Takeaway
The Mariners were again on the wrong end of a shutout – an all-too-familiar sight. The 7-0 loss to the Giants Thursday night at Safeco Field marked the fourth time in eight games that Seattle has failed to score a run.
Essential moment
The Mariners were on their way to getting out of the second inning with a double play, but SS Brad Miller dropped the ball while trying to make the relay through to allow the first run of the game to score and keep the frame alive. San Francisco had base hits on its next two at-bats while taking a 3-0 lead.
Pitchers
Rookie lefty Mike Montgomery allowed four runs in 19 innings over his first three major league starts, then he surrendered three in Thursday’s second inning. He settled down and had a decent night, but the Seattle bullpen really let him down. Tom Wilhelmsen is prone to funks, and he’s most certainly in one: three hits, three walks and four runs over his last two outings to raise his June ERA to 8.59.
Hitters
An already anemic lineup didn’t get any better when the Mariners found out an hour before first pitch that 2B Robinson Cano (back stiffness) and 3B Kyle Seager (possible food poisoning) would not be available. But let’s be real: Runs are hard to find even when those guys are in the lineup. Seattle had a two-out hit in the first inning but needed 21 more plate appearance before getting another. The Mariners made Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong look like Madison Bumgarner – not many teams can do that.
Words
“Looking back, I shouldn’t have played (Nelson) Cruz. He was throwing up right before the game too, and he toughed it out for us.” –Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon
Noteworthy
Seager’s 192-game consecutive playing streak, the longest active streak in the American League, officially came to an end Thursday night . . . The Cano injury opened the door for LF Dustin Ackley to make his first start at second base since Sept. 21, 2013 . . . San Francisco’s Vogelsong was 0-3 with a 6.61 ERA in June before pitching 6.1 shutout innings Thursday night.
Next
LHP Roenis Elias (3-4, 3.67 ERA) will get another shot at Houston Friday night after getting torched by the Astros over the weekend. Elias walked four, allowed seven hits and got smacked around for eight runs in a 13-0 loss Sunday afternoon. RHP Lance McCullers (3-1, 2.00 ERA) is scheduled to be on the mound for the Astros.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2205012 https://sportspressnw.wpengine.com/?p=2205012">16 Comments
Have Lincoln and JZ quit yet?
No. Have you? No. Still watching.
I can’t believe Miller and Smith weren’t charged with errors. if they were Montgomery would have only given up 2 runs.
Ackley and Zunino should not play together. Neither one got a hit, had only one walk and had 3 K’s. Why they bat back to back is beyond me. Willie or Miller should have been put
in between them and each of them got a hit and only 1 strikeout. To Ackley’s credit he played a nice 2B while Cano was out. I never agreed with moving him to the OF. He doesn’t have the strongest arm or the speed needed to cover the OF at Safeco. His issue was and still is his hitting, not his fielding.
Looks like Wilhemsen is the latest casualty of Rodney’s Disease along with Danny Farquhar. Beimel might follow suit. IMO, just like how the hitters follow Cano’s lead the bullpen follows Rodney. Not a good sign.
We are watching the worst team/franchise in the AL & it isn’t even close. I expect the Astros to again wipe the floor with this sorry M’s squad. After this weekend when they are over 10 back, will it still be “early”? Will everybody still be falling for the excuses these clowns make? This team is done in June just like every single miserable year. Sure wish we had the NBA.
I’d say the M’s are the most overrated, not the worst. The high expectations were well deserved. They have the best pitcher in the majors and had a Cy Young contender behind him. They got a stud to hit behind the best 2B in the majors and an All Star at 3B. They had the best bullpen last season. None of that has come together. Right now the A’s might be the worst team after Billy Beane did his every few years housecleaning. Possibly the White Sox. Overall though the AL is much stronger than the NL. No one is behind their division leader by more than 8.5 games in the AL and that’s pretty good compared to Philly who’s down 13.5 games, and the Brewers who’s down 20.5. Their season is done and it isn’t even the halfway point yet. Their division is too strong for them to consider mounting a comeback. The M’s can still make a solid run, they just need to get it together in their heads.
