Mariners notes: Seattle ends disappointing 2-6 road trip with series loss to Angels
The Mariners will enter their next homestand still looking to return to .500 following another series loss Sunday in Anaheim to conclude a 2-6 road trip.
They departed Seattle more than a week ago on the heels of an extra-innings win in their series finale against the Yankees on the final day of May, looking to carry some momentum into June. They haven’t found much these first two weeks.
The Mariners were swept by American League West rival Texas in a three-game set that included a 2-0 shutout, a 16-6 rout — the most runs Seattle has given up in a game this season — and another 12-3 loss to open this trip.
They split with the Padres during a short stop in San Diego, returning to an even .500 briefly with a 4-1 win in the series opener, but ended the series with a 10-3 loss the following day.
The road trip and weekend ended with Seattle dropping two of three to another AL West opponent in the Angels.
The Mariners (31-33) have now lost eight of their past 11, and haven’t earned a series win since the Pirates visited T-Mobile Park the final week of May.
“Rough road trip,” Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters in Anaheim after a deflating 9-4 loss on Sunday. “Obviously did not play very good, clean baseball at all on this road trip.
“Right when I think we’re starting to turn the corner a little bit, we continue to take a step backwards. So, frustrating in that regard.”
The Mariners trailed from the first inning on in the series finale in Anaheim. Taylor Ward launched a leadoff solo home run to give the Angels what turned out to be the decisive lead, and Los Angeles kept adding on from there.
The Angels put runs on the board in the first, second, third and fourth innings against Seattle starter Logan Gilbert, who allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits — including a pair of home runs from Ward and Zach Neto — in three-plus innings in his shortest outing this spring.
The Angels led by as many as six midway through the game, though the Mariners closed the gap to as few as three runs in the sixth.
Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run homer in the fourth, Mike Ford a solo home run in the fifth and Eugenio Suarez a sacrifice fly in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-4, but the Mariners never rallied all the way back, leaving a pair of runners on base in both the sixth and seventh.
Neto homered again for the Angels in the eighth and Brandon Drury singled in another run to push the lead back to five.
“I thought in this series we did some positive things offensively,” Servais said. “We got hits. We got guys on base. But, getting big hits and keeping rallies going has been an issue.”
This after a refreshing victory in Anaheim the night before, during which Seattle collected a season-high 16 hits and got a solid outing from rookie right-hander Bryan Woo in his second career start.
Woo struck out four batters in the first two frames, and didn’t allow an Angels hit until Neto singled with one out in the third.
The Mariners were up, 3-0, at that point, and Woo kept Seattle in the lead even after a two-run home run from Shohei Ohtani two batters later, eventually striking out Mike Trout to retire the side.
Seattle’s pitching staff held the Angels scoreless the rest of the way. Woo allowed the two runs on four hits, striking out seven and walking one on 81 pitches across 4 2/3 innings.
“A lot of it was just making my adjustments from last outing, learning from it, building off of it,” Woo told reporters in Anaheim postgame.
“Nice step forward,” Servais said. “That’s what he can do. He’s still young, he’s learning, but nice bounce-back outing from him.
“I thought his stuff was really good. Going to get strike one and just trusting your stuff was really key tonight, and we saw the breaking ball come along as well. So, step in the right direction.”
Meanwhile, Seattle’s offense rallied with the 16-hit performance after being limited to four in each of their two previous contests — a series-ending 10-3 loss at San Diego on Wednesday, and Friday’s 5-4 loss in the series opener against the Angels.
The 6-2 victory Saturday — the second and final win of this eight-game road trip — included contributions up and down the lineup, with eight of the Mariners’ nine batters collecting at least one hit, five tallying multi-hit performances and five driving in runs.
“I still think we can get better, but that’s kind of the process with the swing decisions you want to see night in and night out,” Servais told reporters after the win.
J.P. Crawford led the way with a four-hit game, Julio Rodriguez added three — including a two-run home run to center in the third that broke up a scoreless tie and gave the Mariners a lead they never lost — and so did Suarez, and A.J. Pollock had a pair of hits.
Seattle’s only other win during this road trip was Tuesday in San Diego. Gilbert tossed seven quality innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out six while walking two in a win. Hernandez and Rodriguez both homered in multi-hit games to lift the Mariners to the victory.
ROSTER MOVES
Seattle’s bullpen got a boost last week, when Andres Munoz (right deltoid strain) returned from the injured list.
Munoz made four scoreless appearances for the Mariners this spring, striking out three in 3 1/3 innings before he was placed on the IL in early April.
The 24-year-old right-hander returned to Seattle’s roster ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Padres, and tossed a scoreless eighth inning in his first big league outing in two months, striking out two.
Munoz also pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief in the seventh and eighth during Saturday night’s win over the Angels, striking out three.
“He just changes the dynamic of our bullpen,” Servais told reporters after the win.
Utility player Dylan Moore (left oblique strain) was also reinstated from the IL on Tuesday, made his season debut Wednesday against the Padres, and also started in Saturday’s win over the Angels.
Reliever Trevor Gott (low back muscle spasm) was placed on the 15-day IL on Tuesday and utility player Sam Haggerty was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma in corresponding moves.
Reliever Penn Murfee (right elbow inflammation) was reinstated from the IL on Friday, while reliever Matt Festa was optioned to Tacoma.
Murfee made 15 relief appearances for the Mariners this spring, posting a 1.38 ERA with 15 strikeouts across 13 innings, before he was placed on the IL in early May.
He returned in Sunday afternoon’s finale in Anaheim, but exited the game early in the seventh.
“He’ll get an MRI tomorrow and we’ll find out more then,” Servais said postgame.
ON DECK
The Mariners return to Seattle for a six-game homestand beginning Monday with a three-game series against Miami.
The Marlins (37-29) have won each of their past three series against the A’s, Royals — both three-game sweeps — and White Sox, and enter the week having won eight of their past nine games and 13 of their past 17.
Seattle then hosts the White Sox (29-38) in a three-game series before beginning a six-game road trip to New York and Baltimore.
This story was originally published June 11, 2023 at 7:21 PM with the headline "Mariners notes: Seattle ends disappointing 2-6 road trip with series loss to Angels."
