Mariners have their most embarrassing series of the year as Tigers Sweep Seattle

Just when you think the Mariners have figured it out, that they are going to have a nice second half surge and make a push to the playoffs, they kick you in the proverbial shin and fall flat on their face. I don't know if this is what Dallas Cowboys fans feel like (This is our year!), but it sure seems to be something similar.

The Mariners took it to the Mets, plain and simple. It was one of the most dominant series of the year by any team in all of baseball. We saw back-to-back shutouts followed by the Mets scoring just a single run in one of the biggest wins of the season for the Mariners, and they ended up with wins of 6-0, 4-0, and 12-1. You would think that they would carry over that momentum into Detroit and play well against the Tigers, right?

RIGHT?

Wrong. After the best series of the season, by any team in baseball, the Mariners followed it up with one of the worst series of the year by any team in baseball. They gave up 2-run homers in the 8th inning in the second and third game of the series, letting the Tigers force extra innings in game 2 and giving them the lead in game 3.

The Mariners had their worst series of the season in Detroit

You want to know what's even worse than that? The Mariners batting average in the series. Batting average isn't everything, as you can still have a lot of walks or a lot of extra base-hits to help things along. Normally, the Mariners 11 walks would be a great number to have in a series. You're looking at a walk rate that's just above 10%, and well above league average.

It's not good when you have more walks than hits. The Mariners embarassing offense only managed nine hits in the series. 9! That's it. They went 9-92, bad enough for a .098 average. Sure, they went up against Tarik Skubal, but they got a third of their hits against him. In the other 22 innings of gameplay, the Mariners had 6 hits. It's not like you were seeing prime Verlander in those games either, as it was a mix of a lot of bullpen guys who were being stretched out to eat innings.

It's embarrassing right now. There isn't much more to say about it. Lou Bega had a better chance of producing a hit during this series than the Mariners did. At least they get to go face Paul Skenes next, so be prepared for 7 innings of two-hit ball with 12 Ks and a lucky solo homerun by someone in a 3-1 loss to the Pirates. It can't worse than the series against the Tigers... right?