The Seattle Mariners need Victor Robles for what he can do off the field as much as what he can do on it.
Robles returned Saturday night after missing 4 1/2 months with a left shoulder dislocation suffered April 6 in San Francisco while making an acrobatic catch into the protective netting.
Though Robles had a single and made a diving catch, he couldn’t get a sacrifice bunt down in the 10th inning as the Mariners lost 2-1 to the Athletics.
The three-game series between the American League West rivals concludes Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
Robles undoubtedly would have liked a triumphant return to the lineup, but Mariners manager Dan Wilson is happy to have him back.
“(Robles) brings the energy, he enthuses so much into the dugout and the clubhouse … it’s great to see him and have him back on the field,” Wilson said.
How long Robles will be in the lineup remains to be seen. He’s eligible to play while appealing a 10-game MLB suspension handed down after he threw his bat at an opposing pitcher last weekend during a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Tacoma.
Robles took exception to a high and tight fastball from Las Vegas’ Joey Estes and flung his bat toward the mound before getting into a verbal exchange with the pitcher. Estes since has been called up by the parent Athletics and was in the bullpen the past two nights.
“I felt regret right away,” Robles wrote on social media following the incident. “I was the first one to acknowledge that it wasn’t the right reaction. But the emotions got the best out of me because I had been out for such a long time. I got hit five times and I got scared on the last one because it was pretty close to my shoulder and my hands. My apology not only was because of the reaction, but also to the fans, because there were kids in the stadium. We play not only for ourselves, but for the people out there that are watching and following our games.”
Robles’ hit was one of only three by the Mariners, whose lone run came on Randy Arozarena’s homer leading off the sixth.
All four of Seattle’s runs in the first two games of the series have come on solo shots.
The A’s scored the deciding run on Shea Langeliers’ double down the right-field line with two outs in the top of the 10th. Hogan Harris got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning for the save.
“I think the environment was similar to September baseball, and for these guys to go out and just grind through … it was a great team win,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said.
The A’s are scheduled to send left-hander Jacob Lopez (7-6, 3.28 ERA) to the mound Sunday against Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert (3-5, 3.83).
Lopez, who has never faced the Mariners, has won all four of his starts this month while allowing just two earned runs over 25 2/3 innings. He has walked three and struck out 32 over that span.
Gilbert lasted just two innings Monday in a 12-7 loss at Philadelphia, giving up six runs on nine hits.
He’s 3-1 with a 2.92 ERA in 13 career starts against the A’s. Gilbert faced them on Opening Day, when he went seven innings and allowed one run on two hits with eight strikeouts. He didn’t get a decision in a game the Mariners won 4-2.
–Field Level Media
