Mariners' Offense Stymied Again, Kirby Struggles with HRs in Loss to Nats

The Seattle Mariners have now lost three games in a row after being beaten by the Washington Nationals on Friday night, 6-1. As we do after every game, here's how it happened:

May 24, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby (68) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Mariners lost to the Washington Nationals on Friday night, 6-1, to open up the series on a negative note. The M's are now 27-25 on the season and 3-5 on this grueling East Coast road trip. They'll need to win the next two in Washington to take home an even road trip. As we do after every game, here's what you need to know:

The Overwhelming Story:

For the Mariners, this game was once again about the lack of offensive production. J.P. Crawford started the game with a home run to give the M's a 1-0 lead, but they couldn't add on against Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore. Gore is one of the top young arms in the National League, but he rolled through the M's lineup after the Crawford homer, which is something we've seen all too often.

Gore went 7.0 innings, allowing just four hits and one walk. He struck out eight.

On the pitching side, George Kirby took the loss, surrendering five earned runs over 6.0 innings. The home run ball bit him, as he allowed two homers to account for all five of his runs. He's now 4-5 with a 4.33 ERA. He struck out just three. You can see from the tweet below that he was too in the middle of the plate when he gave up hits:

George Kirby has given up six hits tonight. Here's the location on them pic.twitter.com/YWtJiIb4V8

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) May 25, 2024

The Big Plays:

The home run balls... For Crawford, it was his third of the year and it was a shot out to left center field.

.@jp_crawford gets us started with a bang. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/w5te5qfq7x

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 24, 2024

This was the second Nationals' HR of the game, by catcher Keibert Ruiz...

ball is mindful of why it was invited to section 140 pic.twitter.com/VKjWPYLXmG

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 25, 2024

Odds and Ends:

Crawford had a multi-hit game, which raised his average to .214...Dylan Moore walked and reached on a fielders' choice, he also stole two bases...Julio Rodriguez went 0-for-4, but he did not strike out as he works to get out of his funk...Old friend Jesse Winker went 0-for-3 with a walk, which occurred right before the Ruiz HR.

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