Mariners Lose Disappointing Series to Athletics to Begin Homestand

Instead of turning their season around against the rebuilding Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Mariners instead turned in a disappointing performance in a 2-1 series loss earlier this week.

Mariners – Athletics: Game 1

Coming off of a four-game losing streak, the Mariners rallied for a 7-6 win in the first game of the series behind home runs from Julio Rodriguez (3-run), Cal Raleigh (2-run), and Eugenio Suarez (2-run). Marco Gonzales let the big inning get to him in the 4th and the 6th, but solid bullpen performances from Diego Castillo and Paul Sewald helped close the door for the victory.

Mariners – Athletics: Game 2

Seattle kept the momentum going into the 5th inning of Game 2, when another Julio Rodriguez homer with runners on base put the Mariners ahead 5-4. However, poor showings from Drew Steckenrider and Anthony Misiewicz out of the bullpen allowed the A’s to retake the lead for good in the 7th. It was particularly frustrating to watch Oakland, who has the worst offense in baseball, put up 6+ runs for the second day in a row.

Mariners- Athletics: Game 3

The Mariners came into the season hoping that Robbie Ray start days would be near-automatic wins, but that hasn’t been anything close to the case so far this season. Ray is still a fantastic pitcher (as evidenced by his 10 K’s and quality start on Wednesday night), but the occasional pitch left over the plate has haunted him; Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus both homered off Ray, and the M’s couldn’t generate any run support until the 8th inning in a 4-2 loss.

Seattle will continue its homestand this weekend against the American League West-leading Houston Astros, who sit at 29-16 and are winners of five of their last seven.