Inside The Mariners

Takeaways From Seattle Mariners Getting Swept by Baltimore Orioles

The Mariners had a disappointing conclusion to their homestead at the hands of one of the worst teams in baseball this season.
Teren Kowatsch|
Seattle Mariners third baseman Ben Williamson is hit by a pitch during a game against the Baltimore Orioles on June 4 at T-Mobile Park.
Seattle Mariners third baseman Ben Williamson is hit by a pitch during a game against the Baltimore Orioles on June 4 at T-Mobile Park. | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

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Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners had a disappointing end to their nine-game homestand against one of the worst teams in the American League this season.

The Mariners were swept by the Baltimore Orioles to finish 3-6 in their nine-game home stretch. It was the second time in a row Seattle followed a winning road trip with a losing record in the following homestand.

Here's the takeaways from the Mariners series loss to the Orioles:

Bullpen's struggles continue

The bullpen's inconsistencies from the previous two series of the homestand against the Washington Nationals and Minnesota Twins continued against Baltimore. The relievers allowed three runs in a 5-1 loss to the Orioles on Tuesday and another pair in a 3-2 loss Wednesday.

The Mariners relievers ended the series on a good note and didn't allow a run to Baltimore in Game 3 of the series Thursday, but they took a hit during after Collin Snider landed on the injured list with a right flexor strain.

Seattle will get back reliever Trent Thornton from the injured list soon, but the recent homestand highlighted the limited options the club has, especially in high-leverage situations.

Several insiders have speculated the Mariners could be aggressive and buyers at the trade deadline. If the club does make calls around the league, a reliever should be part of the conversation.

Offense continues to sputter

Speaking of being buyers at the trade deadline, this past series continued to highlight Seattle's need for offensive help.

The Mariners offense averaged two runs a game across the series against the Orioles and 3.4 runs a game across the entire homestand.

Seattle finished 4-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left 16 runners stranded against Baltimore.

The Mariners' recent call-up and top 100 prospect Cole Young has proven to be an elite defender in the major leagues, but his bat has been slow to translate to the majors aside from his walk-off debut May 31. Seattle will give Young time to figure things out at the plate, and it has depth in the middle infield with Dylan Moore on the roster and Leo Rivas in Triple-A.

First base, and potentially designated hitter depending if Jorge Polanco's skid continues, are the main areas in need of improvement. The issue is there are limited options the Mariners can target without taking on more salary or giving up valuable prospects. With the way the roster is set up, there's very few positions Seattle can improve in via the trade market that wouldn't create logjams.

There's also a chance the Mariners are simply going through a bad stretch and the team can return to the form they had when they won nine consecutive series earlier in the season. But time is running out for Seattle's lineup to figure things out. If the Mariners can't find the answers within their roster, then acquiring a player is the only option remaining.

Up next

Seattle will play the Los Angeles Angels in Game 1 of a three-game series at 6:38 p.m. PT on Friday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. Bryce Miller will start for the Mariners and Kyle Hendricks will start for the Angels.

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Teren Kowatsch
TEREN KOWATSCH

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