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2013 Season Review: Mariners Home Sweet Safeco?

By Dan Hughes |

Sep 23, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino (3) slides into 3rd base after hitting a RBI triple against the Kansas City Royals during the 7th inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Remember when the Mariners loved playing at Safeco? When the problem wasn’t the home record, but the road record? Well, the problem is still the road record but we have a new problem in Seattle. The Mariners can’t win at home either.

At 36-45, the Seattle Mariners were tied for the 5th-worst home record in all of baseball with the Miami Marlins. Only the New York Mets (33-48), Minnesota Twins (32-49), Chicago Cubs (31-50) and the Houston Astros (24-57) had worse home records than the M’s in 2013.

Last season, the Mariners were 40-41 at home. It wasn’t long ago that the M’s were this bad at home. They were 36-45 in 2010, the year they lost 101 games. In fact, this season’s home mark ties the club-low for a season in which the team lost less than 100 games (not counting the strike years of 1981 and 2004). That mark was set in 1979 (67-95).

The Mariners had 12 homestands in 2013, some good, some bad. Kinda sums up the whole season doesn’t it? Like I did with the road series, let’s look at the homestands one at a time.

  • HS1- 10 Games: Houston, Texas, Detroit-4-6
  • HS2- 7 Games: Angels, Orioles- 5-2 (9-8 total)
  • HS3- 3 Games: Athletics- 2-1 (11-9)
  • HS4- 5 Games: Rangers, Padres- 2-3 (13-12)
  • HS5- 10 Games: White Sox, Yankees, Astros- 5-5 (18-17)
  • HS6- 8 Games: Athletics, Pirates, Cubs- 3-5 (21-22)
  • HS7- 7 Games: Red Sox, Angels- 4-3 (25-25)
  • HS8- 7 Games: Indians, Twins- 4-3 (29-28)
  • HS9- 6 Games: Blue Jays, Brewers- 2-4 (31-32)
  • HS10- 6 Games: Angels, Rangers- 0-6 (31-38) * First time in team history, 0-for-homestand of 4 games or more.
  • HS11- 6 Games: Rays, Astros- 2-4 (33-42)
  • HS12- 6 Games: Royals, Athletics- 3-3 (36-45)

So as you can see, the M’s were having around a .500 year at home until that 10th homestand where they went 0-6.

As for stats, the M’s had a team batting average of .239, 2nd-lowest in the AL behind the Astros and the 5th-lowest in MLB.

The Mariners scored 310 runs at home, up from 257 last year. This year, the 310 ranked 21st in MLB, 12th in the AL. On the flip side, the M’s allowed 376 runs at home, up from 260 last year. That is the 4th-highest in the AL, 5th in MLB. Last year they allowed the least runs at home in all of baseball.

Let’s take a peak now at the tentative 2014 home schedule.

  • HS1- 5 Games: Angels, Athletics
  • HS2- 6 Games: Astros, Rangers
  • HS3- 7 Games: Royals, Rays
  • HS4- 11 Games: Astros, Angels, Tigers
  • HS5- 8 Games: Yankees, Rangers, Padres
  • HS6- 6 Games: Red Sox, Indians
  • HS7- 7 Games: Twins, Athletics
  • HS8- 7 Games: Mets, Orioles
  • HS9- 9 Games: Braves, White Sox, Blue Jays
  • HS10- 6 Games: Rangers, Nationals
  • HS11- 6 Games: Astros, Athletics
  • HS12- 3 Games: Angels

As I mentioned yesterday, getting a winning record in your division is crucial in securing a playoff spot. So too is a winning home record. The Mariners will get an early start on both as three of their first four homestands involve a total of 19 games against in-division opponents.

We’ll have six months to speculate, postulate and dream about how well the M’s will do with that schedule next year. Sweet dreams M’s fans.

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