Sunday watchpoints: Recent offensive numbers tell a sad tale

Some quick numbers to digest Sunday morning before the Mariners attempt to avoid becoming just the second team to suffer three straight shutouts at Fenway Park in at least 20 years.

When the Mariners left Philadelphia after an 11-6 victory on May 10, they ranked four in the majors in scoring at 5.18 runs per game.

Even after scoring just six runs in suffering a four-game sweep at Toronto, the Mariners ranked eighth in scoring after a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Chicago White Sox on May 18 at 4.83 runs a game.

Since then, they’ve been in a free-fall, scoring just nine runs in eight games in a 1-7 collapse. They now rank 23rd among the 30 clubs at 4.24 runs per game.

The Mariners are batting .185 (46-for-249) in their eight-game skid, including .103 (3-for-29) with runners in scoring position.

Other watchpoints:

***The Baltimore Orioles suffered three straight walk-off losses at Fenway Park on Sept. 25-27, 2015. Only two other teams have suffered back-to-back shutout losses at Fenway since 1995: Kansas City in 2006 and Tampa Bay in 2004.

***The pitching matchup Sunday is right-hander Christian Bergman (1-2 with a 6.30 ERA) against Boston right-hander Rick Porcello (3-5, 4.35). The game starts at 10:35 a.m. Pacific time and can be seen on Root Sports Northwest.

***It is Bergman’s first career appearance against the Red Sox. The only current Boston player he has faced is Hanley Ramirez, who had one hit in three at-bats.

***Porcello is 6-4 with a 3.69 ERA in 11 career starts against the Mariners.

***Robinson Cano is 10-for-32 (.313) in his career against Porcello, but Nelson Cruz is just 5-for-35 and Danny Valencia 4-for-18.

***Jean Segura is batting .344 in 30 games since returning from the disabled list.

TIME CAPSULE

It was 19 years ago Sunday — May 28, 1998 — that Edgar Martinez became the first player to hit the lower catwalk at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay. His three-run homer in the first inning lifted the Mariners to a 5-2 victory.

Bob Dutton: @TNT_Mariners

This story was originally published May 28, 2017 at 8:49 AM with the headline "Sunday watchpoints: Recent offensive numbers tell a sad tale."