SEATTLE -- Rockies reliever Brent Suter spent part of Saturday night’s shambolic sixth inning shouting frustratedly into his glove and stamping behind the mound.

Truth be told, the Rockies were going to have trouble escaping the hole that starter Ryan Feltner had pitched them into during his 3 2/3 innings. But in the sixth, poor pitching and shoddy defense resulted in four unearned runs that led to the Rockies’ fourth straight loss -- 9-2, and unsightly, to the Mariners.

All the emotion Suter showed on the field, amid an inning that saw the Mariners blow the game open despite managing two hits and driving the ball out of the infield exactly once, no doubt was reflected by the Rockies’ fans. A team that is trying to rebound from a last-place National League West finish last year, and three fourth-place finishes before that, didn’t need to offer up an unfunny comedy.

But Suter knows better baseball, not anger, is the answer.

“I like to focus on the breath, get back to my resets -- combing the dirt with my feet is a big reset for me,” Suter said. “Kind of go into my happy place, like ‘Happy Gilmore.’ But I’ll be honest, I was as mad out there as I’ve been, showing emotion. I’ve got to do a better job with those emotions, controlling them and channeling them into execution rather than letting them bleed into the next pitch.”

Suter could’ve been out of the inning with no runs had his defense made two plays. He didn’t finish the inning because he walked No. 9 hitter J.P. Crawford and he hit Ty France -- or, in Suter’s opinion, France found a way to be hit on his elbow guard. More ugliness occurred under the watch of Connor Seabold, who replaced Suter.

But beyond what happened and why, Suter’s call to set aside emotion and find reason was instructive.

No matter how bad a loss looks in its entirety, the answer is simple: Address what went wrong and correct it, and don’t let the individual incidents define a team.

The inning should have been over when Kolten Wong grounded to Rockies first baseman C.J. Cron with one out and Jarred Kelenic the runner at first base. Cron threw to rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar in hopes of starting a double play. But Tovar flinched and dropped the ball because the sliding Kelenic’s naturally upraised left hand crossed the path of Cron’s throw.

From there, the Mariners simply occupied bases while the Rockies gave them runs.

The inning could have ended two batters later when Julio Rodríguez -- whose three-run triple in the Mariners’ five-run fourth chased Feltner -- grounded to Tovar. But second baseman Ryan McMahon couldn’t pull the ball cleanly out of his glove. It wasn’t an error, but it was another inning-ending double play lost, and a run for the Mariners.

Suter walked Crawford with one out. As for hitting France, Suter said, “It wasn’t that crazy-far in. … He did a good job.”

Seabold entered and hit Eugenio Suárez (who homered off Feltner in the fourth), walked Cal Raleigh and yielded a single to Teoscar Hernández, who reached because third baseman Elehuris Montero dove but didn’t field the ball cleanly.

Manager Bud Black’s insistence on breaking down each heartache-causing play revealed how he wants his team to deal with the miscues -- rationally.

“C.J. probably should’ve just went to first, touched the bag. … Mac, maybe a little bit too quick on the double play. … These guys are trying to make plays, maybe push it a little bit too much,” Black said.

Of Suter, Black added, “Very competitive -- good heartbeat, though.”

The sixth was so bad, it was a juicy story for a night. But cleaning up the starting pitching is the story of the year.

Germán Márquez being out with a right forearm injury leaves Kyle Freeland (0.96 ERA) the only starter whose full body of work is acceptable. Feltner (8.78), who struck out two with the score tied 1-1 only to see his fourth inning unravel, Austin Gomber (8.16) and José Ureña (9.90) have to improve because there are few options. Rookie Noah Davis will start Sunday as the Rockies try to avoid being swept.

There’s no time for the emotion of Saturday’s mess.

“Give him some credit for making us make plays, but at the same time when we -- myself included -- have a play to make, making it at this level is essential,” Suter said.