ST. PETERSBURG -- The Mariners came painstakingly close to a season’s sweep of the Rays, the American League East’s first-place team. It was maybe as close as the length of a glove.
The Mariners were beaten 4-3 by the Rays at Tropicana Field on Wednesday afternoon. They couldn’t break through against the Rays’ bullpen, stranding the potential tying run at second base in the eighth inning, then going down 1-2-3 in the ninth. But their biggest chance occurred much earlier.
In the third inning, with the Mariners leading 1-0, center fielder Jarred Kelenic seemed in position to make a spectacular diving catch on a line drive by Randy Arozarena. But Kelenic misplayed it into a two-run triple as the ball drifted above his glove and rolled to the center-field wall. It gave the Rays a 2-1 lead they wouldn’t lose.
Mariners manager Scott Servais blamed it on the Trop, its deceptive lighting and translucent white roof.
“No question, Jarred was in line and he was going to catch that ball,’’ Servais said. “When he looked up, coming from a different angle, he lost it between the roof here and the lights. He just didn’t see it for a second. That happens here.
“You’re playing in a ballpark that’s a little quirky. The ball gets hit in the air and it never comes down sometimes. The light here, it’s a different atmosphere than what guys are normally playing in. He looked up, he had a bead on it and he just lost it for a second. That’s why he wasn’t able to complete the play. I would say if that ball is hit 100 times, he probably makes that play 95 times. It just happens.’’
Servais shrugged and offered that time-honored qualifier: “That’s baseball.’’
“Playing in this environment, the home team is a bit more used to it, but it’s part of our game,’’ Servais said. “Every field is a little different. It’s not football or basketball. You’ve got to deal with that stuff. Jarred will be better for it the next time he comes into this building.’’
Right-hander Logan Gilbert (5-3) took the loss after giving up three runs in five innings. The Mariners had won 11 straight times when Gilbert started, a streak that began on May 25. They had defeated the Rays six straight times this season, including a four-game sweep in Seattle on June 17-20.
Trailing 4-2 in the eighth inning, the Mariners had a mini-rally that short-circuited. J.P. Crawford led off with a double, got to third on Mitch Haniger’s single, then scored on Matt Wisler’s wild pitch. But with one out and Haniger on second, it stopped there. Wisler coaxed Kyle Seager and Abraham Toro into flyouts.
Gilbert, a native of Winter Park, Fla. (about 100 miles from the Trop), had about 50 family members and friends in attendance. Servais said he thought Gilbert “was not quite as sharp as we’ve seen him in the past,’’ but he nearly pitched well enough to win.
Gilbert’s small margin of error disappeared in the third when Arozarena’s ball eluded Kelenic in center.
“I didn’t get a very good look at it, and I couldn’t see where the ball was, either,’’ Gilbert said. “Those guys play so hard behind me. They make so many plays where they keep runs off the board for me. There’s no reason to be frustrated.
“It was just one of those situations where it’s a chance thing. I know it always evens out, so I’ll have a lot of plays made for me. I can’t get too frustrated or anything like that.’’
The Mariners closed it to 3-2 in the sixth when Haniger tripled and scored on Kyle Seager’s sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the frame, reliever Drew Steckenrider surrendered a two-out solo homer to Rays catcher Mike Zunino, the former Mariner.
”He got the ball down on Zunino, and that’s where you don’t want to pitch Zunino,’’ Servais said.
It remained a razor-thin margin the rest of the way, but the Mariners could never break through. Servais said he was satisfied with taking six of seven games from the Rays this season. Now it’s on to New York for a four-game set at Yankee Stadium, a new destination for a handful of young Mariners.
“We played the Rays tough all season, but Lady Luck wasn’t on our side today,’’ Servais said.
It was close.
About the length of a glove.