Mariners hold their own in Yankees series but disappoint in finale

The Seattle Mariners show they can compete with the best in the Bronx, but ultimately let the New York Yankees earn a series split.

Following a 6-10 start to the 2024 season, the Seattle Mariners had turned things around and shown what they were capable of. They entered the series versus the New York Yankees, with a 19-12 in their past 31 games and looking to prove they can compete with the best.

For two games the Mariners did just that, as they won twice against a Yankees team which had up to that point only lost six times at home in 22 contests. The home side ended the losing streak with a 7-3 win on Wednesday night, but Seattle still went into Thursday afternoon’s finale, with the chance to take the series.

Instead, the Mariners offence put on one of their still far too frequent tepid showings, to ultimately get shut out 5-0. Yes Luis Gil was tremendous in allowing just one hit — and two walks — in 6.1 innings of action for the Yankees, but it still wasn’t good enough from Scott Servais’ players, as they ultimately finished with just three hits on the day, along with four walks.

Castillo does his best to keep the Mariners in touch

Certainly one person who doesn’t really deserve any blame, is Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo. He allowed just a couple of solo blasts in his 5.0 innings on the mound, as he made it eight consecutive starts of giving up two or fewer earned runs.

Despite this, the three-time All-Star is a competitor who demands a lot of himself, so as far as he was concerned, he just wasn’t good enough on the day. Speaking through his interpreter after the game, he said:

“I didn’t have the command that I wanted on some of those pitches. There were two big swings on pitches that probably were not where I wanted them to be.”

When Castillo left the game, the Mariners were still very much in with a chance, trailing just 2-0. However, the Yankees seemed to finally put them to bed with three more runs in the seventh, to make it 5-0 to the hosts.

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The lineup just isn’t good enough on a consistent basis

The Mariners appeared to give themselves some hope in the top of the eighth, as they loaded the bases with two outs, courtesy of Ty France being hit by pitch and two free passes. However, Clay Holmes then came in to get the final out and end the only real genuine threat the visitors created all day.

The reality is the lineup just couldn’t seem to get anything going, as they continue to cause concern as the weak link on this ball club. They rank 25th or lower in the Majors in batting average, OBP and — most importantly of all — runs scored.

Servais acknowledged the bats didn’t give his ball club much of a chance on the day, although he did also praise Gil. Speaking to the media postgame, he said:

“To win on the road, you’ve got to hit and we didn’t get anything good. Credit to their starter, he’s been really good. We knew coming into the game today, it was going to be a tough battle. We were hoping to get more pitches on him, but he was efficient early in the game and that was kind of the story.”

France marvelled at Gil, who has been a revelation for the Yankees in his first extended action in the rotation. France said:

“He kept us off balance. He’s just dialled in right now. He’s mixing his pitches well and his fastball is jumping out of his hand. He was able to move the ball around the zone and make it tough on us.”

Ultimately though, again, this is as much about the Mariners needing to get more from their lineup, as it is about how well the Yankees or any other ball club pitches against them. They now travel to Washington, D.C. to play a three-game series starting on Friday evening, with George Kirby taking the ball.

Even as the Seattle Mariners continue to lead the AL West, how confident are you about the current state of the ball club? More specifically, do you believe the offense will eventually start producing more consistently, or do you predict they will continue to have issues throughout the 2024 season? Let us know in the comments section below.