Mariners: 5 takeaways from tough series versus Houston Astros

3) Rare off-night for the bullpen

Last year was a tough one for the Mariners’ bullpen, as they had the third-worst ERA and fourth-worst WHIP in the Majors. This season, the contrast could not be more stark.

Following Thursday’s slate of games, the M’s relievers have combined for the third-best ERA and second-best WHIP in all of baseball. Throw in the second-best batting average and the bullpen’s contribution cannot be applauded enough.

In this respect, the bullpen continued to perform to — and in truth exceed — the level required of them in three of the four games during the Astros series. In those three games they combined to pitch 6.2 innings, allowing just five hits and no earned runs.

As tough as the four-game set was in Houston, the Mariners could have conceivably ‘escaped’ with a series split. However, the most reliable element of their team picked Wednesday’s game to have a rare poor outing.

Unfortunately for the M’s, it also came on a night when their bats finally came to life against Zach Greinke. He was chased from the game after just 4.0 innings, due to allowing four hits, four earned runs and two walks.

As such, Seattle found themselves in a seemingly strong position entering the bottom of the eighth with a 5-3 lead. Rafael Montero got the first out, but then it all started to go wrong as two batters reached base with one out.

It was at this moment when Evan White had the opportunity to set up a double-play and get the Mariners out of the eighth inning unscathed. And you would have put money on him to come through, after making just one error last year en route to winning a Gold Glove.

Instead though, White made a poor throw to second, allowing the Astros to score a run and get to within 5-4. This set the stage for Montero to lose his nerve, allowing an RBI single to tie the game and then loading the base.

It was at this point Montero was removed from the game, but there was no stemming the flow. Will Vest walked a hitter and then gave up a sacrifice fly, to complete the comeback for the Astros in a 7-5 win.

For this particular game alone, you could objectively argue Montero was unfortunate and we’ll buy that. In general however, there are concerns about a pitcher who already has four blown saves in 2021, compared to none last season.

The Mariners are seemingly stocked in their bullpen, with the majority of the relievers proving to be extremely reliable so far this year. As such, if Montero looks like he is becoming a regular liability, the ball club do not need to continue using him in crucial situations.

Kendall Graveman would certainly be the prime option as the main closer, with Keynan Middleton also worthy of consideration. We will watch this space with interest in the coming days and weeks.

NEXT: ARGUABLY HIS BEST START FOR THE MARINERS