SEATTLE — In the players lounge of the Mariners clubhouse, which rarely gets used for anything other than pregame meetings, a small library, which is used even less, if at all, was installed featuring a collection of books mostly about motivation, self-help, leadership and improvement.
Many of them favorite to mandatory reading of the Mariners leadership — front office and field staff — and the talking points and vocabulary permeate the organization.
You hear them daily: process, preparation, effort, journey.
They are core beliefs that the organization’s feel are key to sustained success.
But as the 2023 Mariners found a way to sink to a new nadir in this season of disappointment — though it could get worse — a few other things can also be true.
Effort isn’t enough. Process and preparation must still lead to production. And it isn’t a journey when you are heading nowhere, it’s called being lost.
Less than 24 hours after handing away a victory to one of the worst teams in baseball where they failed to score a run despite having bases loaded and no outs in the 10th, the Mariners somehow suffered a worse defeat in a 4-1 loss to the Nationals.
It was a performance not worthy of the sun-drenched Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.
Seattle’s anemic offense looked even more lifeless at the plate against a pitcher who has been mostly awful for the better part of three seasons.
Left-hander Patrick Corbin pitched seven scoreless innings for the first time since 2019 and the Mariners never really threatened to lead or make the game close after starter Logan Gilbert allowed three runs in the first four batters of the game.
An oft-used phrase not found in the library but a favorite of manager Scott Servais: “This is a results-based business.”
And far too often this season, the results have been deplorable. This three-game series, which the Mariners lost was particularly galling considering it was against a team with the fourth worst record in baseball. Seattle also welcomes the team with the best record in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays in for a series on Friday.
Gilbert did reel in his outing, to pitch six innings and allow four runs. It wasn’t a great start. But it should’ve been enough for the game to be competitive.
But it never got competitive. The Mariners made Corbin, who came in with a 4-9 record and 5.32 ERA, look like Steve Carlton.
Besides the seven scoreless frames, Corbin allowed five hits and struck out a season-high nine batters. His previous high was six.
