Mariners had stars, but were dimly lit in 0-6 Week 8
The Seattle Mariners had a rotten Week 8, all the way around. Putting together three stars was nearly impossible.
Ordinarily, I’d write an article about the Seattle Mariners three stars of the week. I had made a vow, though it was to myself, and no one knows about it, to find three stars no matter how abysmal the week was. Week 8 has tested that vow.
The Seattle Mariners went 0-6 for the week, losing to a Tigers team that came in as one of the worst in nearly every statistical area on offense, defense, and pitching. Then they faced one of the best teams in the entire league in San Diego with their youth and excitement.
How bad was the Mariner’s week? Most of the team was a black hole, which was once a star but now sucks the life out of everything near it.
(Dis) Honorable Mention
Mariners batted .166
During the week, the Seattle Mariners had a miserable time at the plate. Actually, they’ve had a miserable month, being no-hit twice and only achieving double-digits four times in 21 games. Their batting average dropped from .211 in April to hovering around the Mendoza line. This month they’ve been held to four hits or less, eight times in 21 games. You can’t get any more pathetic at the plate than that. Right?
Nearly half of the bullpen goes on the IL
You have to be kidding me about this. In the same week that Seattle bats go absolutely quiet, the Mariners lose nearly their entire bullpen to COVID protocols. Then Sunday, Kendall Graveman also hit the COVID list. It was bad enough that the whole bullpen was exhausted after getting destroyed 16-1.
Four relievers made their Mariners’ debut last week. Some got called back up after terrible initial efforts with the M’s. The Mariners gave up 31 runs in the three-game series against the Padres, and nearly half of that charged to the pen.
The defense fell apart
During the last two games of the week, the Mariners committed four errors. But fans that watched any part of the Padres series know the defense was horrific all three days. Bobbles, missed cutoffs, no one covering a bag, grounder through a hole that nobody covered in a shift, the list goes on and on.
Before the game got totally out of hand on Friday, J.P. Crawford, Kyle Seager, Kyle Lewis, and Jarred Kelenic all made fielding gaffs that didn’t end up as errors in the box score. San Diego applied pressure, and the M’s defense caved to that pressure. While they didn’t have any errors charged to them Friday, they made up for it the next night with three from the official scorer.
The Mariners were no-hit again
Within 13 days, the Seattle Mariners joined the Cleveland Indians as one of two teams to be no-hit twice this season. The Rangers would join their elite efforts the next night when they were no-hit a second time as well. All six no-hitters have been among the same three teams. This time Spencer Turnbull spun the gem, and once again, the M’s gave another team something to celebrate on our mound.