Baseball

Game recap: Tigers 5, Mariners 1

By SPNW Staff11 Comments4 Mins Read

Takeaway

Rookie Steven Moya, who entered with one career home run, hit two off Hisashi Iwakuma, solo shots in the fourth and fifth innings, to lead the Detroit Tigers over the Mariners 5-1 Wednesday night, handing Seattle (36-36) its fourth consecutive loss (box). The Mariners, whose only run came on a bases-loaded hit batter in the fifth inning, not only fell 10.5 games behind Texas in the AL West, they dropped to third in the division with Houston’s win over the Angels.

The Mariners are an abysmal 2-7 on their current 10-game road trip. The Rangers topped Cincinnati 6-4 Wednesday night while the Astros upended the Angels, 3-2. Houston is 37-36.

Essential moment

After Miguel Cabrera ripped his 16th homer in the first, the Tigers effectively wrapped it up in the second when No. 9 hitter Jose Iglesias doubled to deep left, scoring Moya and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Hitters

The Mariners managed three singles, all off starter Fulmer in the first 4.1 innings. Seattle scored in the fifth when, after loading the bases, CF Leoyns Martin was hit by a Michael Fulmer pitch. The Mariners generated nothing offensively after that. Four Detroit relievers collaborated for 4.2 scoreless innings . . . Seattle went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and stranded five . . . The Mariners failed to homer for the first time in 15 games.

Pitchers

Iwakuma worked 4.2 innings, allowing a career-high 11 hits and five runs, all earned, while striking out five and walking three among his 100 pitches. Iwakuma had gone at least seven innings in four consecutive starts before Wednesday. Iwakuma also failed to make it through the fifth inning for the first time since Aug. 24, 2015, when he pitched 4.2 innings in a loss to Oakland. Iwakuma is 12-2 vs. the AL Central. . . Mike Montgomery worked 3.1 innings of scoreless relief after Iwakuma (6-6) departed.

Words

“Iwakuma gave up a lot of hits, some home runs, and we just didn’t have a good night all the way around. Our at-bats were competitive early, but we needed a couple of big hits. It didn’t happen. We had a good start this year, but unfortunately things have flipped on us. We’ve got to get back on track. There’s a lot of ball left to play. But this is disappointing, the way this road trip has gone. We’ve seen what we can do and we have to go out and do it again.” — Mariners manager Scott Servais

Noteworthy

The Mariners have dropped four of six and 18 of their past 26 . . . They are 21-18 on the road . . . With three consecutive losses to the Tigers, the Mariners are 12-9-3 in overall series, including 7-3-2 on the road . . . Seattle is 6-9 vs. the AL Central . . .  After the Mariners Wednesday re-acquired former closer Tom Wilhelmsen, a free agent let go by Texas June 16, GM Jerry Dipoto said, “He is not very far removed from being a very good major league pitcher.” Wilhelmsen, who has 67 career saves with Seattle, did not pitch  Wednesday . . . RHP Taijuan Walker, suffering from tendinitis in the arch of his right foot, is expected to miss his next start, but is not expected to go on the disabled list, according to Servais.

Next

The series concludes starting at 10 a.m. PT Thursday. RHP Adrian Sampson (0-1, 7.71) will make his second career start for Seattle. LHP Daniel Norris (0-0, 0.00) goes for the Tigers. The Mariners return to Safeco Field Friday for a three with the St. Louis Cardinals.

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11 Comments

  1. Kevin Lynch on

    Well, Art, weigh in on this. To me, it’s all about service. OMG, I misspelled that last word. i think it should be Servais. Your team is going down the tubes, you need to weigh in. You obviously need another quality starter in July. Maybe not a dominant one but a pitcher that comes in working 7 steady innings with a 3.00 to 3.75 ERA. We have 3 guys at 4.30 to 5.30 and that is not going to get a playoff position. Walker is uncertain. Paxton and Walker and the other guy was not the salvation. So what is next? Kuma failed his physical with the Doyers. Okay. Was there a significant problem? He once was dominant. No more. Where is help arriving form? A July acquisition?

    • art thiel on

      This roster was mostly of team of temps until a year of development created MLB level talent in minors. Wasn’t capable of surviving key injuries. Getting so injured in the rotation is a killer.

  2. jafabian on

    The club’s annual June swoon is alive and well. Dipoto is doing what he can to stave it off but he doesn’t have much to work with otherwise he would have been a player in the James Shields sweepstakes. Servais had a quick hook for both Kuma and Smith tonight and the lineup is barely drawing any walks lately. Two last night and only one tonight? Also notice that Servais is keeping Aoki firmly buried at the bottom of the lineup and experimenting with Marte and Martin in the leadoff role. The club needs to rediscover the mojo it had the first two months of the season.

    • art thiel on

      Thin bench and few MLB ready prospects explain why Dipoto is rummaging in the blue-light bin.

  3. Kevin Lynch on

    It looks like the M’s are #2 in hitting and #2 in pitching and somewhere down the road in the hearts of their countrymen. They are a .500 club at the moment in spite of being #2 in runs scored and runs allowed.

  4. dingle on

    /Thinking: Let’s see, it’s getting to be late June. Last time I checked in on the Mariners there were fighting it out with Texas for the AL West lead. That seemed too good to be true! Would it last? Let’s check back and see how things are going…. /

    Oh. OH. That’s not good. Where’s the pitching? June is such a cruel month. So much promise, dashed. Sigh.

    /Shrugs.