Mariners: 3 takeaways from series sweep versus the Detroit Tigers

We break down the Mariners’ inexcusable and somewhat embarrassing sweep by a Tigers ball club with one of the poorest records in the Majors.

If you had just one word to summarize the 2021 edition of the Seattle Mariners, then unpredictable would be appropriate. Whilst appreciating the baseball season is a marathon rather than a sprint, it has been challenging to get a grasp on where this ball club is at.

The Mariners have frequently performed well against good opponents and vice versa against poor teams. And nowhere was this more evident, that during this most recent homestand.

First up, Seattle took three of four games against the Cleveland Indians, who entered the series with a strong 20-14 record. However, M’s fans then had to suffer through an inexcusable winless three-game set against a Detroit Tigers ball club with one of the poorer records in the Majors.

What happened against the Tigers may well be just part of the growing pains for a franchise that underwent a significant rebuild. The Mariners are now (theoretically at least) in the final stages of their journey to finally becoming a postseason contender.

However, this doesn’t mean that what happened against the Tigers wasn’t worrying and somewhat embarrassing. Here are our takeaways from the three-game series, together with some other notable highlights:

3) In contention for a place on the wrong side of history

We recently claimed with confidence that a struggling Mariners offense was going to improve. This may well still be the case, but must now seem like hopeful bluster after being no-hit for a second time in the space of just 13 days.

Pure and simple, what happened on Tuesday night was tough for the ball club and their fans to take. The only consolation for them – and this is a major reach – is they were the second ball club to be no-hit twice this season, after the Indians.

At the time of writing, there have been five no-hitters in total so far in 2021. For some context, there were four in total during the last 162-game season in 2019.

As you may remember, two of those no-hitters that year were achieved by Seattle, against the Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros. Now they have matched this ignominy.

The Mariners are just the fifth team in Major League history to be no-hit twice in such a short span. No ball club has ever been no-hit three times in one season, but there has to be concern that Seattle could achieve just that this year.

We are still only in the second month of the 2021 campaign and there have already been several occasions when the M’s struggled significantly with their bats. The most recent example of this was last Thursday against the Indians, when Zach Plesac no-hit the Mariners through seven innings.

What made Tuesday night especially difficult for Seattle and their fans to stomach, was who achieved the no-hitter against them. Whereas John Means had at least been an All-Star just two years ago, Spencer Turnbull has struggled to find success in the Majors.

Consider that in 2019, Turnbull was just 3-17 in 30 starts with a 4.61 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. Last season he had a career-worst ERA of 6.06, albeit in just three starts and four overall appearances.

Even allowing for the 28-year-old pitching better this season, this is no excuse for the Mariners. Arguably, they only genuinely threatened the no-hitter once, courtesy of Mitch Haniger’s line drive in the seventh inning.

Haniger is one of the few players who has provided a consistent bat so far this season, leading Seattle in a variety of categories. He was asked by the media what the ball club can do to improve their offense:

“It definitely falls on the players. We’ve got to make adjustments … you can’t be pointing fingers.

“You’ve just got to look in the mirror and figure out what you need to do, and at times help motivate the guy next to you and try to get the ball rolling.”

You still have to believe the Mariners have the players to make the offense work. For now though it is a slog, with the example of calling up Jarred Kelenic doing little to provide the required spark of energy to galvanize the ball club.

We could point to how well Taylor Trammel has performed in Triple-A. However, will he return to the Majors with an improved and more confident bat, or continue to struggle as he did the first time he was with the Mariners?

It has been a long and hard road for Seattle during their rebuild, with patience being one of the keys. As things stand, patience may well continue to be needed for the foreseeable future.

NEXT: ANOTHER TOUGH OUTING FOR TOP PROSPECT