‘Keep your head up.’ Mariners plunge four games in AL West race amid 1-5 stretch

A double-digit lead in the American League West has vanished. The bats remain ice cold, unable to support baseball’s premier, first-class starting rotation. And another season brimming with promise continues to slip away, fading into the hands of the Houston Astros.

Plagued by the sport’s least-productive offense over the last week, the Seattle Mariners dropped five straight games – a three-game sweep at Detroit and the first two in Pittsburgh this weekend – as they watched their arch-rival Astros win eight in a row. Seattle’s once-10-game lead in mid-June has collapsed into a four-game deficit, their playoff odds plummeting in parallel from 91.7 percent (June 18) to 21.4 percent (Sunday morning).

“We’re not playing good baseball,” manager Scott Servais said Saturday night, following Seattle’s fifth straight loss, 7-2, a game in which they were outplayed by Pittsburgh in every phase. “There’s no way to sugarcoat it.

“We’re certainly capable of playing better.”

He’s right: Seattle scored nine total runs in their five losses. In that span, the Mariners ranked last in batting average (.139), last in wRC+ (45), and 29th in on-base percentage (.253) among MLB clubs. Seattle still leads MLB with 1,280 strikeouts this season, a dubious crown they would prefer second-place Colorado (1,215) to seize.

The script reads like a broken record: Seattle’s rotation posts a quality start, only for the offense to strand potential rallies on base. That was Saturday’s story, when the Mariners stacked eight hits but left 10 on base and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

“It hurts all the same, honestly,” outfielder Luke Raley said Friday night, following the club’s fourth consecutive loss. “We should be going out there and executing the game plan every day.”

The Mariners are 51-10 when scoring four or more runs in a game. That makes them 13-51 when they score three or less.

Raley continued. “I wish there was another answer, but there’s really not. You’ve got to hone in on your preparation. It’s hard, because I look around the clubhouse, and I see everybody doing it. It’s just one of those things. … You’ve got to hope the big hit’s coming (and) doesn’t stop.”

And rarely is starting pitching to blame. The rotation leads MLB with 76 quality starts and features the only quartet of arms to log 13 or more quality efforts (Logan Gilbert leads the major leagues with 20).

Arguably the most frustrating of Seattle’s losses amid their 1-5 stretch were Wednesday and Thursday, when starters Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo threw 14 combined shutout innings and the Mariners lost both games, continually tormented by insufficient run support. The Tigers rallied for two runs in the eighth inning of each, walking off Wednesday in extras, 3-2.

How does that change Miller’s mindset on the mound, routinely placed in high-leverage situations despite dominance that should earn him stress-free innings?

“I try to go one inning at a time,” he said Wednesday. “I’ve got to get three outs. Get a clean inning, and get us back on offense. If we’re up 1-0 or up 4-0, I try to do the same thing.

“I don’t know. I go out there and try to put up a zero and see what happens. I try to go as long as I can and be efficient.”

Confronted with a five-game skid, tying their longest of the season, Seattle desperately needed their answer – and got one, if only a Band-Aid on an open gash. Sunday’s 10-3 win over the Pirates ended the freefall in the finale.

George Kirby redeemed perhaps the worst start of his major league career – he allowed 12 hits, 11 runs, and six earned runs to the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday – with six strong Sunday innings in Pittsburgh. Catcher Cal Raleigh lasered an early two-run home run to right field in the first inning and Seattle built a lead formidable enough to suppress a late Pirates rally.

“You’ve just got to go out there and keep your head up high,” Luis Castillo, Saturday’s starter, said through translator Freddy Llanos. “This is a sport, and in every sport, you’re going to have bad moments and good moments. Just keep your head up and battle as much as we can when we’re (on) the field.”

Sunday, Houston matched Seattle with a 2-0 defeat of the lowly Chicago White Sox, protecting its four-game AL West lead.

