Mariners Swept By Padres

When thinking that the Mariners could some way end things far as the offense slump they have been in for some time in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings all nine batters strike out in a row.

Prior to sixth inning the Mariners came in striking distance to possibly when the game. Going into the fifth inning they were down by five runs without scoring a run. Wade LeBlanc who had a good outing in his last appearance  gave up a two-run homer to catcher Austin Hedges that gave them a two to nothing lead in the second. The Padres scored another run in the third inning. In the fifth inning left fielder Hunter Renfroe hit the second two-run homer of the game for the Padres. They picked up another run in the top of the fifth inning to make it 5-0. The Mariners did make a game of it scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning including a home run by Nelson Cruz making the score 5-3.

The Mariners could have added on to hopefully win the game but as mentioned earlier they struck out nine straight times from the sixth through the eighth. The Mariners’ bullpen did hold the Padres from scoring any more runs. In the ninth inning Kyle Seager led off by hitting a home run to make the score 5-4 to give all the faithful fans a chance for a possible victory. Dee Gordon pinch hit getting a hit but was erased on a Denard Span fielder’s choice. Span was able to steal second base with two outs after Ben Gamel struck out. Chris Herrmann pinch hit for Mike Zunino who came into the game in the seventh himself. Herrmann struck out to end the game.

Really shows how desperate the Mariners are with the offense when they use seven pinch hitters in the game. Actually only six came to the plate because Daniel Vogelbach first was to pinch hit for catcher David Freitas but the Padres brought in a left handed pitcher so Zunino replaced Vogelbach as the pinch hit. Although Vogelbach doesn’t do well against lefties Zunino isn’t a very good pinch hitter himself.

The Mariners had a starting lineup of all right handed hitters outside of Robinson Cano. The Mariners could have won the game to if it were not for errors by Kyle Seager and Gordon Beckham in for Jean Segura who didn’t play for the second straight game because of illness. Beckham had two throwing errors in the game so he showed that he isn’t a very good shortstop at all. Although Dee Gordon isn’t hitting well right now though he did get a pinch hitting single in the game he should have been playing shortstop though he bats left handed. I wonder if Scott Servais is trying to over manage right now.

The way that the Mariners are playing right now what choices does Servais have? The Mariners have 17 games remaining including the ten they have on the last road trip starting Thursday night in Anaheim against the Angels.