Please stop drinking the M’s Kool-Aid. They are not mounting any sort of comeback or turn around. They cannot hit, pitch or field. So unless baseball has changed, those are the ingredients needed to be successful, at least 2 of the 3, not 0 for 3. Make no mistake, that pitching staff is over rated & will definitely fade. I don’t think people understand they have to play at a 25 game over .500 pace the rest of the way just to be in contention. They can’t even win TWO straight lousy games, let alone win basically every single series the rest of the way. They’re done early again as usual. It’s obvious. It can be seen on the faces of the players & it’s demonstrated at the plate & in the field. I’m still amazed at the silly stubbornness to continue to slot Mr single Cano at #3 in the order instead of #7, he is burying the team. He is not going to hit in 2015, period. The changes that are needed, the M’s won’t execute until probably August because they don’t have the stones or a clue.
They made it to Memorial Day in contention. That was something.
This team is such a stinkin joke! Shutout AGAIN! They need a massive organizational overhaul. This team is never going to win. They’re so abysmal, they don’t even hit solo home runs anymore, just a bunch of nothing. They’re not going to hit at all or score any runs. Period. It’s not going to happen. They cannot hit, slug the ball, run the bases, steal bases, hit & run, move runners over, get sac flies, draw walks, etc. It’s beyond sad how pathetic this team is offensively. The opposing pitchers rarely work moderately hard to get them out. If they ever win more than 2 games in a row again, it will be an absolute miracle. This team is beyond horrible.
Say what you think, R.J. Don’t use euphemisms.
Lloyd’s comment about ‘treading water’ made me think….’treading’ or ‘taking on’ water? What’s one of the worst things for a mariner at sea?
TAKING ON WATER!!!!!!
Something’s rotten in Denmark, as the saying goes. This has all the makings of a Shakespearean tragedy. There could be bodies littering the stage before this play is over. But then it’s baseball. Which means it could, just as suddenly, all turn around. Is that likely? No. Will that happen? No.
I’m thinking no one is going to die. And the talent is there for a turnaround. These guys are not the ’77 Mariners.
No one will die. A few heads may roll, however.
“The Mariners made Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong look like Madison Bumgarner – not many teams can do that.” The Mariners have a remarkable history of make mediocre pitchers look like All-stars. Same song, different verse.
I attended this game. I would point to the bottom of the 3rd inning as the telling detail. Allow me to quote from ESPN’s box score:
“Ackley struck out looking.”
“Zunino struck out looking.”
“Morrison struck out looking.”
Now, let us turn to our manager, who is fond of all sorts of baseball cliches and saws, such as “Stay the course” and “We’re gonna have games like that.” One thing that Mr. McClendon has said before is, “The scoreboard will tell you how to manage/play the game.” Well, the scoreboard showed us three runs down, and if Lloyd will not say it, it should be up there on the centerfield screen (biggest in all of MLB!):
“TWO STRIKES…. TAKE THE BAT OFF YOUR SHOULDER!”
I guess my point is…. they’re not winning because they’re not playing like winners. And who is to blame? (It’s America… there must be blame.) I’m looking at you, Lloyd. You’ve got about three things to do and one of them is to get your ballclub’s head on straight and in the game. Lloyd, you can’t hit for them or throw for them or catch for them, but you can set the tone in the clubhouse. So, do so.
And, Lloyd, just as an aside, if you thought “We’re doing fine – we won on Wednesday and the worst we can do is split this two-game series, just like we did down in SF.” Lloyd, at worst, that’s a terrible way to judge your play, and at best, that’s .500 ball.
[Rant Concluded.]
It is weird, though: flashes of brilliance and hope and then lolling about in the slough of despond. Fact is, ( right?) It isn’t working, if working means consistency in playing well.
Hard to figure, unless one looks at the Z teams in general: not balanced. He can’t seem to find all the parts of the watch to make it work like a Swiss one. He keeps getting a new bezel or mainspring or .. whatever it is, it’s not the mix that’s needed. Maybe he really can not envison what ther well-oiled machine/Swiss watch equivalent is in the messy game of baseball. It would appear that way. How he got the reputation as a good “baseball man” is beyond comprehension. His track record is, on close examination, one of being pretty successful in scouting for the Brewers, and less than break-even with the Ms and a way worse tally as a GM. He must schmooze Lincolnlogs very, very well.
Great post! What the well oiled switch watch looks like was the Seattle Mariners in 2001. They looked great right out of the box. You could tell in April something very special was afoot. This team looks wrong. They don’t look good inning to inning much less game to game. They’ll improve and might make a run above 500 but they are not playoff bound. Too little balance, as you say.