Late errors on defense end up costing the Mariners the game against the Rangers

There are a few things that Mariners' fans can trust with this team, but when it comes down to it, the bullpen is one of them. In Thursday's series opener against the Rangers, it seemed like the pen was going to do just enough to finish off the game against Texas. In doing so, they would spoil what was an otherwise impressive debut for Kumar Rocker.

Well, they would've if the Mariners were playing an actual first baseman at first base. Raley is an impressive specimen and above-average to good defender in the outfield. However, he struggles a bit at first base. That was the case late in the game when the Rangers hit a hard grounder to Raley's right. It caught him in between steps, and scooted through his legs.

A rare late game error proved costly for the Mariners

Later in the inning, and Adolis Garcia groundout went from what should've been the third out of the inning to an RBI groundout. That was followed by an infield single to give the Rangers the lead. Instead of leaving the top of the 8th inning with a 4-3 lead, the Mariners were down 5-4. We all know how their offense is, and scoring more than 4 runs is a chore for the Mariners.

Although Luke Raley has done plenty for this team this year (he actually has a pretty impressive 2.9 WAR) he ended up being the reason for the loss in the opener in a game the Mariners solely needed. At this point in the season, the Mariners can't afford to let dumb mistakes affect them and have these games slip out of their grasp. With the massive diaspointment that we have seen from them over the last 2.5 months, they ran out of freebies to give up, and can't afford to squander oppourtunities.

Things might not be any easier for the Mariners in game two, as they go from seeing Kumar Rocker in his MLB debut to Jacob DeGrom on Friday and Max Scherzer on Saturday, both of whom are returning from injuries. In a funny stat, DeGrom will be throwing his 216th game Friday once he steps on the mound, which is how many wins Max Scherzer has in his career.

The Mariners can't afford to let anymore games like this slip away. Let's just hope that they are able to keep their heads on straight and the baseball in their glove as they continue on with Texas throughout the weekend.