Mariners' funk continues in sloppy finale

ARLINGTON -- In less than 24 hours, the Mariners went from flexing their complete dominance over the Rangers to looking uncharacteristically messy, and it put them on the wrong end of two games that might’ve been winnable, capped by Sunday’s 5-3 loss at Globe Life Field.

After a few defensive miscues on Saturday, the series finale saw two costly wild pitches -- one each from Logan Gilbert and Matt Brash -- loom large, especially given that they were both with two outs. That, and manufacturing just four hits while striking out 13 times proved to be too tall an obstacle to overcome.

“It’s disappointing,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “It’s not the end of the world. But we’ve got to get back going offensively. You’ve got to hit on the road to win. I've always said that, and we’ve got to get back to doing those things.”

Seattle had won nine in a row against Texas before these two, which led to the Mariners' first series loss to a team other than the Astros since June 19 against the Angels -- objectively the defining turning point of their season.

“They beat us,” Servais said. “They out-executed us. They out-hit us, certainly in today's game, and they out-pitched us.”

The outcome hinged heavily on Texas’ two-run breakthrough in the seventh inning, when Brash surrendered a two-out double to Corey Seager in a full count, followed by a wild pitch that allowed Seager to reach third base. He then allowed an RBI single to Adolis García that proved decisive. Erik Swanson was then called on, and he allowed an RBI double to Nathaniel Lowe.

Brash had been scoreless in seven consecutive outings dating back to July 29, with just four hits allowed in 30 batters, including the first two in the seventh inning Sunday.

“[Brash] made the middle-of-the-plate pitches probably at the wrong time to the wrong hitters,” Servais said. “But we need Matt Brash to keep staying aggressive, staying in the strike zone. He's going to play a big part in our bullpen here as we finish the season.”

Gilbert’s wild pitch occurred when he spiked a slider to Meibrys Viloria in the fifth inning, which allowed Seager to score from third. Gilbert then punched out Viloria on the next offering. It was part of a curious afternoon for the righty. He walked a season-high-tying four but navigated through the sixth inning while surrendering three runs and five hits, equaling a quality start.

His misses weren’t drastic, mostly near the strike zone, and he battled against a few borderline calls from home-plate umpire Clint Vondrak. Also, his fastball velocity hovered at his season average (95.9 mph), but his slider and curveball admittedly weren’t in top form.

“It was kind of weird,” Gilbert said. “I mean, obviously, I don’t think it was my best. I was a little off, just kind of like fighting out there, but trying to keep us in it.”

Gilbert didn’t surrender a homer, but nine of the 17 balls in play against him had an exit velocity above 95 mph, Statcast’s threshold for a hard hit, continuing a trend in what’s been a tough second half. Seattle is 1-4 behind him since the All-Star break after going 14-5 in his first-half starts.

The second-year starter eclipsed his previous career high innings total of 135 in 2019, reaching 138 1/3 on Sunday. To account for the late-summer wear and tear, he’s curbed some of his workouts and routines between starts.

Offensively, the Mariners had chances against Martín Pérez, and they turned two errors into two runs, notably when Julio Rodríguez’s speed forced an errant throw from Seager and allowed J.P. Crawford to score from third with two outs in the sixth to tie the game at 3.

Earlier, Crawford hit a dribbler that induced a wide throw from third baseman Ezequiel Duran and set up Crawford to score on a single by Sam Haggerty in the next at-bat. But on that same play, Eugenio Suárez was thrown out by roughly 15 feet after being sent by third-base coach Manny Acta when the ball reached Garcia and his cannon in right field.

“It was maybe a little bit too aggressive there,” Servais said. “It happens. You don’t get it right all the time, but Manny does a great job. ... Again, it’s tough to win a game when you only get four hits in this ballpark and against a team that’s swinging the bat really well. Like I said, you’ve got to let this one go. We’ve got to start playing better offensively.”