CLEVELAND -- Climbing beyond three runs remains mountainous for the Mariners these days.
So much so that, with Saturday night’s 4-3 loss to the Guardians at Progressive Field, they tied the longest streak in franchise history without plating at least four, now at 13 games dating back to June 13. The only other time Seattle was held to four runs or fewer for that long of a stretch was from May 27 through June 9 of the 2015 season.
“It's just trying to just stay focused and just keep swinging the bat,” Julio Rodríguez said. “I feel like that's what's been going through my head, especially through this time. Because I feel like there's been so much good contact, and so many things that could have gone any other way. But they're just not.”
The Mariners avoided a shutout that was brewing deep into this one. But they were also unable to cash in further after Randy Arozarena’s massive eighth-inning homer, which came directly after an alarming hit-by-pitch to Rodríguez and momentum-mounting single from Dominic Canzone.
Seattle had forced a pitching change and still had no outs -- even after a Josh Naylor single. But Cal Raleigh flew out, Luke Raley hit into a force out and Colt Emerson K’d after Cole Young yanked a single to keep the rally going.
The Mariners had another one stopped short in the ninth, when Rodríguez hit a one-out single before Arozarena took a HBP. But Naylor hit a chopping grounder and was thrown out by a half-step. That came after Canzone hit a 105.9 mph lineout to center.
Each of the final two innings featured the tying run on second base and the winning run on first.
“Honestly, it felt like, 'Thank goodness, something is falling or going through for us,'” Rodríguez said. “That's kind of how we're feeling, for quite a bit now, where we hit a bullet but there's a defender right there. We make a lot of good contact, but there's somebody right there. So it just felt like a little good sight, just that something was falling, going through for us.”
The Guardians, meanwhile, found one hole after another -- particularly in a three-run fourth inning against Logan Gilbert, who also surrendered an RBI double into the left-field corner to Brayan Rocchio in the fifth.
“I probably could have done a better job there going under the zone, especially in advantage counts,” said Gilbert, who was pushed up to make a standard start instead of in a piggyback with Emerson Hancock. “But I'm never going to be too worried about first-pitch hits or getting in good counts, being aggressive. That's the risk you take.”
Both Rodríguez (left hand) and Canzone (right hamstring) were dinged up but remained in the game and put together some of the Mariners’ most productive at-bats.
They are among a growing swath of the lineup grinding through ailments, even after the Mariners returned many key position players from the injured list.
“That's what a lot of people maybe might not realize,” Rodríguez said. “Throughout the whole year, there's always been injuries. There's always been things to manage, and we have managed. I think we have done a really good job, just picking up the slack for the next guy, and just continue to battle with what we've got.”
Seattle actually out-hit Cleveland (eight to seven), which has typically been a barometer to success, as the Mariners were 32-8 entering Saturday when registering more knocks than their opponent.
The problem was that virtually all of those hits came without run production, other than Arozarena’s big blast on a middle-middle fastball from Guardians reliever Shawn Armstrong.
Aside from that homer, the Mariners stranded 11 baserunners and were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, continuing a trend that’s correlated to this proverbial three-run cap that’s spanned more than two weeks. In this stretch, they have a .551 OPS with runners in scoring position that ranks third-lowest in MLB.
That clip is identical to their overall OPS at the plate, too, as the Mariners have slashed .188/.272/.279 over these 13 games. And it’s the league-worst slugging percentage that’s been the most glaring, especially for a team that relies so heavily on the homer.
“There was a lot of contact, just not a lot of solid contact,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “We were finding the barrel, but not being able to get it in the air or get it on the line.”
The late dramatics might be building points for an offense that desperately needs something, anything, to fall these days. But they ultimately did not lead to enough for a winning result.