The Mariners went 13 straight games without scoring more than three runs as the offensive production has plummeted this month.
The Seattle Mariners enter play on Tuesday at 43-43 overall and 0.5 games back of the Texas Rangers in the American League West.
Though the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-2 on Monday night behind Cole Young's historic offensive performance, the M's are just 12-14 in the month of June.
There have been gaffes on all parts of the operation for Dan Wilson's team, but the offense has been the biggest culprit in the team's struggles recently.
Seattle set a franchise record earlier this month by failing to score at least four runs in 13 straight games at one point, and Luke Arkins, M's Insider, notes that the M's entered Monday at 28th in slugging percentage in the month of June.
We talked more about the M's power issues on the latest 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast:
"The offense is a relative one-trick pony that isn't doing that one trick enough.
Look back at Monday's win. They hit three home runs. They win the game. This is the key for this offense. They have to find their slug. They're not going to all of a sudden hit .300 as a team. They're not all of a sudden going to have a bunch of guys go on 22-game hit streaks and hit .480 during that hit streak. They're not going to be able to go single, single, single, score run all that often.
They need to go single, walk, three-run homer. They need to go walk, walk, three-run homer. They need to go single, single, three-run homer. They need to go single, double, run scored, runner at second, double, other run scores. This is how they need to play.
When they slugged at the end of May, they won eight straight. When they slugged on Monday with three home runs, they won the game. They are not built to be a station-to-station offense because that is not the way that their offense is built. But that is how they've had to play.
When is the last time that Julio Rodriguez homered? I can't think of it off the top of my head. When's the last time Luke Raley homered? I can't think of it off the top of my head. When's the last time Mitch Garver homered? I can't think of it off the top of my head. Randy Arozarena homered on Saturday in Cleveland. Before that, I couldn't think of when his last home run was.
So the power had dried up, and the offense isn't built to really play another way. And that's the biggest problem. That is the biggest problem."
The Mariners and Angels will play again on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. PT. Bryan Woo will pitch for Seattle while Jose Soriano pitches for the Angels. The Mariners are looking to take the series with a rare Wednesday off day coming. The series will wrap up on Thursday.
Of note
The latest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out. You can listen here, or watch in the YouTube player below.
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