Step back for Mariners and punchless offense. But step forward for Felix Hernandez?

As Dylan Covey barreled through the Seattle Mariners’ lineup on Saturday, he rekindled what was so concerning about this Mariners offense as they fizzled into the All-Star break.

Of paramount concern: where is it?

The Mariners pitching was so good in their win on Friday that it was easy to overlook that their offense tallied three runs. Not so much this night, with the Chicago White Sox riding Covey’s 8 1/3 shutout innings to hand Seattle a 5-0 loss at Safeco Field.

Covey is a former first-round draft pick selected 14th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010 before heading to the University of San Diego and then getting drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the fourth round in 2013. He entered the day with a 5.69 season ERA, 6.82 for his career.

The Mariners made him look like the first-round-pick version.

“You have to give their pitcher credit tonight – that’s a really good sinking fastball,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “That’s 94-96 miles per hour and the bottom is dropping out of it. You have to get him to elevate the ball.”

But on the flip side, that’s now four consecutive games the Mariners have scored three runs or fewer, and that’s the sixth such game in their previous seven. The Mariners (59-40) are averaging 2.9 runs per game in 15 games this month.

And they are on the verge of potentially losing their fourth consecutive series if they don’t win on Sunday. The Oakland Athletics won on Saturday to pull back to within three games of the Mariners for the second wild card.

“We need to have some good at-bats tomorrow and hopefully put some rallies together,” Servais said. “That’s what it’s going to take. We got to bust out of this thing offensively.”

The Mariners didn’t get their first hit until Dee Gordon’s single in the top of the sixth inning, and didn’t get their second until Jean Segura’s single with one out in the ninth.

And just when it looked like the Mariners might have their first home run since July 11 in a win over the Angels, White Sox left fielder Leury Garcia leaped and snatched Mitch Haniger’s high fly ball from over the wall in that ninth inning.

Nelson Cruz struck out to end the game for the Mariners’ ninth loss in their past 13 games.

“The key is to come back and win the series,” Servais said. “That was the key coming into this one is to get some momentum going. We certainly have an opportunity to do that tomorrow with Marco (Gonzales) on the hill.”

Covey pitched into the ninth inning for the first time in the 26-year-old’s young career (25 starts). He got Gordon to fly out before Segura singled and White Sox manager Rick Renteria didn’t take any chances and pulled Covey for right-hander Joakim Soria.

Haniger followed with a shot just above the wall in left field – a glimmer of the late-game magic that carried the Mariners to the fourth-best record in the major leagues in the first half of the season.

Garcia snuffed it out with the leaping for the catch.

Here’s three takeaways:

Felix: Step forward?

One bad inning soured what Servais said, and Felix Hernandez agreed with, was actually a step forward for the Mariners’ 32-year-old right-hander.

Hernandez was rolling until a four-run fourth inning, buoyed by Avisail Garcia’s three-run home run, in Hernandez’s first start since heading to the disabled list to recuperate from back stiffness into the All-Star break. He exited after five innings.

“Definitely a step forward,” Servais said. “I thought his stuff was much crisper. Looked much better than it had the last probably two or three times before we put him on the disabled list. Encouraged by that.”

He hadn’t allowed a hit until that fourth inning behind a return-to-form changeup. He struck out six of the first 10 batters he faced, including five of them on the changeup. He actually tied a season high with seven strikeouts.

“I feel fine,” Hernandez said. “I had the best stuff I’ve had all year.”

Yolmer Sanchez had the first hit of the game, for either team, with a one-out single, and Hernandez then hit Jose Abreu with a pitch. Gordon had a chance for a line-drive double play at second base, but after catching a ball smoked his way, he lost the handle on it while trying to throw to second base for the second out.

Then a changeup. Hernandez offered it on the first pitch to Avisail Garcia, who sailed it over the wall in center field for a 418-foot three-run home run – two innings after Garcia struck out on a changeup.

“That’s my pitch,” Hernandez said. “Got to go for it.

