PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- After losing two of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, the Seattle Mariners will enter a new series with the Cleveland Guardians at 41-41 overall.

Despite the .500 record, the Mariners are, somehow, 1.5 games up on the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and Athletics in the American League West. Seattle is still in position to win its second straight American League West title. 

That said, it's time to go and make a push.

Injuries and inconsistency and have been major storylines for the Mariners in the first half of the season, but, to me, there is one bigger frustration that stands out above the rest: The inability to beat the soft spots on their schedule.

It's something we discussed on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast.

"If you want to be good, you have to win at home and you have to beat who you're supposed to beat. That's it.

I'm not asking you to sweep the Dodgers on the road. I'm not asking you to go to Philly and take two of three. I'm not asking you to go to Atlanta and beat the Braves two of three. I'm not asking you to do that. I'm asking you to protect your home field and to beat the teams on your schedule who you are supposed to beat at the times you are supposed to beat them.

And the Mariners aren't doing that enough, and that is arguably my greatest frustration with where the Mariners are at, at 41-41.

The Mariners now have lost series this season to the Angels and Red Sox, the two worst records in the American League. They've lost a series to the Pirates without Oneil Cruz and Konnor Griffin, and when Paul Skenes isn't pitching. They've lost a series to the Tigers without Tarik Skubal pitching, and they've lost a series to the Washington Nationals, who can't pitch.

Like, if you're going to be a good team, those kind of results are unacceptable.

Yes, the Mariners won a series against the Braves, and that was great. And yes, they've taken some other series that maybe they, quote, shouldn't have, so some of that balances out. But you have to be able to beat the teams you're supposed to beat if you want to get where you want to go, and the Mariners aren't doing it with enough frequency.

And as I've told you all along, the schedule is only going to get tougher. They have yet to see the Dodgers. They've yet to see the Brewers. They still have to go to New York to play the Yankees. They still have to play the Phillies. They still have six with Tampa.

This is the time where they are supposed to be padding things, and they aren't. These collectively are unacceptable results for teams that are good and teams that want to be good.

This was also another example, another one of my great frustrations, another example of the Mariners winning the first game of a series and ultimately not being able to finish it off.

How many times have they lost a series where they won the first game and couldn't win one of the next two to ultimately lose the series? The answer is too many.

They did it against the Angels. Won on Friday, lost Saturday and Sunday. They did it against the Yankees. Won on Monday, lost Tuesday and Wednesday. They took the first two against Baltimore, couldn't win one of the last two. They did it in Washington. Won on Friday, couldn't win one of the next two.

So it's happened too many times. You throw this one in there. Win on Tuesday, fail to win on Wednesday and Thursday."

And by the way, none of this even mentions the two series that Seattle lost against the Kansas City Royals. They went 1-5 against the Royals this season.

The Mariners will start a new series against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. PT.

The most recent edition of 'Refuse to Lose Territory' is out, with thoughts on my visit to Pittsburgh, Bryan Woo's viral press conference and more. You can listen here, or you can watch below.

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