Mariners swept by Astros as Robbie Ray struggles to deliver

Robbie Ray and the Seattle Mariners were brought crashing back down to earth, as Sunday’s 8-5 loss led to a series sweep by their divisional rivals, the Houston Astros.

On Sunday, the Mariners needed Robbie Ray to be somewhere close to his best, if they were to have any chance of beating the Astros. Instead, he couldn’t have been much worse, leading to a 8-5 loss for the M’s and a humbling sweep by their divisional rivals.

Right from the word go Ray was on the back foot, as he gave up a home run to Jose Altuve on the very first pitch of the game. Fans were only just getting settled into their seats and the Mariners were already 1-0 down.

It marked the second time in this three-game series, that Altuve had hit a leadoff homer. For Ray specifically, his day never got any better.

This was accentuated by the 2021 AL Cy Young winner giving up five straight hits to begin the the top of the second. This resulted in the Mariners finding themselves in a 5-0 hole after just two innings.

On the day, Ray allowed a career-tying high of 10 hits, equaled his season worst of six earned runs and had only one strikeout. He also lasted just 3.0 innings, representing his shortest start since 2019.

The performance by the 30-year-old was in stark contrast to how well he had pitched in his seven previous starts. Over that period he allowed just 24 hits (3.5 per contest), seven earned runs (1.36 ERA) and a .490 OPS, as he went 3-0 and the Mariners won six of the seven games.

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In reality though, Ray has often struggled during his eight career starts against the Astros, as noted by Daniel Kramer of mlb.com. His allowed batting average (.323), on-base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (.601) and OPS (.991) against Houston are the worst versus any ball club he’s faced throughout his Major League career.

With the Mariners specifically, Ray has now allowed 18 hits and 10 earned runs in just eight combined innings this season. He will face the Astros for the third time this coming weekend, during the four-game series in Houston.

There is no denying the 2017 All-Star needs to figure out how to pitch better against the Mariners’ main divisional rival. He can expect to face them a lot during the remainder of his five-year contract in Seattle. (Although he does have an opt-out available following the 2024 season.)

Manager Scott Servais acknowledged Ray’s issues with the Astros, when speaking to the media after Sunday’s game. He said:

“He’s been on such a roll, but unfortunately they’ve got his number. They’ve swung the bats really good against him this year. To lead off the game with a home run (on the) first pitch and then the other guy follows with a home run, after that you’re kind of searching.”

As for Ray himself, he was understandably despondent when speaking to the media. He said:

“I threw too many pitches, missing spots; they took some really good pitches. They swung at some really good pitches and hit them when I didn’t think they should have. It’s just how it goes sometimes.”

Down 6-0 after just three innings, the Mariners were always going to struggle to come back against such a strong opponent. They gave it a good go regardless, as three runs of their own in the seventh inning got them to within 6-3.

All this did though was refocus the Astros, who added another two runs in the top of the eighth. The M’s would tag on two more in the bottom half of the inning, but could never get any closer than 8-5.

While there is no guarantee it would have made any difference, the Mariners still missed the presence of Julio Rodriguez during the series. In addition, Jesse Winker was also forced to leave Sunday’s game with a left ankle sprain, although he doesn’t anticipate missing any playing time.

Servais summed up the struggles of three games, but made sure not to be too down on his ball club. He said:

“It was a disappointing series. We were rolling along about as good as you can roll. unfortunately, they’re going just as good. We were not going to win every game the rest of the year. They’re a really good team. We know that we’ve played very well against them this year. They just made things happen in their favor in this series.”

Overall it was a reality check for the Mariners, who came into the series with hopes of closing the gap on their rivals at the top of the AL West. Following the series sweep, the message is to not run before you can walk, i.e. the M’s should first focus on maintaining a wild card spot.

What is your opinion of the Mariners following the sweep by the Astros? Is this a significant setback, or just a minor blip? Are you confident of their chances of qualifying for a wild card spot, or concerned about how the Houston series will impact the ball club? Let us know in the comments section below.