message from a Discord server, from a friend who was also at this game.

"Hey, why are there so many Mormons here?"

I SAW THAT! There were a ton of Mormons here today! So I wasn't crazy. Apparently, it was Mormon Heritage Night, whatever that means. It got me wondering, where's my heritage night? I'm Jewish, why can't I have a shirt that says "JEWISH MARINERS FAN"?

On second thought, maybe that isn't a great idea.

I got a drink that night I don't normally get— I'm partial to canned 8% seltzers and beer— advertised as cherry limeade. At 6:59pm, I reported to this Discord that the drink was "Like vodka if it stood next to some cherries and a lime," and, "If vodka thought about cherry limeade."

Then the game started, first pitch at 7:10pm, and we were off.

And boy, this was agonizing. It's all fun and games until a team is scared of yours and finds a way to neutralize the threat.

At least Luis Castillo continued to be rock steady. Seven innings of two-hit ball with eight strikeouts. Now THAT'S the Rock we love.

Ninety minutes later, I'd finished the hint of a hint of limeade, had peach cobbler ice cream, helped get a girl in my row a ball from Randy, and suddenly it was 8:41pm... and nothing had happened. And that simply is Mariners baseball.

Resigned, I was about to get up for a hot dog.

Then, Jorge Polanco made contact. The ball dropped down for a hit. We all cheered, as is the right thing to do, even though every other inning, nothing happened with runner(s) on, surely this time will be different.

Ben Williamson got in the box and squared up future Mariner Caleb Ferguson.

Watching his bat connect with the ball, hitting it just barely out of Nick Gonzales's reach, then splitting the gap between Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds as it landed in the outfield grass and rolled all the way out to the base of the wall, Ben had given the Mariners exactly what they were looking for: a chance to give best relief pitchers the ball to defend this one run. This offering was all they'd get.

Despite losing the immaculate inning, Andrés Muñoz slammed the door on the Pirates in his 20th save, giving the Mariners their 48th win of the season.