'Really frustrated': Mariners bats go quiet in 5th straight loss

PITTSBURGH -- The sweat seeped from Julio Rodríguez’s forehead as he walked into the visiting clubhouse at PNC Park on Saturday afternoon, a byproduct of a steamy afternoon, to be sure -- but perhaps just as much, it was related to his simmering seethe as the Mariners’ spiral continued.

Rodríguez was in the batter’s box for the game-ending strikeout that sealed a 7-2 loss to the Pirates after the Mariners loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth. It was a microcosmic moment within an afternoon that featured 14 punchouts from Rodríguez and his teammates and 10 of their 12 total baserunners stranded.

After roughly 30 minutes to cool down postgame, Rodríguez spoke candidly about where Seattle stands in the midst of a five-game skid that tied its longest of the season -- and where the club goes from here with just 38 games remaining.

“We had a chance,” Rodríguez said. “I just didn't feel happy with that at-bat. Obviously, we can go both ways at the time and they're competing too. But at the same time, I just hold myself [to a high standard] up there. I just feel like that was a point that I wanted to deliver for the team.”

Seattle’s struggles -- almost exclusively related to offense -- extend much further than this winless road trip, and to nearly two full months now. Since taking a 10-game lead atop the American League West on June 18, the Mariners are 19-30 (.388 win percentage), which is MLB’s lowest outside the White Sox (.204), who are on pace for one of the worst seasons in history.

Asked specifically about the Mariners’ drastic ebbs and flows, Rodríguez said: “I don't want to talk about having a hot streak. I just feel like, what I would like to have is just a consistent footing that you say, 'OK, this is what the Mariners got.’ And that's just it.

“I just feel like really good teams don't have streaks. Really good teams are really good teams every single day, no matter what, if they lose or win. And I just feel like that's what I believe. I don't want no streak.”

To be sure, Saturday’s game wasn’t lost in Rodríguez’s final at-bat. Even if he crushed a grand slam, the Mariners would’ve still trailed by one run with two outs. No, the fateful blows were accumulated much earlier, slowly and methodically.

“I'll always say, we've got business to take care of, and obviously you always want to respect [every team],” Rodríguez said. “But there are some losses that are just tougher than others, depending who you're playing. And that's just what I believe.”

Even as they’ve passed the season’s three-quarters mark and are trending in the wrong direction, the Mariners are adamant that their starting rotation will keep them in every game.

But any semblance of a hiccup -- such as Luis Castillo’s on Saturday -- has created virtually no margin for error. Castillo gave up just five hits to the Pirates, but two were homers, including a two-run blast from Rowdy Tellez that scored one of his three walks. The four runs from “La Piedra” essentially put the game out of reach.

“I feel bad,” Rodríguez said. “I personally feel bad when I cannot do the best I can to support the pitchers whenever I’m hitting. Because they show up every night and give us a chance to win every night.

“That’s why at-bats like the [final] one today ... it hit me harder because our pitchers are always coming out there and doing their best for us. And I feel like it’s only right for us to do the same thing for them, and whenever I personally cannot do that, then I get really frustrated.”

Rodríguez and the Mariners appeared to be on the cusp of an early comeback when he ripped a 101.1 mph pull-side single before scoring from first base on a double from Jorge Polanco to the right-center gap in the fifth. But Polanco was left on second base, marking one of five innings in which the Mariners stranded traffic.

So, Seattle will attempt to do only what it can within this road trip that, after Sunday’s finale in Pittsburgh, will provide an even taller task at Dodger Stadium.

“It takes a lot of courage and belief to just kind of stay strong and keep pushing forward,” Rodríguez said. “And obviously it's tough right now, but I feel like if you believe in yourself ... you can get out of whatever it is that you're in.”