Struggling Mariners Return Home to Face Angels as Offensive Woes Continue]
The Seattle Mariners are experiencing their first month below the .500 mark and sitting in second place in the American League West. Their recent struggles continued Sunday in Cleveland, where they blew a three-run lead in the eighth inning and fell to the Guardians 6-5. With Texas holding a half-game lead in the division, the Mariners (42-43) are looking to regroup at home.
“We need to get back home and regroup … and get ourselves on a roll and get going,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “It’s a tough way to end the road trip.”
Seattle opens a three-game series with the last-place Los Angeles Angels on Monday at T-Mobile Park. The teams will have Wednesday off due to a World Cup match taking place across the street.
The Mariners’ offensive struggles have been severe. Sunday’s five-run performance snapped a 13-game streak of scoring three or fewer runs, matching a franchise record set in 2015. Despite the offensive outburst, they managed just two hits with runners in scoring position and failed to hit a home run.
“We’ve got to learn from it,” said Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. “We’ve got to put together better nines than we’re doing right now. You’ve got to play all nine innings as hard as you can with a lot of energy and find a way to scrap and claw for runs because you never know when you might need that extra run.”
Seattle leads the majors in reliance on the long ball, with 54.1% of their runs coming via home runs entering Sunday’s game. They rank ninth in the majors with 102 homers this season but rank 24th with 342 total runs. The team has struggled in clutch situations, going 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position on Sunday.
“I think guys want to come through,” Raleigh said. “I think we’re doing the work and we’re playing hard. We’re doing that part right, but I think the tough part about baseball is you’ve got to be disciplined enough in those situations to come through, and right now, I think that’s what’s lacking.”
Raleigh emphasized the need for better plate discipline, noting, “It’s just that discipline to stay in the middle of the field and not get too big. You have to sacrifice yourself as a hitter sometimes and do what’s best for the team. I think we all could do a better job of that, myself included.”
Meanwhile, the Angels have handled the recent firing of general manager Perry Minasian by winning two of three against the Athletics and capturing six of their past eight games. Josh Lowe, recently recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, hit his first career grand slam in Sunday’s 4-1 victory over Oakland.
“I’m just continuing to do what I was working on in Salt Lake,” Lowe said. “And for the most part, it’s just swinging at better pitches and being ready to hit.”
Monday’s opener features right-handed starters, with Angels rookie Ryan Johnson (1-2, 8.84 ERA) facing Mariners veteran George Kirby (6-7, 3.94) in a battle of right-handers. Johnson will make only his fourth career start, having allowed just one hit in six scoreless innings against Baltimore while striking out eight batters. He’s 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA in one previous appearance against Seattle in April 2025.
Kirby had lost three straight starts and five consecutive decisions before defeating Pittsburgh 3-2 last Tuesday, giving up two runs (one earned) over six innings. Kirby improves to 7-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 11 career starts against the Angels.
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