Mariners Second Series vs. Los Angeles Angels: 3 Up, 3 Down

The Mariners are seven games into the 2017 season and the fanbase pretty much feels that either things are in ruins and we need to just chalk this season up as another one to forget or the Mariners are just seven games into an 162 game season and we’re still a long way from October.

There are a lot of specific storylines you can key in on with the Mariners so far in this young season, but the broad one is that it feels that this team is a couple of breaks away from being 6-1 instead of 1-6.

Friday was a rough night for the M’s.

The bats struggled against a pitcher who has only lived in the league by pitching for teams that give him ample run support. As well as struggling bats, the M’s had a tough time defensively and the bullpen floundered a bit in the later innings.

Saturday was the embodiment of the recurring nightmare Mariner fans have started having in recent years.

Pulling close in a game against the Angels only to have Michael Nelson Trout put a ball out of the park to seal the game. Again, another game that is infuriating for M’s fans because of the seemingly high winnability.

In the final game of the series, Seattle came to play. The bats woke up and they exploded for nine runs, trying their best to end the series on a good, hopeful note. The only problem was the ninth inning. It was a gut-punch for the Mariners and their fans.

Since 2011, teams leading by 6+ going into the ninth had a record of 2,529-1. That’s about all that needs to be said about Sunday.

Obviously,1-6 and at the bottom of the league is not where Seattle wanted to be after the first week of play. That said, we can learn a lot about the Seattle Mariners from the series in Anaheim. This article has three positive and negative takeaways from the weekend stint in California. This is 3 up, 3 down.