WASHINGTON — Scott Servais needed his middle relievers to work two innings without allowing a run in hopes that the Mariners offense could somehow scratch out a run and he could find a way to that Andrés Muñoz finishes a victory in ninth.
This shouldn’t be an impossible question. But given the recent struggles of everyone in the bullpen, other than Muñoz and perhaps Ryne Stanek, it was a move that came with risks.
The decision to do so, instead of pushing starter Logan Gilbert for another inning, was already being questioned and criticized long before the combination of Gabe Speier and Trent Thornton combined to give up two runs in the seventh inning, which proved to be the difference in a match. disappointing 3-1 loss to the Nationals.
The Mariners lost the first two games of the series and their final four games on this 10-game East Coast road trip. Saturday’s loss at Nationals Park ensured it would be a losing trip. But will it be 3-7 or 4-6 over the 10 games?
The four-game losing streak is the Mariners’ longest of the season, prompting Servais to hold a brief team meeting afterward.
“We’re on a trip to the East Coast and we played several day games and it was a little different,” Servais said. “We have to go out and play better and play the game tomorrow, get on the plane and go home from there. We’re just not playing good baseball. We don’t do anything offensively consistently. It’s been hard for us these last few days.
Of course, an explanation for pulling Gilbert after pitching six solid innings on just 78 pitches was provided, although it probably won’t resonate with angry fans who won’t agree with the thought or the person who does it.
“The thing is, it’s really hot here and he’s running all over the field today,” Servais said of temperatures in the 80s. “It’s something with our guys, because we don’t We have no days off here for our starters, we want to be smart with them and I had a rested bullpen. You look at all the different factors. I thought Logan did exactly what we needed today, get us to seventh with a chance to win the game.
The Mariners are halfway through a streak of 17 games in 17 days and a longer streak of 30 games in 31 days. In early May, Servais said the plan was to monitor the workload during that 31-day period and limit the starters more than usual since they don’t have extra days off.
The result is relying on unproven relievers in close games and leverage situations.
Gilbert was diplomatic about the post-match decision.
“I always want to go back,” he said. “I also try to stay in that state of mind. When I finish a round, I expect to come back until I’m told otherwise because you never want to want to go out or expect to go out and have to go back. but I was told no.
Did he want to stay inside?
“Of course I wanted to, but I have complete confidence in the guys in the bullpen,” he said. “They are incredible at what they do. I respect Skip’s decision. I can not do anything about it. I always want to leave, but I understand.
Gilbert has been lobbying as always, but has yet to win any of these arguments.
“I got close,” he said.
He could only watch as the 1-1 match turned into 3-1.
Speier allowed a one-out single to Jesse Winker, then watched his former teammate advance to second to get into scoring position. A bloop single by Keibert Ruiz couldn’t be caught despite Dylan Moore’s attempted scramble and slide. This put the riders into the corners.
Servais asked Thornton to work around the damage. But a soft ground ball on a half-swing from pinch hitter Ildemaro Vargas allowed pinch runner Victor Robles to head home with the go-ahead run. Thornton then gave up a single to Joey Gallo, who entered the game hitting .122, who scored another run.
Speier was responsible for both points. His ERA now sits at 6.75 on the season. But Thornton, who was thrust into more leverage situations with the absence of Matt Brash and Gregory Santos and the inconsistency of Stanek, either allowed a run or allowed an inherited runner to score in eight of his 12 latest releases. Of the 10 runners he inherited in his outings this season, seven scored.
“We just couldn’t hold them off,” Servais said. “Given where we were in the game, I liked where our bullpen was. We just couldn’t do it. »
But even if Servais had kept Gilbert in the game and gotten another scoreless frame, or if Speier or Thornton had been able to avoid the damage, the Mariners still had to find a way to score another run in the eighth or ninth inning. And it’s the furthest thing from a given.
Trailing 3-1, the Mariners were held scoreless in the eighth and ninth, as they were in every inning except the fifth.
“You have to score more than one point offensively,” Servais said.
Over the first four innings, Washington starter Trevor Williams located his 89 mph sinker — that’s not a typo, it hits 90 mph at times — as well as his slider and changeup to the edges of the strike zone. The Mariners didn’t do much against him, getting two hits and striking out eight times, including Luke Raley, Cal Raleigh and Dominic Canzone in the fourth.
Julio Rodriguez ended Williams’ scoreless innings streak and personal home run drought, smashing a sinker over the wall in dead center for this third homer of the year.
That was all the Mariners would get.
Williams was credited with five innings pitched, but he started the sixth inning and gave up a double to Moore, which ended his outing at 85 pitches. He allowed one run on five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.
The only point allowed to Gilbert came in the second inning. Luis Garcia reached on a swinging bunt that Gilbert tried to grab with a sliding attempt. After Garcia stole second base, Winker threw a drag bunt toward first base that Gilbert was unable to catch despite an attempted drop and pinfall. With runners on the corners, Ruiz hit a sac fly to center. Of the three hits Gilbert allowed, only one – a fifth-inning double by Ruiz – left the infield.
THE SCORE OF THE BOX