Walker brilliant in return to Seattle, paces Mariners to win over A’s in home opener
The Mariners are back at home playing baseball in Seattle and, at long last, so is Taijuan Walker.
Three seasons after departing for Arizona in a blockbuster trade with the Diamondbacks, the former Seattle starter is back in a teal uniform, back on the mound at T-Mobile Park and back to winning ballgames.
Walker was once viewed as the heir apparent to longtime Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. This Friday night in July, in Seattle’s home opener, he looked every bit like the dominant pitcher the club thought he could be when he was drafted in the first round a decade ago.
In his first start in Seattle since the 2016 season, Walker was brilliant, completing seven shutout innings while allowing a single hit, walking two and striking out eight. Boosted by his club’s budding offense, he also picked up his first win of the season in a 5-3 victory over the A’s.
“Being back in Seattle felt really good,” Walker said on a video call with reporters postgame. “I felt comfortable. It felt like I never left.”
It was a satisfying home opener for Seattle (4-4) in a season that has been — and will be — anything but normal.
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to surge nationwide, there was no sold out crowd in the stands to welcome Walker and the Mariners home — though there were thousands of cardboard cutout fans lining the seats.
While the pregame celebrations were shown mostly on the video board in center field — local artist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie performed a Mariners-centric rendition of “Centerfield” and two Portland-based singers performed the national anthem — players and coaches still stood along the base lines for introductions, a recognition of health care workers and a message of support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The pumped in crowd noise provided a consistent buzz around the stadium, the music kept the energy up, and the Mariners fed off all of it in their return to their own ballpark after a seven-game road trip to open the season.
“I think the group doing the sound, doing the walk-up songs, doing the crowd noise — the environment was great,” Mariners rookie outfielder Kyle Lewis said. “The energy was up and you could even feel a little bit of those nerves.
“It definitely felt the way we wanted it to feel. We had great energy going into the game and a lot of adrenaline, so it was cool.”
Oakland starter Sean Manaea held Seattle scoreless for the first three innings, retiring nine batters in order, but the Mariners were the first to hang a number on the scoreboard in the fourth.
J.P. Crawford led off the inning with a single, and Lewis pushed his hitting streak to eight games moments later with another base hit. Kyle Seager drove in both runs on a RBI double down the right field line. Seager later scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 3-0.
Seattle scored twice more in the fifth. Dylan Moore doubled to open the frame, and later scored on a fielder’s choice. Crawford, who singled again and finished 2-for-4, scored on Lewis’ second base hit of the game.
Lewis finished 2-for-4 and notched his sixth straight multi-hit game of the season. He continues to lead the majors in hits with 15 in the Mariners’ first eight games.
“The energy is great, and everybody’s feeding off of that and feeding off each other, and it’s creating a great environment so far,” he said.
And, Friday night, it all started with Walker. He retired the first eight A’s batters in order, and at one point retired 11 straight.
“Tai’s a competitor,” Seager said. “That’s something I’ve certainly learned over the years. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, he wants to win and he competes, and that’s literally all you can ask for in a pitcher.
“He certainly went out there and he’s got good stuff, he was throwing with conviction, he was attacking guys. He was working fast, so that was great to be behind that.”
The only hit Walker allowed was a double to Ramon Laureano in the fourth, and he answered Seattle’s three runs scored in the fourth by striking out the side in the fifth.
He finished at 94 pitches in just his second true start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018. It was also his first win in the majors since that year.
“It was just fun going out there, going deep into the game,” Walker said. “It’s been a long while. But, I felt good, honestly. I didn’t feel tired. I didn’t feel like I was breathing hard. Honestly I felt like I could have gone more.
“But, going out there and getting the win and getting the team win. The boys put up a lot of runs for me, and I just wanted to go out there and do my part.”
Servais has often commented on Walker’s growth and how he has matured since his first stint with the Mariners. Walker echoed that Friday, noting he feels like a different pitcher than the one who left Seattle nearly four years ago.
“I feel like I was just a two-pitch pitcher last time, and now having that curveball I can land for strikes, getting ahead early and having that slider as my putaway pitch, I feel like it’s definitely a game-changer for myself moving forward in my career,” he said.
Four of Walker’s fellow starters — Kendall Graveman, Marco Gonzales, Justin Dunn and Justus Sheffield — sat socially distanced behind Seattle’s dugout for his whole outing, waving towels above their heads each time he recorded an out.
“The energy that our group is bringing to the ballpark every day, even under these circumstances is really fun to see,” Servais said. “We’ve got guys that all have a lot to prove. It’s a really fun group and it’s starting to come together every day.
“I thought it was really cool to see our starting pitchers behind the dugout tonight kind of cheering everybody on, waving the towels and all that other stuff. That’s the kind of atmosphere we have.”
The A’s tagged Mariners reliever Bryan Shaw with three runs in the eighth, but didn’t manage much else.
Camas High School product Taylor Williams picked up his second career save in the ninth to wrap up Seattle’s fourth consecutive home-opening win.
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 9:15 PM with the headline "Walker brilliant in return to Seattle, paces Mariners to win over A’s in home opener."