MARINERS, ROBLES AGREE TO CONTRACT EXTENSION

From the first moments in his new clubhouse, Victor Robles knew he wanted to be – and stay – a Seattle Mariner. Skipper Scott Servais welcomed the outfielder on June 5 with advice he gives every player he’s managed: be you.

Robles embraced it. And in two months since the Mariners signed him, the 27-year-old is perhaps Seattle’s most valuable player, unquestionably reviving his career in blue and teal.

That’s why the Mariners pounced on their opportunity to retain Robles, announcing a two-year, $9.75 million contract extension through the 2026 season on Monday. The deal includes a team option for the 2027 season.

Sure, the Mariners got their guy. But Robles, more so, got his team.

“It was a mutual thing,” Robles told reporters Tuesday. “Thank God that I’m able to stay here.”

Considered a top-10 prospect in the sport upon his debut for the Washington Nationals in 2017, Robles went on to win the World Series with the club in 2019, his first full season in the major leagues.

Yet as his career numbers dwindled year-over-year in the nation’s capital, the Nationals released him June 1. Now, it’s a decision they likely regret: Robles is 36-for-131 (.275) with a .741 OPS in 47 games since joining the Mariners, save for his handful of web-gem highlights in the outfield – all with added flair.

Not only is Robles the current leadoff hitter in J.P. Crawford’s prolonged absence (finger fracture); he’s the stand-in center fielder while Julio Rodriguez, still confined to his role as designated hitter, nurses a right high ankle sprain back to full health.

“Since joining the Mariners, Victor has been a dynamic presence on the field and a great fit in our clubhouse. He has showcased the ability to impact the game in all phases,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said in Monday’s announcement. “We are thrilled to have him in the organization for at least two more years.”

Robles was set to enter free agency after the 2024 season, and it was believed his summer surge earned him the opportunity to test the market with multiple suitors.

“In a couple months, I would’ve tested free agency,” Robles said. “But to me, money really isn’t everything. The Mariners gave me an opportunity, and I saw it as a way to thank them for all of the help and everything they’ve done for me. I’m glad to be here.”

Seattle appears to have cemented its everyday outfield for 2025 and beyond: Randy Arozarena in left field, Rodriguez in center, and Robles in right. The latter called that a “blessing.”

Robles’ new deal includes incentives that pay him a $500,000 bonus should he reach 500 plate appearances in a season. That number jumps to $1 million should Robles reach 600.

“It motivates me. I kind of see it as a challenge,” Robles said of the incentives. “I like those challenges.”

And with his extension comes financial stability and security. The future is settled, Robles said.

“From the first day I came in here, I felt the vibes,” he said. “I’m really grateful for the organization, the coaches.

“Especially Scott. He was the guy that brought that energy back to me.”

SHORT HOPS

– Mitch Haniger exited Saturday’s game (quad) after a leap at the right-field wall in an attempt to rob Pittsburgh’s Rowdy Tellez of a fourth-inning home run. Servais said Haniger is considered day-to-day. The 33-year-old outfielder did not appear in Sunday’s finale at Pittsburgh.

– Cal Raleigh’s 27th home run in Sunday’s win paces MLB catchers. He could become the first player to lead the position in home runs across three consecutive seasons since Mike Piazza did it in four straight campaigns (1999-02).

– Planning a spring getaway to the desert? Thursday, the Mariners announced their 2025 Cactus League Spring Training schedule featuring 18 total games at the Peoria Sports Complex. Dates and matchups are cemented, though first pitch times and television broadcast information remains to be determined.

Seattle’s spring training slate begins Feb. 21, 2025. The entire schedule can be found here.

ON DECK

Seattle wraps a nine-game road trip in Los Angeles (Aug. 19-21) for a three-game set with the Dodgers, a perennial contender for the National League pennant.

Bryan Woo takes the mound at Dodger Stadium opposite Los Angeles right-hander Gavin Stone for Monday night’s 7:10 p.m. first pitch.