“It’s baseball. You don’t worry about this. It wasn’t a mistake. It was a good pitch.”

But just like that, 3-0 White Sox.

Omar Narvaez followed with a double off the left-field wall and he scored on Leury Garcia’s single, when Ben Gamel lost the ball briefly in center field. He did throw out Leury Garcia at second base, but got an error and Hernandez was charged with an unearned run.

This is the third time Hernandez has thrown five innings or fewer in his past four starts, but Servais said they were limiting Hernandez to 85-90 pitches. He threw 80.

And Hernandez’s ERA is at a career-high 5.14.

Baserunning blunder

The Mariners were still without a hit, but they had two runners on, no outs and Nelson Cruz at the plate.

Quite ideal.

Jean Segura reached second on third baseman Yolmer Sanchez’s throwing error and Mitch Haniger drew his second walk to set up Cruz’s at-bat.

Except Segura inexplicably took off for third base and was caught stealing.

Not ideal – especially with the Mariners trailing 4-0.

“No, not a good decision,” Servais said. “Something I haven’t seen Jean do, I think, all year is try to take off and steal third. Certainly with Nelson Cruz at the palte.

“It’s something we talked about it letting our RBI guys in the middle of the lineup – let them hit. When you’re down ite h ball game like that, you’re taking a big gamble. You have to be 100 percent sure you are going to be safe.”

First things first

Felix Hernandez entered Saturday’s start with the second-most earned runs allowed in the first inning of any pitcher in the major leagues – 21 in 19 outings. He had a 9.95 first-inning ERA.

He escaped a 1-2-3 first inning this time against the White Sox, though it took Daniel Vogelbach’s mongoose-like reflexes on a diving stop at first and Hernandez hustling to the base to get there in time before diving Yoan Moncada for the first out.

That was just the fourth time in his 19 starts this season that Hernandez has pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, with his last being June 3 against the Rays. His others: April 20 against the Rangers and Opening Day against the Indians.

He hadn’t allowed a hit until the top of the fourth inning, when things quickly changed.

Play of the game

Avisail Garcia saw Felix Hernandez’s changeup down it the zone in the fourth inning.

Then he saw it sail over the center field wall for a three-run home run.

Damage done.

“I think he was looking for that the second time up,” Servais said. “And he didn’t miss it.

“But I thought Felix’s stuff was fine. Just a little bit out of sorts in the fourth inning and that was the ball game because we didn’t get much going offensively at all.”

Top pitcher

White Sox starter Dylan Covey allowed five runs in five innings his last start in a 14-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on July 10. He allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings the start before that and nine in 2 1/3 before that.

He’d allowed 29 runs in 20 innings over his previous five starts.

Then Covey absolutely shut down the Mariners’ offense on Saturday with a career-high 8 1/3 shutout innings before he was pulled following the Mariners’ second hit of the game – a Jean Segura single – with one out in the ninth inning.

“He was attacking the strike zone,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “I would have to look at the replay of the game, but I’m assuming he was hitting more of his spots today and allowing the action that his ball has – the natural action, he’s got diving action to both sides – he probably was hitting spots a little better.

“He just pitched. He trusted his stuff and it worked out for him.”

And not for the Mariners’ offense, which has averaged fewer than three runs per game in July.

Top batter

The Mariners had two singles, one from Dee Gordon, one from Jean Segura.

Meanwhile, Avisail Garcia hit a three-run home run and that was pretty much it outside of Leury Garcia’s RBI single and then a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning, though Mitch Haniger looked like he had Omar Narvaez out at the plate but catcher Chris Herrmann was unable to catch the ball and swipe for the tag.

Quotable

Despite the loss, Servais was encouraged by most of Felix Hernandez’s start.

“Definitely a step forward,” he said. “His stuff was much crisper, looked much better than it had the last probably two or three times before we put him on the disabled list. Encouraged by that. Just got away from him that one inning.”.

This story was originally published July 21, 2018 at 10:35 PM.