SEATTLE — All the hope they were starting to build with their improved play, all the good feelings they had generated from a strong finish before the All-Star break, all the anticipation for a second-half push for a return to the postseason and perhaps more, well, that was met the with the baseball equivalent of stepping on a rake.
Instead of coming out of the four-day intermission with a strong surge of quality baseball, similar to the level they were playing at in the final 10 games before it, the Seattle Mariners have played like they were on a 40-day hiatus.
For the second straight night at T-Mobile Park, they rolled out an All-Star starting pitcher against a team they should beat — the Detroit Tigers.
And for the second straight game, the All-Star starting pitcher performed below expectations and the Mariners offense couldn’t offset those struggles, resulting in yet another disappointing decision.
At least in Friday’s loss, the possibility of victory loomed till their 27th out was made.
With right-hander George Kirby suffering through one of his least effective outings this season and Tigers starter Michael Lorenzen, Detroit’s only representative on All-Star team, shutting down and shutting Seattle hitters, the outcome was a dismal 6-0 defeat.
An eclectic crowd of 38,683 — filled with Washington State alums and students, fans looking for a free Hawaiian shirt and others taking advantage of hot weather — packed into T-Mobile Park to see the Mariners held scoreless for the sixth time this season.
At least they only had to endure 2 hours and 22 minutes of game time, though most had exited long before Cal Raleigh’s ground out to first ended the game.
Asked on Friday afternoon if this series had any extra importance since it was coming out of the break, manager Scott Servais sort of downplayed, putting the emphasis on winning series, saying that needed to be the focus, instead of a 10-12 game winning streak.
The Mariners have already lost the three-game series to the Tigers and will look to avoid being swept on Sunday with Bryce Miller expected to start. As for winning streaks, this team’s longest this season is four games, which they’ve accomplished four times. But anything beyond that seems like an impossible dream.
After working so hard to get above .500 before the break, they once gains drop below it, following to 45-46. Their seasonlong flirtation with mediocrity seems to have grown into an infatuation with it.
Kirby looked sluggish and out of sync, perhaps a hangover from pitching an inning in the AL’s loss on Tuesday. He pitched only five innings, giving up six runs on eight hits, including a pair of homers to Kerry Carpenter, with a walk and four strikeouts.
His velocity on his fastball started at 98 mph and was down to 95 mph by the later innings. He also didn’t have quite the pinpoint command of his pitches.
Carpenter, who homered off Luis Castillo on Friday, ambushed the first pitch of the second inning from Kirby, launching a deep fly-ball over the wall for a solo homer.
The Tigers added another run in the third when Kirby allowed a two-out double to Zach McKinstry and an RBI single to Riley Greene.
Detroit broke it open in the fifth inning. With two outs and a runner on second, Kirby issued a rare walk to Greene. Spencer Torkelson followed with a run-scoring single to center and Carpenter stayed on a 95-mph fastball well on top of the strike zone, sending a missile into the seats in right-center for a three-run homer and a 6-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Lorenzen, who also pitched for the AL, worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with five walks and seven strikeouts. A pair of double plays and well-timed strikeouts help a pitcher work around five free passes.
The Mariners didn’t get their first hit until one out in the fifth inning when Jarred Kelenic singled to right field.
