What the Mariners’ series against the Astros told us
Just over a month ago, the Seattle Mariners were sitting atop the American League West with a commanding 10-game lead. It was the largest division lead in the majors and Seattle’s largest AL West lead since 2001.
In the blink of an eye, it all disappeared.
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After that high-water mark on June 19, the Mariners lost 17 of their next 25 games – capped by back-to-back demoralizing losses to the rival Houston Astros on Friday and Saturday. Seattle avoided a sweep in Sunday’s series finale, but its division lead is now completely gone, with Houston (52-47) now holding a slight percentage-points edge over the Mariners (53-48)
atop the AL West.
The red-hot Astros, who are 19-7 since June 19, needed just 24 games to erase Seattle’s 10-game lead. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, that’s the third-fastest a team has erased a double-digit division deficit since the divisional era began in 1969.
The Mariners’ 3-0 loss on Friday and 4-2 loss on Saturday were a glaring epitome of their recent struggles – strong starting pitching spoiled by a sputtering lineup.
Luis Castillo and George Kirby both turned in serviceable outings, but Seattle once again couldn’t get anything going offensively, opening the massive AL West series with 14 consecutive scoreless innings. The Mariners mustered just two runs and seven hits over those first two games, prompting a smattering of boos from the fans at T-Mobile Park on both Friday and Saturday night.
