ARLINGTON, Texas – From the Mariners’ perspective, there isn’t much good about what happened once again at Globe Life Field.
The Mariners suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Rangers here on Saturday evening in front of 36,900 spectators.
They lost the first two games of this crucial series. They are 0-5 in this building this season. And they are now two games behind Texas for control of the AL West.
“Not ideal,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
The top three wild card teams advance to the playoffs / *Texas has the tiebreaker against Seattle
Mariners playoff odds (via Fangraphs)
Reaching the playoffs: 49.7%
Win Division: 15.5%
Games remaining: 8
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Afterwards, there was talk in the visiting clubhouse about how unlucky the Mariners were in this game. You are not wrong.
But shortly after the end of the game, the Mariners (84-70) received good news.
The Kansas City Royals – the 102-loss Kansas City Royals – defeated the Astros in Houston for the second straight night.
What does that mean?
That means nothing has changed for the Mariners. At least not much.
Yes, their chances of winning the AL West have diminished after two straight losses to the Rangers (86-68).
But they’re still within touching distance of a wild-card position, just a half-game behind the Astros (85-70) with eight games remaining in the regular season.
Toronto (86-69) also lost at Tampa Bay on Saturday, and the final two wild card spots remain very open.
The Mariners will turn the ball over to rookie right-hander Bryan Woo in their final road game of the regular season on Sunday to try to salvage something from this series against the Rangers, who will turn to veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.
The Mariners return home on Monday and close out the regular season with three games against the Astros and four against the Rangers.
“We played eight games against two really good teams,” first baseman Ty France said. “Really important games. We just have to keep going. Luckily, like you said, [the Astros] lost, so there is still a chance for us. As long as we can get back to playing our game, getting back home and taking care of our business, we’re in a good place.”
Your error rate is getting smaller day by day. They can’t afford to miss opportunities like they did the last two nights.
For the second straight night, the Mariners posed a serious threat in the ninth inning.
For the second year in a row, they failed to capitalize.
After France struck out reliever Jose Leclerc, the Rangers turned to their embattled closer Aroldis Chapman with one out.
He promptly passed pinch-hitter Jarred Kelenic and scored the equalizer at first.
But Chapman managed to end the game by getting Sam Haggerty to jump to center field and getting pinch-hitter Luis Torrens to end the game.
According to Statcast, Torrens’ hitting style was typical of the Mariners offense that night: He hit the ball hard, with an exit velocity of 104 mph and an expected batting average of .600.
But it was hit just right to stop Corey Seager, who intercepted the short hop cleanly and made the easy first-time throw for the final out.
“Baseball,” Servais said. “Sometimes it’s not always fair.”
Texas left-hander Mike Montgomery pitched seven shutout innings for the Rangers, dishing out five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
The Mariners never got a runner past second base and were shut out for the eighth time this season.
They hit the ball hard in front of Montgomery at times with nothing to show for it.
Dylan Moore narrowly missed a home run in the fourth inning, hitting a 416-foot double off the top of the wall in direct center field – just an inch or two away from a home run. According to Statcast, it would have been a home run at 21 MLB parks.
Moore finished in second place.
In the fifth, Cal Raleigh hit a 408-foot flyout to the centerfield fence with a runner on to end the inning. That would have been a home run in 16 MLB stadiums.
“You need a few breaks,” Servais said. “Anyone who watches this game for 162 days knows you need some and we didn’t get any tonight.”
The Rangers definitely got it done against Logan Gilbert.
They scored the game’s first run in the second inning when Mitch Garver hit a 1-2 pitch that just sneaked past the bag at first base – a hit that registered an exit velocity of 65.8 mph and an expected batting average of .060 had.
France was far from the bag, deep in the hole toward second base, with the right-handed batting Garver at the plate. France made a pike attempt, but the grounder was just out of reach.
This was scored by Adolis Garcia and gave the Rangers a lead they didn’t want to give up.
The Rangers added their second run in the fourth inning with another soft single when Jonah Heim hit a bloop single the other way to left field – with an exit velocity of 63.2 mph – scoring Garcia again.
That’s all the Rangers would need.
“Just a really close game that we had to win,” said Gilbert, who struck out a season-high four batters in 5.2 innings with five hits and two strikeouts. “It’s a lot of fun, but in the end it’s also very frustrating.
“But I think we’re playing really good ball and I think if we can hopefully score tomorrow and go back home then we’ll be fine.”
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