Mariners’ sputtering offense is nearing a dubious feat

The Seattle Mariners’ struggles at the plate continued with a 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in Thursday’s series rubber match.

With the loss, the M’s fell back to .500 at 41-41. And they moved closer to a dubious feat.

While AL West-leading Mariners scuffle, Astros wake up

The Mariners have now scored three runs or fewer in 11 consecutive games, which is tied for the third-longest such streak in franchise history, according to Stathead. The 2015 Mariners went 13 straight games with three runs or fewer, the 1988 M’s went 12 straight games and the 2010 M’s went 11 straight.

The current streak began with an 8-3 loss to the Washington Nationals on June 13. The Mariners have totaled just 24 runs over the past 11 games – an average of 2.2 runs per contest. Over that span, they are 4-7 and have batted .183 with seven home runs and eight doubles.

For the season, Seattle is tied for 21st in the majors in runs (331), tied for 27th in batting average (.231), 24th in on-base percentage (.311), 27th in slugging percentage (.384) and 27th in OPS (.695). The Mariners are tied for ninth in home runs (100), but they have just seven homers in the past 11 games after hitting 93 long balls in over their first 71 games.

The Mariners now head to Cleveland for a three-game weekend series against the Guardians, who have the sixth-best ERA (3.79) in the majors.

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