Mariners Fumble Away Otherwise Solid, Fun Week
By Nick Lee
The Mariners currently sit at 66-65. They seemingly can’t put any distance between themselves and .500. They stayed afloat this week, going 3-3 in a tough road stretch against Atlanta and the New York Yankees.
Seattle is now 1.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. A big series looms in Baltimore this next week. The Orioles are just a half game behind the M’s. Things seemed to be moving upward until an absolutely disastrous final game in New York on Sunday.
It was “Players Weekend” as Mariners were allowed to wear nicknames on the back of their jerseys. The Yankees and Mariners each wore special uniforms during the weekend series as well.
Hitting: C+
The Mariners averaged 3.5 runs per game this week, which is a whole run below their season average. They were shut out Tuesday against the lowly Atlanta Braves.
Mitch Haniger has all but disappeared. He has not been the same since his hot April. He is hitting .179 this month. He hit a miserable .115 this week.
Jean “El Mambo” Segura had likely his worst week as a Mariner, going 3 for 27 with just one extra base hit and seven strikeouts.
Ben Gamel has fallen off after a really great first half. He is hitting .151 this month and just .226 since the All-Star break.
However, the supposed-stars of this lineup have been the ones stepping up. That was not the case earlier in the year. Kyle “Corey’s Brother” Seager had a home run and five RBI. He hit .292 in the six games this week. He had a three-hit, four-RBI night in Wednesday’s 9-6 win in Atlanta.
Mike Zunino has been on one of his hot streaks. He is one of the streakiest hitters on the team. He hit .389, with a home run and a 1.143 OPS.
Yonder “Mr. 305” Alonso has been a good pick-me-up for the Mariners offense. He hit .300 including a home run off of Yankees’ reliever Aroldis Chapman, something not usually done by left-handed batters.
Pitching: B
Seattle posted a 3.86 ERA as a staff this week. On paper, it looked like they had a horrible week considering the scores. It was the defense that let Mariners hurlers down.
Ariel Miranda seemed to pull out of the tailspin with a solid 4 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, he could not get out of the fifth inning due to his pitch count and walks. However, he did not allow a run.
The M’s pitching has been basically keeping them in games, allowing the offense to try and out-score the other team. Nothing spectacular. Andrew Albers has been a decent acquisition. He made two starts this week, winning one in Atlanta, his former organization.
Marco Gonzales and Erasmo “Mito” Ramirez each made a start, keeping the Mariners in the game late. With this patchwork rotation, it’s a miracle the Mariners are still within striking distance of a spot in October.
Edwin “Sugar” Diaz has bounced back nicely from some rough outings recently. He was a perfect 3 for 3 in save chances this week. He locked down a huge win on Friday night in Yankee stadium. In front of over 42,000 in a playoff-like atmosphere, he locked down the win against the Bronx Bombers.
Defense/Baserunning: F
Is there really any other way to put this? I guess if an “F-minus” is a thing. Sunday was a complete disaster. The two Little League teams in the World Series championship game played better defense than the Mariners. The M’s committed five errors in the first inning of Sunday’s 10-1 loss. That has not been done in Major League Baseball since 1977. That game was not even an anomaly with how the rest of the week went. The Mariners committed 13 errors total this week, leading to eight unearned runs. Segura had a day to forget, with three errors, two on one play.
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The only bright spot in this section is that the M’s were 3 for 3 in stealing bases.
Player of the Week: Edwin Diaz (3 saves, 0.00 ERA, 4 K)