Mariners and Robbie Ray undone again by Astros in 11-1 loss

Robbie Ray is unable to make it out of the third inning on Friday night, as the Mariners suffer their worst defeat of the season and lose their fifth straight game to the Astros.

After winning three of the first four series this year against the Astros, it seemed the Mariners were finally on a level playing field. Now though, it appears we’ve returned to seasons past.

There was little to be positive about on Friday night, as the Mariners lost to the Astros for the fifth consecutive game. The 11-1 shellacking also represented the M’s biggest defeat of the 2022 season to date.

Worst of all though, Robbie Ray had another terrible outing versus the Astros. He only lasted 2.2 innings, as he allowed five hits, four earned runs and four walks.

In theory, the 2021 AL Cy Young winner would be part of a three-man rotation, assuming of course the Mariners actually make the postseason. It’s tough to have much confidence in him however, after performances like the one on Friday night in Houston.

In Ray’s previous start against the Astros, he allowed a career-tying high of 10 hits and equaled his season-worst of six earned runs. He also only managed one strikeout and was removed after three innings.

This is not what you expect from your staff ace, but the reality is the 30-year-old has always struggled against the Astros. In nine career starts, his allowed batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS are the worst against any team he’s faced during his Major League career.

Ray did not give up any runs in the bottom of the first on Friday night, but it took him 26 pitches to get through the half inning. In the second he allowed a home run, albeit it only resulted in the one run.

It was in the third inning when things fell apart for Ray, as he allowed three more runs and a trio of walks. With the score at 4-0, manager Scott Servais didn’t even wait till the end of the inning to remove the southpaw.

To really encapsulate how much Ray has struggled versus Houston this season, he has a 10.98 ERA in his three starts against them. By comparison, he has a 3.45 ERA in his other 18 starts so far in 2022.

Ray even wondered if he was tipping his pitches to the Astros. Speaking to the media afterwards, he said:

“I’m gonna need to look at it, because they’re taking pitches that are really close to being good pitches and they’re swinging at pitches that they shouldn’t be swinging at and hitting balls they shouldn’t be. Maybe there’s something there, but it’s hard to tell right now. Definitely over these next five days, I’m going to sit down and look it over.”

The one blessing for Ray is that he will not have to pitch against the Astros again this season. Not that it gets any easier, with him set to face the Yankees in his next start on Wednesday.

With Ray’s night over earlier than expected, the usually reliable bullpen had to pick up the slack. Unfortunately for the Mariners, they were unable to do so.

The bullpen combined to allow 10 hits, seven earned runs and three walks in 5.1 innings. Tommy Milone had a particularly bad night, as he gave up three hits and four earned runs in his one inning of action.

In fairness to the bullpen, they have been overworked of late. So much so, they had to even use catcher Luis Torrens for an inning.

The offense was equally poor, in mustering just six hits. Julio Rodriguez was the only batter to perform well, with two hits and the Mariners’ one run on the night.

Servais was understandably not in the most talkative of moods afterwards. However, he did say:

“You’re going to have these games once in a while. We haven’t had this game in a long, long time. It’s the first time we’ve pitched a position player all year. It does happen. The best thing is, you’re going to take a shower, wash it away, and come back to get them tomorrow.”

In this respect, next up on Saturday night the Mariners will look for Chris Flexen to help break the Astros’ winning streak against them. He will be matched up with the excellent Framber Valdez, who is 9-4 on the season and has a 2.74 ERA.

Are you prepared to put a line under the Mariners’ recent struggles once this Astros series is complete? Or are you concerned that these results could linger and impact their play versus the Yankees and beyond? Let us know in the comments section below.