Mariners suffer more than one loss in Tampa Bay

Bryan Woo suffers another injury and the Mariners blow a late lead on a miserable evening in St. Petersburg versus the Rays.

The tough part of this nine-game road trip was meant to be out of the way, after losing a series in Cleveland. However, then the Mariners went to Miami and also lost a series to a Marlins team with the worst home record in the Majors.

Now, the Mariners have gotten their latest series in Tampa Bay off to a concerning start, versus another Florida team which has struggled at home. The 4-3 loss was one of the tougher ones too, with Bryan Woo also suffering yet another injury.

Woo was pitching well enough versus the Rays, including striking out three batters during the opening three innings. However, he was forced out in the bottom of the fourth with no outs, after experiencing right hamstring tightness.

It is the latest blow in what has been a frustrating year so far for the 24-year-old. He didn’t make his first start of the season until May. 10, and overall he has been limited to seven appearances so far.

Adding insult to injury, Woo was charged with a run after he’d left the game, thanks to a wild pitch from his replacement, Tayler Saucedo. The score cancelled out Cal Raleigh’s solo blast in the top of the fourth, to tie the game at 1-1.

• Dante Fowler Jr Joins Seahawks: A Veteran’s Role
• Mariners do right by Randy Johnson with statue to honor his legacy
• Cal Raleigh’s Injury: Latest News and Prognosis
• Seattle Sounders Struggle with Finishing in Draw
• Seahawks Rookie Mini-Camp Highlights: Key Performers & Insights

Woo will have an MRI on Tuesday, with Mariners manager Scott Servais saying he hopes it’s just a strain and won’t be a long-term absence. Regardless, you have to wonder if the righty will just never be durable enough to remain in the starting rotation.

Raleigh understandably feels for his teammate. Speaking to the media postgame, the catcher said:

“You’re trying to avoid injuries, and when new ones pop up like that, it can get really frustrating. So I feel for him. Hopefully, it’s nothing major and he can turn around really quick.”

Mariners lineup left wanting once more

On the other side, the Mariners lineup was having one of their far too familiar collective struggles at the plate, on a night in which they only managed three hits. At the same time though, they did manufacture seven walks.

One of the three hits came courtesy of Mitch Garver, who hit a two-run bomb in the top of the seventh to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead. With the bullpen seemingly doing their job, there was genuine hope for the visitors to hold on for the win.

Unfortunately for Servais’ team however, fate had other ideas. And it all came about thanks to a two-out walk by Austin Voth in the bottom of the eighth, with no one on base.

Voth subsequently allowed two hits and a RBI, which pulled the Rays to within 3-2. At that point Servais made the decision to bring in Andrés Muñoz, which in fairness wasn’t a bad idea.

Rare poor outing from Muñoz

It didn’t go to plan however, as Muñoz immediately issued a walk of his own and then followed this up by allowing a two RBI single (which was charged to Voth). The result was just his second blown save of the season and a first lead of the night for the Rays, at 4-3.

The Mariners were stunned and unable to respond in the top of the ninth. They have now lost five of six, and seen their 10.0 game lead in the AL West shrink down to 5.5 games, also in part because of a five-game winning streak by the Houston Astros.

Raleigh was of course frustrated by the outcome, but also gave the Rays their due. He said:

“It just goes back to the little things. The two-out walk killed us. It was kind of the key to the game. Credit to them, they put the bat on ball after that. We even got the ground ball at the end, but it took a bad hop unfortunately. It’s the little things like the free passes and two-out walks. Things like that always come back and haunt you. It doesn’t matter how good you are.”

In this respect, how good the Mariners are is open to debate at the moment. Certainly it doesn’t help their case, when they’re losing games and series versus teams with poor home records.

In fairness, if you had said the Mariners would reach the halfway point of the 2024 regular season with a 45-36 record and a 5.5 game lead in the division, they would have gladly accepted this. However, this doesn’t change the reality that they need to nip this losing run of form in the bud sooner than later.

In an attempt to do just this, Servais will send Luis Castillo to the mound on Tuesday evening, as the Mariners aim to level matters versus the Rays. There’s still real hope of winning the series, with George Kirby slated to start on Wednesday; it’s up to this ball club to take advantage and get back on track asap.

At what stage is it acceptable to become concerned about the Mariners’ poor run of results? Or do you perceive this as just a minor blip? Let us know in the comments section below.