More bullpen blunders, defensive errors cost Mariners in back-and-forth loss to Texas
More of the same troubles that have plagued the Seattle Mariners crept up Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.
Three different Seattle relievers combined to allow five runs, the defense committed three errors, and the Texas Rangers’ offense capitalized on several miscues, notching a series-ending 8-7 win.
Texas became the latest team to swipe a series from the plummeting Mariners (24-34), who continue to crash further into the American League West basement. Seattle has gone 11-32 since its franchise-best 13-2 start.
The Mariners trailed 3-0, rallied to take a 4-2 lead only to give it back at 5-4 before rallying again to lead, 7-5 going into the eighth. Texas tied it with two in the eight and then took the lead with one in the ninth yet the Mariners put two runners on base with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but failed to get the big hit.
“We felt really good about our shot there,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We had six outs to go with a couple-run lead. We’ve got to lock that ballgame down and win the series. That’s what we were shooting for today. I thought it would be good to get some momentum going.
“Didn’t happen unfortunately. ... There were some positive signs, but we’ve got to close it out at the end.”
After Texas grabbed an early three-run lead, the Mariners put up their first run in the third on a Mallex Smith single that scored rookie Shed Long. Shortstop Tim Beckham, filling in for injured starter J.P. Crawford, launched a two-run homer that just cleared the wall in right in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3. Long doubled again two at-bats later, scoring Tom Murphy to give Seattle its first lead.
Long, who was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on May 21, has hit safely in all seven games he’s played in, including knocking five doubles.
“I’m in a good spot,” Long said. “I like how I’m feeling. I like how I’m sticking to my approach, especially today. I told my dad last night, told the coaches this morning, that I made a couple adjustments watching a little video. I’m just trying to go in and have good at-bats and trying to help the team win.”
Wade LeBlanc’s third start since returning from an oblique injury was much more productive than his previous two — when he gave up a combined 11 earned runs to the Twins and A’s, and never cleared 70 pitches.
“I think the Oakland game was a step in the right direction minus four pitches, and today was another step,” LeBlanc said. “We’ll keep moving forward.”
Wednesday, Texas jumped on LeBlanc (2-2, 6.99) early, tagging him with three runs in the first, but his next four frames were much more crisp. He gave up just two of the six total hits he allowed during that stretch, and at one point retired seven batters in order, including twice tossing 1-2-3 innings to wrap up his outing
LeBlanc threw 85 pitches and struck out five in his five innings, left with a 4-3 lead, and was momentarily in line for a win until Seattle’s shaky bullpen gave up the lead in the sixth.
Reliever Jesse Biddle gave up his first runs in three outings since coming to the Mariners from Atlanta last week. He opened the sixth with a strikeout, but then recorded a fielding and throwing error on a soft come-backer that allowed Nomar Mazara to advance to second. A wild pitch then let Mazara advance to third, and he scored the tying run on Rougned Odor’s single off the right field wall.
Seattle upped its MLB-leading error count to 63. Two of Texas’ runs on Wednesday were unearned and the shaky defense contributed to Texas rallies in other ways.
“As we’ve talked a lot this year, the defense reared its ugly head at times, which has cost us,” Servais said.
Asdrubel Cabrera eventually scored on a shallow pop up to left to give Texas a 5-4 lead. Beckham caught the fly ball, but was going against his momentum trying to throw home, and Cabrera crossed easily. Had left fielder Domingo Santana had a better jump on the play, Cabrera likely wouldn’t have tagged.
Mitch Haniger, who has been streaky through the first two months of the season — his 14 home runs rank near the top of the AL, but his 72 strikeouts, including six in this series are tied for first — picked a key spot to bust out of this recent slump, and seemed to give the Mariners a decisive lead in the bottom of the sixth.
He launched a two-run homer that collided with the left foul pole to give Seattle, which tied the game again on an RBI triple by Smith an at-bat earlier, a 7-5 lead. The home run was also No. 100 for the Mariners this season, who trail only Minnesota for the MLB lead, and are the second team in the majors to register triple-digit homers this season.
Daniel Vogelbach (15), Haniger, Jay Bruce (13) and Edwin Encarnacion (13) all rank among the top 10 in the AL in homers.
But, Roenis Elias, who has been one of Seattle’s more consistent relievers early on, served up a pair of runs to Texas in the eighth. Former Mariner Shin-Soo Choo hit a two-out, pinch-hit singl to score Mazara and Odor, again tying the game at 7-7.
Texas took the final one-run lead in the ninth, when Mazara and Cabrera hit back-to-back two-out doubles against reliever Anthony Bass, who recorded the loss.
ON TAP
Rookie left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (3-2, 3.82) is scheduled to start the opening game of a four-game series against Los Angeles at 7:10 p.m. Thursday. The Angels have not yet named a starter.
The game will be broadcast on Root Sports Northwest and 710 ESPN radio.
This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 4:03 PM.
