The M's were blanked 7-0 by the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday night, the Seattle Mariners were beaten 7-0 by the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park. The loss dropped them to 73-84 on the season.
At the end of the day, this loss won't be remembered. It will just fade into collection of other non-descript losses by a team that arrived in spring training with so much hope.
I'll remember a horrific walk-off defeat at the hands of the San Diego Padres, a night in which Emerson Hancock struck out 14 Kansas City Royals, and the Mariners lost, and I'll remember bad blown leads in Detroit, Cleveland, and Boston. But I won't remember this one.
However, the history books might force us to remember it, and all the other ones just like it. As noted by Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, this was the 15th shutout loss of the season for the Mariners, tying the 3rd-most in team history. There are five games left in the campaign for the Mariners to add further to that dubious distinction.
The Mariners will play the Astros again on Wednesday night at 7:10 p.m. PT. It will be the final start of the season for George Kirby, who could be making his final start as a Mariner. While he has two years left on his contract, there is a lot of talk about the possibility of him being traded this offseason as the Mariners look to re-tool their roster, and make room for Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan in the rotation.
The tragic number is 1
Any loss by the Mariners, or any win by the Astros or Rangers, officially eliminates the M's from playoff contention.
Also in the news for the Mariners
We've all seen it this season, and now the national experts are weighing in. ESPN has graded the Mariners with an "F" for the 2026 campaign. We tell you who else in that group - and how the Mariners got there - here.
Of note
I spent 20 minutes talking with former MLB catcher (and WS champion) AJ Pierzynski on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast. We talked a lot about Raleigh, his workload, his defense, his arm, holding runners, and much more. You can listen here, or you can watch in the YouTube player below.
Just as a heads up, this week's edition of the Buster Olney episode will actually be released on Friday.
