Losses, hitting woes, injuries piling up for reeling Mariners

After skidding into the All-Star break, the hope was that a few days off would give the Seattle Mariners a chance to reset.

Salk: Focus has been lacking for Mariners during their funk

Instead, things only got worse.

In fact, it would’ve been hard to imagine a more demoralizing start to the second half than this.

Seattle returned from the break with a brutal 1-5 homestand, dropping two of three to the division rival Houston Astros and then suffering its first sweep of the season with three losses to the lowly Los Angeles Angels.

Since holding a 10-game lead atop the American League West on June 19, the Mariners have gone 9-20. They have lost eight of their past nine games – with six of those losses coming to the Angels, who have the fifth-worst record in the majors.

The hitting struggles? They’ve only gotten more glaring. That once-commanding division lead? It’s entirely gone. Throughout the homestand, boos rained down from the crowd at T-Mobile Park. And to make matters worse, the injuries are piling up.

“They’re disappointed,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said of his team after Wednesday’s loss. “They’re frustrated, knowing that we did not play well here at all in this homestand. But there’s only one way out. You’ve gotta fight your way out. And I do know we have some guys in that room that will fight.”

Standings update

The Mariners (53-51) trail the first-place Astros (53-49) by one game in the AL West standings. But the Texas Rangers (49-52) are suddenly back in the mix too, sitting just 3.5 games behind Houston. It’s shaping up to potentially be another three-team race for the division crown.

The problem for Seattle is that it very well may have to win the AL West just to reach the playoffs. The Mariners are currently four games behind the Kansas City Royals (56-46) for the third and final AL wild-card spot.

Hitting struggles hit rock bottom

Seattle’s hitting woes have been at the forefront all season long, overshadowing an elite pitching staff that sports the best ERA in the majors. But lately, the offensive struggles have only worsened.

The Mariners have mustered just 14 runs over their past eight games, including just 11 runs over the six-game homestand. They have scored two runs or fewer in seven of their past eight games, and one run or fewer in five of those eight games. That stretch was capped by three consecutive one-run showings this week against the Angels, who have the third-worst ERA in baseball.

Over the past eight games, Seattle is batting just .160 as a team. One of the team’s only productive hitters right now is Victor Robles, who was designated for assignment by the Washington Nationals in May. Robles is hitting 11 for 27 over the past eight games. All other Mariners hitters over that stretch are batting a combined .130.

As has been the case so often this season, Seattle’s offensive struggles have spoiled outstanding pitching from the starting rotation. During the Mariners’ current 1-8 skid, their rotation has posted a 1.98 ERA and their overall pitching staff has logged a 2.85 ERA.

“We’ve gotta score, bottom line,” Servais said prior to Wednesday’s game. “Our pitching is really good, but it’s not perfect. And any time you expect it to be perfect night after night after night, it’s not gonna happen. It’s unrealistic. So we’ve gotta score some runs.”

Injuries piling up

With the losses and offensive struggles mounting, the Mariners were already in a tough spot. And then came a string of injuries to three key players in four days.

On Sunday, star center fielder Julio Rodríguez suffered a high-ankle sprain after crashing into the outfield wall and twisting his right ankle while trying to catch a fly ball. Rodríguez, who was finally heating up after a perplexing first half of the season, was placed on the 10-day injured list and will be reevaluated in a week.

On Monday, shortstop and team captain J.P. Crawford broke his hand on a hit by pitch. He’s expected to be out four to six weeks.

And on Wednesday, hard-throwing reliever Gregory Santos exited the game after feeling a “sharp pain” in his right knee, according to Servais. Santos was making just his fourth appearance since returning on July 9 after missing the first half of the season with a right lat strain.

“We’ve got a little adversity,” Servais said. “We’ve got a couple of our veteran players on the IL right now, so you have to find a way to keep your head above water until we get healthier.”

Rough stretch for bullpen

The hitting struggles have consistently left Seattle’s bullpen with a razor-thin margin for error. And with the bullpen going through a rough stretch lately, every misstep has been magnified.

In the final series before the All-Star break against the Angels, reliever Austin Voth gave up a walkoff two-run homer in the 10th inning of a 6-5 loss and a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning of a 3-2 loss.

This past Saturday, reliever Ryne Stanek surrendered a go-ahead two-run homer in a 4-2 loss to the Astros. On Monday, Stanek and fellow reliever Trent Thornton each allowed an earned run in a 3-1 loss to the Angels. And on Wednesday, Santos gave up both earned runs in a 2-1 loss to the Halos.

Over the past nine games, Seattle’s bullpen has surrendered 13 earned runs in 24 1/3 innings, which equates to a 4.81 ERA.

“It’s very, very thin margins there (for the bullpen),” Servais said after Wednesday’s loss. “And you’ve gotta throw strikes, which we did today. We didn’t do the other night. We kind of gave that game away. Today we threw strikes (and) they had a couple hits. … It’s baseball. It happens.

“But on the flip side of that, you’ve gotta have enough offense to combat that and come back, and we just haven’t been able to do that.”

Up next

The good news for the Mariners? They have the perfect opponent for a “get-right” series.

After an off day Thursday, Seattle opens a three-game set in the Windy City against the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox, who are on pace for the worst record of any team since MLB expanded to a 162-game regular season in 1962. The White Sox are sitting at 27-77, which puts them on pace for 42.1 wins. The 2003 Detroit Tigers hold the worst 162-game mark at 43-119.

The White Sox average an MLB-worst 3.11 runs per game, which is 0.44 lower than any other team. They also have the second-worst ERA in the majors at 4.63. They have lost 10 straight games and 13 of their past 14.

“I do believe that we will get this going,” Servais said. “It’s just a struggle right now. There’s no question about it. Everybody that’s here on a daily basis is trying to grind through it, and that’s all you can do. You can’t quit. You can’t go home. The schedule won’t allow you to do that, and these guys are wired the right way. Going out on the road now, obviously a couple big series there, and we’ve gotta do more offensively. That’s what it comes down to.

“I do believe in the makeup of this group,” he added. “They’re not quitters. They’re not gonna quit. We’re down one game in the standings. We’ve got 50-some-odd games to play. When it flips and you go run off eight out of 10, you see where you’re at and you’re like, ‘We’re OK.’ It will flip. It’s baseball.”

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