SEATTLE -- To win, you’ve got to overcome the weird.
The Mariners know this, and have been trying to battle out of the recent funk they find themselves in, but once again they were unable to bust out of it in a wild and eventful 8-7 loss to the Rays on Friday night at T-Mobile Park.
What was weird in this one, which stretched their losing streak to five games and handed them their ninth defeat in their last 10 outings? How about what wasn’t?
The Mariners looked like they were going to overcome adversity and celebrate the emergence of two of their most heralded young players when, in the bottom of the eighth inning and trailing, 5-4, rookie Julio Rodriguez legged out a one-out infield single and pinch-hitter Jarred Kelenic, who entered the game batting .127, followed with an electrifying two-run home run to give Seattle a 6-5 lead.
That didn’t last long, though, because the Rays’ Manuel Margot answered with a pinch-hit three-run homer of his own off Paul Sewald in the top of the ninth to put Tampa Bay up, 8-6.
And even though Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suárez hit his second homer of the night leading off the bottom of the ninth, it was a solo shot that cut the lead to one, and Rays reliever Brooks Raley got the next three outs for the save and halt Seattle's bid at a dramatic victory.
“There were a lot of really good things in that game tonight,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais, who spoke to his players after the game and told them to keep battling through this tough stretch.
“We’re obviously disappointed that it didn't go our way at the end, but I thought it was probably one of the better games we've had offensively here since the last homestand," Servais added. "A lot of guys stepped up.”
Late fireworks aside, a lot more went on in this one, and a good amount of it was on the stranger side of things.
Seattle’s emerging ace of a starter, Logan Gilbert, who hadn’t given up a single run in his previous three starts, allowed three in the second inning alone. The right-hander, who entered the game with the best ERA among qualified pitchers in the Major Leagues at 0.64, lasted five innings, but he was touched up for four runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out six.
Like his manager, Gilbert expressed confidence that the team would soon right the ship.
“I think the main thing is just knowing who we are,” Gilbert said. “I don't have any doubt that we're a great team. It's frustrating going through a stretch like this, but we know who we are.”
The game delved into the truly wacky in the top of the fifth, with the Mariners up, 4-3. With one out and Rays baserunners on first and second, Seattle catcher Tom Murphy was behind the plate when the Rays' Harold Ramirez hit an infield dribbler that was fielded by a charging Suárez.
Suárez tried to throw out Ramirez at first base but appeared to hesitate, possibly preferring to try to throw out the advancing Randy Arozarena at third. The ball slipped out of his hand and skirted away on the infield grass toward second base. At that point, Arozarena broke for home and Seattle second baseman Adam Frazier picked up the ball and threw to Murphy behind the plate.
The throw was too late, and after Murphy caught it and dove in vain to try to tag Arozarena, he dropped the ball on the ground, took off his mask, and signaled that he needed to come out of the game. With the play still live, Suárez fired the ball to third to nab Lowe, who was trying to advance on the odd sequence. The call was confirmed after a replay review.
Murphy was replaced at catcher by Luis Torrens and was revealed shortly thereafter to have suffered a dislocated left shoulder, with his prognosis presumably to be determined later in the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Mariners bullpen wasn’t quite good enough on a night in which it needed to be great. Flame-thrower Andrés Muñoz was unable to keep the game tied at 4 in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with nobody out on a walk, single and hit-by-pitch, before Ramirez’s fielder’s choice scored the go-ahead run.
In the ninth, Sewald allowed singles to Arozarena and Lowe before Margot got him with the decisive blow, a line-shot homer over the center field wall.
Over the course of this 10-game rut that has seen the Mariners fall to three games under .500 at 12-15, they have lost four games by one run.
They seem to be one good starting pitching outing, one terrific bullpen stint, or a couple of big hits strung together away from snapping out of this scuffle.
So what’s it going to take?
As Kelenic said, nothing different. Just the same fight that they showed on Friday.
“Right now, things aren't going our way,” Kelenic said. “But if we can come out and play like that every single night, it’s going to work more times than it won’t.”