Shohei Ohtani struggles with his command, but the Mariners still only manage four hits in a game which was there to be won versus the Angels.
The Mariners’ struggles with their bats have been no secret this season. The combination of under-performing, inconsistency and just below-average offensive players have resulted in often underwhelming results.
As of June 9, Seattle ranked 28th in batting average, 23rd in OBP, 27th in slugging percentage and 26th in OPS. They have the second-fewest hits in the Majors and have struck out the fourth-most times.
Given all this, that the Mariners are even as high as 20th in runs — not exactly anything to celebrate in itself — is a minor miracle. And it was all there on display during Friday night, in a 5-4 loss to the Angels.
A rare off-night for Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani is undoubtedly one of the very best players in the Majors, which includes being a top-level pitcher. And yet he was there for the taking, with a rare off-night in Los Angeles.
Ohtani struggled with his location throughout his five innings on the mound. He tied a season-high of five walks, while also hitting a batter.
And yet the Mariners failed to take full advantage, with just three hits against the 2021 AL MVP. Their lack of production was especially evident during the top of the first, which took Ohtani 31 pitches to get through.
Yes, Seattle took an early lead courtesy of a two-run homer from Jarred Kelenic. However, in an inning where Ohtani had three of his walks, they should have done more.
Seattle doesn’t take full advantage
The Mariners missed this opportunity when Eugenio Suarez struck out on a foul tip to end the half inning, with two men on base. It would be just the start of a poor night for Suarez, who went 0-for-4 and is looking like a shell of last year’s version.
Seattle did manage another run off Ohtani, a Ty France single in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. As per earlier, this references the Mariners’ ability to produce a decent level of scoring off minimal hitting.
Ultimately though, it still wasn’t enough. Talking about how Seattle did versus Ohtani, manager Scott Servais said:
“I thought we did a really good job against Ohtani to get his pitch count up. I thought we were ready to go. We were right on him early on. We just couldn’t put a big number up there like we probably needed to.”
To add salt to the wound, the two-time All-Star made up for his tough night pitching by showing Seattle how to hit, coming a triple shy of the cycle. His game-high three hits included a two-run homer in the bottom of the third, to tie the contest at 2-2.
Castillo has an erratic outing
Ohtani’s offensive showing was part of what was an up-and-down night for Seattle’s own star pitcher. Luis Castillo certainly had a lot of good moments, with an outstanding 26 swings and misses on the way to tying his season-high of 10 strikeouts.
However, Castillo also allowed two homers including Ohtani’s, as he gave up six hits and five runs — three earned — through six innings. The second homer by Mickey Moniak to make it 5-3 Los Angeles in the bottom of the sixth, was effectively the dagger-blow for Seattle.
Castillo is renowned for his ultra competitive streak, but didn’t beat himself up too much after the game. Speaking through an interpreter, he said:
“I wouldn’t say it was a good game, because obviously we didn’t get the win. But the most important thing for me — what I take away — is that I just competed. Obviously I had good numbers, but the two home runs, one of them was to Ohtani, and he’s Ohtani. But the other one would have been my last pitch of the game for me. So it wasn’t the result that we wanted.”
Servais was mostly complimentary of Castillo’s performance on the night. He said:
“I loved Luis out there, loved where we were at in the ballgame. I thought his stuff was outstanding tonight. … Unfortunately he made a couple of mistakes. Just a matter of a couple of swings for them, that turned the tide in the game.”
Mariners bats fall short versus the bullpen
Further highlighting Seattle’s offensive struggles, they only managed one hit and run off the Angels bullpen in four innings after Ohtani left. This is just not going to get it done, if the Mariners are to make a genuine challenge for the playoffs.
That fourth run came in the top of the ninth, with a solo blast from Mike Ford to lead off the inning. It was his first home run of the season and it pulled Seattle to within 5-4.
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The Mariners were unable to continue the rally however, even after Jose Caballero forced a walk with still no outs. France lined out, to end a game which was there for the taking.
Servais liked that his team never gave up. but knows ultimately it didn’t matter. He said:
“We put pressure on them there at the end. We end the game on a ball well struck. We did a lot of good things, (but) at the end of the day it is about results.”
The loss takes the Mariners two-games below .500, at 30-32. They remain 5.0 games back of the final AL wild card spot, and concern is growing.
This Seattle team is still very capable of putting together a string of positive results. However, the likelihood of them matching last year’s 14-game winning streak heading into the All-Star break is extremely low.
This team is too talented to be in their current position, but as the saying goes, the standings don’t lie. Regardless, they will aim to tie the series by sending Bryan Woo to the mound on Saturday for his second Major League start.
Do you see the current players being capable of stepping up their offensive game? Or do the Mariners need to aggressively pursue a power bat ahead of the trade deadline? Let us know in the comments section below.
