'Deja vu' as defense, pitching fall flat

SEATTLE -- Mama said there’d be days like this. She just never said anything about two in a row.

“Deja vu all over again,” Mariners manager Scott Servais noted after his club got thumped, 14-1, by the Rangers on Sunday. Coming on the heels of a 15-1 drubbing the night before, it was a rapid regression for a Seattle team that had come into Saturday with the best run differential in the Majors at plus-41.

For much of the first month of this season, the Mariners overcame shortcomings in the pitching and defense departments by outscoring opponents. But that formula ran dry this weekend -- as did Seattle’s offense -- as Texas teed off in the two games.

Four errors and 17 hits allowed added up to a rough day for rookie right-hander Erik Swanson and five relievers as the Rangers took the series finale and left town feeling much better than one would expect from a four-game split.

The Mariners are still battling with Houston for the American League West lead at 18-13, but they are 5-11 over their past 16 games, including a 2-8 mark at T-Mobile Park. The back-to-back wins pulled Texas back over .500 at 14-13.

Defense has been an issue all season as the Mariners, with 37 errors in 31 games, have 15 more errors than any team in the Majors. The four committed on Sunday led to six unearned runs. But there was no offensive counterweight the past two games as Seattle was outscored by 27 (29-2) while totaling just 10 hits with 25 strikeouts.

“You’ve got to make plays. You’ve got to catch the ball in this league,” Servais said after his club allowed 10 unearned runs in the two losses. “Once the ball gets rolling negatively, you’ve got to stop it and turn it around, and we just haven’t been able to do that the last couple days. We’ve got a day off tomorrow, and we’ll come back at it against the Cubs and go from there.”

Designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, hiking his average to .310, but the Mariners managed little else against Rangers lefty Lance Lynn.

On the flip side, Swanson, making his third start in place of the injured Wade LeBlanc, gave up 11 hits and nine runs (six earned) in four-plus innings as he fell to 0-3 with a 6.62 ERA.

“Both my secondary pitches -- my slider and changeup -- I left too far up in the zone pretty much every time,” Swanson said. “I got away from what I’d been doing the last couple outings where I’d been having success, and I paid the price for it. It’s tough to work when you only have one pitch, and that’s your fastball.”

The 25-year-old was already in trouble after a pair of two-run homers in the third by Elvis Andrus and Hunter Pence gave Texas a 5-0 lead. But things got worse in the fifth when shortstop Tim Beckham committed a throwing error on a grounder by Andrus and left fielder Domingo Santana dropped a deep fly ball by Danny Santana as the Rangers pushed across three unearned tallies in the four-run frame.

Beckham’s error was his MLB-leading 11th of the season on a high throw that first baseman Edwin Encarnación wasn’t able to pull down. Santana has also had difficulties in left field, and Mallex Smith continued his recent struggles in an 0-for-4 day at the plate while also losing a ball in the sun in the ninth. Even the normally sure-handed Dee Strange-Gordon misplayed a grounder in the eighth that opened the door to three unearned runs.

“There are plays in the big leagues that need to be made, and our guys know that,” Servais said. “It isn’t for lack of work and trying to get through it. We’ve had stretches where we’ve played very poor defense, and we’ve had stretches where we play six, seven games and are making all the plays and we roll. It’s just so vital for your pitching staff.

“It’s got that snowball effect right now. It’s something we’ve got to get right, otherwise we’ll be in other games like that. In this league, it’s 27 outs, no more. There’s a reason [infield coach] Perry Hill talks about it all the time. You give teams extra outs, and it really comes back to haunt you.”

Looking for answers
Smith is now 0-for-24 over his last nine games as his average has fallen to .165. Acquired from the Rays to fill the leadoff role, he’s been dropped to ninth in the order, and Servais suggests he just needs to relax and get back to being himself.

“I’m just trying to put the barrel to the ball and put something in play,” Smith said. “I’m not pressing, maybe just thinking a little too much. But it’s still April. Things happen. If I have a good May, we’ll never even think about this again.”

Smith acknowledged the errors and blowout losses “don’t feel good. It’s not fun.” But he noted the Mariners have had more than their share of runaway wins this year as well.

“We’ve been beating up on teams for the most part all the beginning of the year,” Smith said. “We get beat up on, too, sometimes. We just have to clean up our defensive play a little bit, but you’re going to have games where you get beat up. That’s just part of the game. That’s why you play so many.”