The Mariners were swept against the Rays and fell to a season-worst seven games below .500
SEATTLE — The atmosphere at T-Mobile Park on Sunday felt more like a funeral than a Sunday baseball game after the Seattle Mariners fell 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays.
A weekend that was supposed to be about honoring the greatest players in Mariners history ended up turning to a season-worst record for current squad.
Seattle was swept by Tampa Bay with the defeat and fell to a season-worst seven games below .500. It lost five of its last six games and went 3-6 on its nine-game homestand.
"It's not for a lack of work. These guys are putting in the work," M's manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview Sunday. "They're putting in the time that's necessary and they're coming out prepared. We're just not seeing it on the field. It's a very frustrating time, no question. But we got to keep pushing. We've got find a way. And that's really what it boils down to, is finding a way."
The game started strong for the Mariners. Right fielder Taylor Ward opened the game with a lead-off triple and was subsequently brought home with an RBI single from second baseman Cole Young. The hit gave Seattle a 1-0 lead and was the Mariners' only run of the game.
After that point, the Rays kept pushing until they finally broke through to take the lead.
Similar to its 3-2 win against Seattle on Saturday, Tampa Bay got a high pitch count from the M's starter (Saturday was George Kirby, Sunday was Emerson Hancock), which kept them right on the edge of scoring.
Hancock got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first and helped strand two Rays hitters in the second and third innings combined.
In the fourth inning, Tampa Bay finally broke through.
Rays designated hitter Yandy Diaz hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth to tie the game 1-1.
Center fielder Cedric Mullins gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth with his own RBI single. That hit marked the end of the day for Hancock, who finished his day with three strikeouts, one walk, one hit-by-pitch and two earned runs allowed on nine hits in 4.2 innings of work. Both RBI singles surrendered by Hancock came with two outs.
"I think there was just really not many quick outs," Hancock said after the game. "Maybe we had a roll-over here or there, but a lot of foul balls. ... They put some stuff in play and things happen. A lot of traffic, a lot of pitches where you felt like you really had to execute and you really had to get there. But credit to them."
The Rays' final two runs came in the top of the sixth against Mariners reliever Jose A. Ferrer.
Tampa Bay catcher Liam Hicks hit a two-RBI double for the eventual final of 4-1.
With the loss, Seattle fell 4.5 games back for first place in the American League West (pending the results of a game between the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres).
"We're frustrated," Hancock said. "You want to go out there and you want to get the results. But I do think, it's what we believe in and what we talk about, it is still in front of us. Guys are working as hard as they possibly can. You're putting in the work. This is just one of those games, it's gonna test you. It's gonna grind you out. But the only thing you can do is show up day-in and day-out and do everything you can to go out there and help the team in any way that you can. You move on from this one. ... We're just gonna keep fighting."
It won't get any easier for the Mariners to turn things around.
Seattle will begin a nine-game road trip next, starting with a three-game series against the New York Yankees. First pitch in game one of the set begins at 4:05 p.m. PT on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Bryan Woo will start for the Mariners and Ryan Weathers will start for the Yankees.
