Mariners once again can't back strong Gilbert start, lose to Bucs

PITTSBURGH -- Even on a night when the Mariners had their best pitcher on the mound, an early lead thanks to a momentum-seizing homer and the opposing starter on the ropes, they still couldn’t find their way to the finish line.

And a winless road trip extended to its fourth straight day after a 5-3 loss to the Pirates on Friday night at PNC Park.

Even Pittsburgh -- which was in the middle of a worse skid, with 10 straight losses -- capitalized on another spiraling stretch from Seattle, which fell to 3 1/2 games back of first place in the American League West while the Astros were still in play vs. the White Sox.

“I believe in our guys,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We're going to fight through it. We need to get some big hits, though. That's what it's about. You’ve got to come through with guys in scoring position.”

Friday’s game in Pittsburgh was billed as the pitching matchup of the weekend, with Mariners Cy Young Award contender Logan Gilbert squaring off against Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes.

And in many ways, it was as good as advertised.

Gilbert set the tone by striking out the side in the first inning while throwing the fastest pitch of his career, at 100.2 mph, while Skenes overcame shaky command but impressively grinded to another quality start in his bid for the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Yet the ongoing narrative of a lack of run support wound up authoring another bleak chapter in a season that’s been full of them. Gilbert entered Friday with an average of just 2.97 runs from his offense while on the mound, second-lowest among qualified starters.

“I feel like this was my game to go out there and turn it around,” Gilbert said. “I felt like we had a good chance to get off to a good start too.”

The first of three errors
Just after Gilbert surrendered a game-tying homer to Yasmani Grandal in the fifth, he gave up a single to No. 9 hitter Michael A. Taylor, who then stole second and went to third on a throwing error from Cal Raleigh. Taylor then scored in the ensuing plate appearance from Andrew McCutchen, who hit a sac fly.

The Mariners had two more errors, one from Jorge Polanco on a grounder through his glove and another from Gilbert, who made a wide throw to first on a successful bunt from Isiah Kiner-Falefa, though those didn’t lead to runs.

The two rare walks from Gilbert
Gilbert was staked to a two-run lead in the fourth, after Luke Raley demolished a 112.5 mph homer off Skenes -- the hardest-hit ball that the Pirates’ flamethrowing righty has surrendered all year. But that wound up being the Mariners’ only run production until the ninth.

Seattle’s lack of timely hits despite creating traffic put Gilbert on a tightrope, and he wound up paying mightily for his two walks.

The first, to Bryan Reynolds, led off the fourth inning, and it was was followed by a double from Kiner-Falefa that put the Pirates on the board and sparked their methodical comeback. The second, to Taylor with one out in the seventh, ended Gilbert’s night.

After Gilbert departed, Taylor scored when Austin Voth surrendered a single to McCutchen, then a two-run double to Oneil Cruz -- one that Dominic Canzone nearly halted with what would have been a remarkable diving catch, but the ball nicked his glove and scooted by him.

Had Canzone made the play -- which had a 65% catch probability, per Statcast -- then Jorge Polanco’s solo homer in the ninth would’ve tied the game.

The momentum-stopping double play
Canzone was also front-and-center when the Mariners had a chance to immediately respond after falling behind in the sixth. Julio Rodríguez led off with a 103.2 mph double off Skenes to the left-field corner and advanced to third on a flyout from Polanco, then Raley drew a two-out walk.

But Canzone chopped a first-pitch fastball to Cruz, who easily turned an inning-ending double play.

“We had really good at-bats against [Skenes] all night,” Raley said. “It's unfortunate that we could only push two across on him. It's just one of those things. We got some people on base, and we needed that big hit, and just didn't get it.”

In defeat, the Mariners fell to 26-34 on the road this season and are one away from tying their longest losing streak.