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Mostly, though, the Mariners had no plan at the plate. Coming into the game, we talked about how Scherzer’s fastball had been very hittable all year while his slider and changeup had been considerably more effective. The goal should have been to jump on the fastball and hold off on soft stuff and spin. Instead, the Mariners swung at fewer than half the fastballs they saw from Scherzer, including taking eight for strikes. Meanwhile, they swung at 24 of Scherzer’s other 42 pitches, despite just 13 of them being in the zone, including swinging at every single curveball they saw from Scherzer, ten in all.