None of that stopped Minnesota from arriving in Seattle white-hot, and the price reflected a live dog getting real backing even with the bulk of the market money sitting on the home team.
Seattle jumped on Prielipp early, plating 2 in the first and adding another in the second to go up 3-0 before the game was 20 minutes old. That's been the story of this Mariners team lately — get out front and lean on pitching — but a lineup that's been the worst offense in baseball since mid-June wasn't going to make it easy to stay ahead.
Minnesota chipped away exactly like a team riding a 7-2 stretch should, scratching across single runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th to pull even at 3-3 and set up a nervy final few innings. Seattle answered right back with a run in the 9th to escape with the win, but it wasn't the comfortable finish the early scoreboard suggested.
It's the kind of game that captures both teams' seasons in miniature — Seattle's pitching still good enough to build a cushion, its bats never quite good enough to protect it without late-inning stress, and Minnesota proving again that its recent surge isn't a fluke even in a loss.