Mariners face a massive task after losing Angels series

After losing a series they couldn’t afford to lose, the Mariners are now looking at mission impossible in their quest to make the playoffs.

Any optimism that came with the start of Dan Wilson’s reign as Mariners manager, has now been wiped out. After winning five of his first seven games in charge, the club has lost two straight and now find themselves 6.0 games behind the Astros at the top of the AL West.

Time is fast running out for the Mariners to qualify for the playoffs, with them also 5.5 games out of the final AL wild card spot ahead of Monday’s slate of action. With a 69-68 record and only 25 games remaining, it’s going to take a minor miracle to make the postseason.

Yes, it doesn’t help when the Astros somehow manage to sweep a very good Royals team over four games – you would have figured they’d lose at least once. Honwever, when you manage to lose a series against a Angels club which has the second-worst record in the AL, you’ve got no one to blame but yourselves.

We don’t want to sound like we’ve given up complete hope in the Mariners just yet. No one will ever forget their dramatic comeback from 13.0 games back of the Angels in August 1995, to win the division in a one-game tiebreaker.

The size of the task facing the Mariners

At the same time, for some context, consider if the Astros went just 12-13 or 13-12 over the remainder of the regular season. At the same time, the Mariners would have to go 18-7 or 19-6 to catch them. (Including Seattle winning one of their final three games versus Houston, to take the season tie-breaker.)

The problem with this type of scenario is that it’s the Mariners who are playing .500 baseball, not the Astros. The point being no matter what the Astros do or don’t do, it doesn’t make a difference if you don’t take care of your own business.

In this respect, the Angels series perfectly sums up the Mariners’ inability to take advantage of seemingly below average clubs. Los Angeles might be 57-80 on the year overall, but they went 8-5 versus Seattle to win the season series.

Further, the Mariners actually won the first four games of the year versus the Angles, but have since gone 1-8. This includes the last two games of this weekend set, as Wilson suffered his first series loss as manager.

A good start soon turns sour

It had began off well enough, with the Mariners winning Friday’s opener 9-5. However, a 4-2 lead on Saturday night turned in a 5-4 walk-off loss, to set up Sunday’s rubber match.

The situation looked like a good one for the Mariners in theory, with them facing Caden Dana, who was making his Major League debut. And things looked positivr through three innings, with the Mariners leading 2-1 thanks to a Luke Raley homer and Victor Robles sacrifice fly.

However, that would be all the scoring for the Mariners on the day, as the Angels took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth and held on the rest of the way. For his part, Dana allowed two hits, four walks and the aforementioned two runs, while striking out four and becoming the youngest pitcher in Angels history to win his debut.

After showing some signs of offensive improvement since Wilson took over, Sunday’s performance was back to how the majority of this season has gone for the lineup. Five hits along with five walks was just not enough on the day, in a game which was undoubtedly winnable.

No Miller time in Anaheim

Bryce Miller has seen improvement across the board in general during the 2024, when compared to his rookie year. However, he has endured some struggles on the road, and while Sunday’s outing in Los Angeles wasn’t terrible, it could have been better.

Miller ended up going just 4.2 innings, as he allowed four hits, a trio of walks and the aforementioned three earned runs. He did also strike out four batters, but ultimately was tagged with his eighth loss of the season.

Renowned for his excellent heater, Miller admitted after the game that it just wasn’t there on the day. However, he wasn’t too concerned, as he said:

“My off-speed command felt fine, but the fastball was kind of all over. (I’ve) just got to get that back dialled in and we’ll be good to go. It was a hot day. I had a couple splitters that slipped out too. It was a weird game.”

A sign that the fastball was an issue came very early, as Miller gave up a solo homer on just his second pitch of the game for an early 1-0 deficit. Speaking about the moment, he said:

“It’s not ideal, but you’ve just got to keep going. After that they didn’t score (again) till two outs in the fifth. We’ve got to score to win anyway, so a leadoff run wasn’t ideal, but you’ve just got to keep going.

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One last chance

Even through the struggles for Miller and the lineup, the Mariners still had one final opportunity in the top of the ninth, when Raley hit a lead-off single to get on base. However, pinch-hitter J.P. Crawford then saw his hit caught, to begin a double play which also Raley tagged out at second base.

Raley had no issue with accepting the blame for how he reacted on the play. He said:

“I thought it was chopped worse than it was. I thought he was going to have to come up and get it, and I wanted to make sure I was in the throwing lane. I just brought myself way too far inside and couldn’t slide properly. When it comes down to it, I made a mistake. I misread the ball trying to make a play and just messed up.”

While it would be harsh to attach too much blame to Raley in a general sense, the opportunity was still lost and the Angels subsequently got the necessary final out to secure the 3-2 win. Speaking about the defeat, Wilson said:

“A tough series here in Anaheim. We came in here after winning a couple of series, but you’re always in for some tough games here. … It was a tough one to lose this afternoon.”

Wilson lamented the small miscues on the day in general, including Leo Rivas barely missing out on a catch which would have stopped the Angels scoring the crucial two runs in the bottom of the fifth. He said:

“When you get into one-run games, anything can make a big difference like that. … The ball going off of Rivas’ glove as well, dives for it and makes a great effort, just off the glove. It’s a game of inches. That’s what they always say, and today it certainly was.”

This game of inches has been particularly tough for the Mariners on the road, with them now sitting at 28-40 on their travels in 2024. For some context, consider that they had a winning record on the road in each of the past three seasons.

Next up, the Mariners will continue to try and conquer their road issues with a four-game set in Oakland, versus the Athletics. Logan Gilbert will take the ball for the opener on Monday night.

Is it over for the Mariners, or do you still believe they can qualify for the playoffs? Let us know in the comments section below