Saturday's Seattle Mariners Loss Showed the Difference Between Them and Houston Astros
The Seattle Mariners lost to the Houston Astros 4-2 on Saturday night, the latest gut punch in a month full of them.
With the loss, Seattle has now lost five straight games, has fallen to 1.0 game back in the American League West race and is now just four games over .500 at 52-48.
Though they are still 62 games left in the season, the situation feels bleak for the Mariners, who are fighting to make the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Saturday's loss encompassed just about everything that is currently worrisome about the Mariners, and it showed the differences between the M's and Astros as well.
THE OFFENSE CONTINUES TO STRUGGLE
Struggle is an understatement. The Mariners scored just two runs, getting both of them on a Julio Rodriguez home run, and had just three hits. The limited opportunities they had, they squandered, something that has become far too commonplace. And oh yeah, the M's struck out 11 times once again.
THE BULLPEN QUESTION MARKS:
The Mariners bullpen was dealt a tough hand this year when Matt Brash was lost for the season and Gregory Santos didn't make his debut until mid-July. The group largely held it together but it definitely had some questions about it, and those questions reared their ugly heads on Saturday as Ryne Stanek gave up two runs in the seventh inning to turn a 2-1 lead into a 3-2 deficit.
THE LITTLE THINGS:
This was really the separator and this is the thing that breaks the Astros apart from the Mariners.
-In the fourth inning, George Kirby hit leadoff man Alex Bregman. Bregman eventually got to third base with two outs and Jeremy Pena put the ball in play for an infield single, producing a run.
-In the top of the first, the Mariners got a single and two steals from Victor Robles, getting him to third base with two outs. Mitch Garver struck out, not even forcing the defense to make a play.
-Stanek walked the leadoff man in the top of the seventh inning and Jake Meyers made him pay by hitting a two-run homer.
-In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mariners also got a leadoff walk, but Jonatan Clase was immediately picked off and the threat was over.
Against good teams, you can't get away with putting the leadoff man on and you can't be getting picked off. It's that simple.
Related Stories on Seattle Mariners
NEW PODCAST EPISODE IS OUT: The fourth episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast is now out! In this episode, we discuss how the Mariners can beat the Astros, what they need to not do in the series, Andres Munoz not getting in the All-Star Game and more, including our interview with Bryant Robinson, who directed the Julio Rodriguez documentary that recently aired on FS1. CLICK HERE:
FRANCE FUTURE: As he continues to scuffle, Ty France is playing for his Seattle Mariners future at this point. We discuss the options. CLICK HERE:
SUMMING IT UP: Kudos to Seattle sports radio host Brock Huard, who encapsulated the Mariners perfectly in a simple post on "X" on Friday night. CLICK HERE:
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BRADY FARKAS