SEATTLE – After a frustrating fourth inning in which he allowed the Cleveland Indians to score enough runs to beat him, James Paxton appeared, at least, to be settling down in the fifth.
He retired the first two batters of that inning, via a flyout to left field and a swinging strikeout, a welcome departure from the three hits and three runs the Indians scraped out against him an inning prior.
But Paxton’s next three pitches to Indians first baseman Brandon Moss missed the strike zone. Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon trotted to the mound. He brought trainer Rob Nodine with him. That is not usually good news.
It wasn’t in this instance, either. Nodine examined the fingers on Paxton’s left hand, and Paxton accompanied him back to the dugout, his underwhelming evening punctuated by an untimely departure.
So it’s no surprise that the Mariners lost this game 5-3 to the Indians and reigning Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, who surprisingly allowed home runs to Mike Zunino and Dustin Ackley but otherwise overpowered the Mariners during a seven-inning, 13-strikeout performance before a crowd of 19,449 at Safeco Field.
The Mariners (23-24) are more concerned about their own starting pitcher. The official diagnosis on Paxton was that he left the game with discomfort in the middle finger on his left hand, and he’ll be reevaluated Friday.
Paxton said after the game that it’s not a recurring issue, and not something he’s experienced before. But when he unleashed a 1-0 fastball to Moss, he “just felt a little twinge and just got kind of sore, and they didn’t want to chance it, so they took me out (of) there.”
The finger already feels better, Paxton said, adding that he has “pretty good movement in it” but that it’s “a little bit sore to the touch.”
“I just couldn’t finish off the pitch, and went high,” he said. “I’m not sure exactly what’s going on with it, but hopefully we’ll have more information (Friday).”
It was a much better night for Kluber. The Indians (22-25) supported him with a second-inning home run by Moss, and that fourth-inning barrage against Paxton that included singles by Moss, Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis, a walk to Jason Bourn, an error by shortstop Chris Taylor that allowed a run to score, and an RBI groundout by Michael Brantley.
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