Three observations from a rough Mariners home stand

The Seattle Mariners’ series winning streak ended over the weekend, and another streak started on Wednesday – although it’s not the type of streak the M’s would like to be associated with.

Seattle nMariners’ Bryce Miller says injury has been an ongoing issue

With a 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees in their three-game series finale, Seattle dropped its second straight series and wrapped up a rough 1-5 home stand against a pair of AL East squads. The Mariners had a chance to to take the series against the Yankees, grabbing an early 2-0 lead Wednesday, but those two runs wouldn’t hold up the rest of the way.

The loss dropped the Mariners to 23-19 on the season. However, they remain in first place in the AL West by one game over the second-place Athletics, who play the Dodgers later in the day.

MLB Standings

Here are three observations after Seattle’s series loss to the AL East-leading Yankees.

Offense cooling off

The Mariners got by with scoring just two runs to take the middle game of the series. It’s tough to beat a team like the Yankees without scoring more, though, and Seattle learned that the hard way Wednesday when the Yankees scored in three straight innings to erase a 2-0 deficit and win the series rubber match.

Unfortunately for the Mariners, their offense started to cool off during the homestand. The M’s were held to just seven runs during their three-game series with Toronto over the weekend – their least in a series this season – then totaled just nine runs over three games against New York. They had more than six hits only once over the six games, and the home runs that have been key for the offense were largely missing outside of three homers during Monday’s loss.

It felt inevitable that the lineup would come back down to earth at least a bit following a surprisingly impressive start to the year. The M’s, of course, would like that offensive surge to continue, but what they need at the least is for the offense to keep producing for the next couple of weeks until injured starters Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller make their anticipated returns.

Julio does his best Griffey

Former Mariners star center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. made torturing the Yankees a habit during Hall of Fame career, and he let it be known that he very much enjoyed doing so. Julio Rodríguez may not have the same level of hatred for the Yankees as Griffey did (very few can), but he gave his best Griffey impression during a series in which he was a major thorn in the Yankees’ side at the plate and on the field.

Rodríguez kicked off the series with a home run in the first inning of the series opener. The following day he delivered a sliding, highlight-reel catch on the warning track to rob Yankees slugger Aaron Judge of extra bases and ultimately prevent a run from scoring. He capped the series Wednesday with another strong performance, robbing a home run in the first inning and getting the Mariners on the board early with a two-run double in the third inning.

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The big series was another encouraging sign for the M’s center fielder. Rodríguez’s overall numbers at this point don’t jump off the page, but what he’s done recently shows he may have already gotten past his typical early struggles at the plate. In 13 games this month, he’s hitting .286 with a .817 OPS, three home runs and six RBIs. He’s reached base in 10 of those games and had multiple hits in four. All good signs that Rodríguez could be finding his summer form in the spring.

Injuries mounting as schedule gets tougher

While the offense has been a pleasant surprise for most of the season, the most truly impressive part of the Mariners’ early success is the way they’ve overcome injuries thus far.

Miller hit the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation Wednesday morning, which means the team is currently without three-fifths of its starting rotation and three of its starters from the opening day roster, yet the M’s sit atop their division a quarter of the way through the season.

Can the Mariners really keep winning (which is obviously happening less this past week) with injuries continuing to mount? It wouldn’t be surprising if the injury bug catches up to this team soon.

Seattle’s resolve will yet again be tested during its upcoming 10-games-in-10-days road trip, starting Friday at the 26-15 San Diego Padres. The M’s also have four games in Houston against the Astros on the road trip. When they return home for a 10-game home stand, they face the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs three times, the red-hot Minnesota Twins (winners of 10 straight) four times and the Texas Rangers for three more.

A lot can change for this team’s trajectory over the next three weeks.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• New updates from Seattle Mariners GM on George Kirby, Logan Gilbert
• Passan says Seattle Mariners manager Wilson has unlearnable trait
• Seattle Mariners sign Japanese OF Tomo Otosaka to minors deal
• Seattle Mariners prospect rises, another falls in MLB’s new top 100 rankings
• Injured Seattle Mariners ace Gilbert hits important benchmark

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