Inside The Mariners

Seattle Mariners Offense Can't Find Home in Shutout Loss Against St. Louis Cardinals

The Seattle Mariners had their three-game win streak come to an end in a 2-0 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

Teren Kowatsch

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert throws during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday at Busch Stadium.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert throws during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday at Busch Stadium. / Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
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The Seattle Mariners offense had been on a roll going into Saturday. They had outscored opponents 28-8 in their last three games and had won all of them.

Starting outfielder Victor Robles got the day off on Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals after he was hit on the elbow by a pitch on Friday.

Whether it was the absence of energy Robles normally provides to the lineup or simply a bad day, the Mariners offense couldn't continue the form they displayed in the three games prior to Saturday.

Seattle lost to St. Louis 2-0, struck out 13 times and wasted a seven-inning start from 2024 All-Star Logan Gilbert in the process. It was the first game of the 15 in Dan Wilson's managerial tenure that the Mariners didn't attempt to steal a base.

The loss dropped Seattle to 72-71 on the season. The Mariners fell 5.5 games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West.

"Got to tip your cap to both guys on the mound on both sides," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview Saturday. " ... It's a tough one to lose, especially on such a great outing by Logan. We had hoped that'd go the other way. ... You kind of got the vibe that it might be one of those special nights where he's not going to allow any hits. It was tough. He was frustrated, of course. He pitched his heart out tonight."

Gilbert and Cardinals starter Kyle Gibson were locked in an elite pitching duel for most of the game.

Gibson went 6.2 innings for St. Louis and struck out nine batters while allowing three hits. He also walked three batters.

With Gibson in top-form, the Mariners had limited chances to get on the board against him and failed to take advantage.

Seattle left the bases loaded in the first inning and stranded Randy Arozarena at second base in the second inning.

The Mariners got to Gibson at the end of his outing and drew two walks before he was pulled. Dylan Moore was also walked in the first at-bat of reliever JoJo Romero's appearance to load the bases for Seattle with two outs in the top of the seventh.

The Mariners left the bases loaded again.

Seattle left three more runners stranded across the eighth and ninth innings (one in scoring position) to give them 10 left on base for the game. It went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Gilbert did his part for the Mariners on the mound. He went eight innings and struck out 10 batters. He set a career-high for strikeouts in a single season when he fanned his 190th batter of the year in the bottom of the eighth.

Unfortunately for Gilbert and Seattle, that accomplishment was immediately followed by disappointment.

Gilbert hit Jordan Walker with a pitch immediately after his 190th strikeout to give the Cardinals the go-ahead run at first base.

Pedro Pages brought Walker and himself across home with a 402-foot homer to left center field to give St. Louis the eventual final of 2-0.

Gilbert finished the game allowing two earned runs and and two free bases (one walk, one hit by pitch) to go with his 10 strikeouts.

"I felt pretty good. I thought we had a good gameplan going into it," Gilbert said in a postgame interview Saturday. " ... I felt like we mixed well. Keep the ball down for most of the game, good things happen. Left one over the middle at the end. Just how it goes."

It's been a common occurrence for the Mariners this season: a starting pitcher (especially Gilbert) puts up an elite start only to absorb the loss when the offense fails to come through.

Seattle still has 19 games left in the season. It has 13 to catch-up with Houston before the two play in a series on Sept. 23-25.

But this game needs to be an aberration in September rather than a return to a bad pattern if the Mariners are to return to October.

Luis Castillo will get the start for Seattle in the rubber match against St. Louis at 11:15 a.m. PT on Sunday.

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