Vince Grippi: Figuratively or literally, Mariners’ second-half task is clear

The halfway point in this Mariners season will be reached Friday in Anaheim.

From then on it will be downhill, literally if not figuratively.

See, the literal we can determine. Starting Saturday, the second half will be underway, with the pennant chase just around the corner.

The figurative? It’s more about perception.

After Sunday’s 8-2 loss to the American League West-leading Houston Astros, the M’s are back to .500. At 39-39, that’s literal, not figurative.

But what figures to improve, if the Mariners want to make the postseason for the first time since 2001, is their play on the road.

They are 25-15 at home, even after dropping two of three against baseball’s best team. Again, that’s the literal reading of Houston’s 52-25 record, a game better than the Dodgers.

But it’s also a figurative reading, mainly because the Astros are 29-9 away from Minute Maid Park.

See, it takes a great team to play that well away from home. The goal for most major league teams is to break even on the road and kick rear at home. That’s usually a formula that results in a playoff berth.

It’s also not a formula the M’s have been able to follow.

Why the heck not?

If you are looking for a scapegoat – honestly, what baseball fan isn’t? – the road woes can be laid firmly on the shoulders of the pitching staff.

The earned run average is more than a run-and-a-half better at home than it is on the road. The batting average against is about 50 points better at Safeco, the strikeout-vs.-walk ratio is 2.68 as opposed to 1.94, and the slugging percentage is almost 100 points less. In fact, in every statistical category, the Mariners pitchers are significantly better at home than on the road.

Which makes sense, right, considering Safeco Field has always been known as a pitcher-friendly park.

Except the Mariners hitters haven’t seen it that way.

They are actually hitting better at Safeco, not just in average but in power numbers as well. As far as they are concerned, Safeco is just as much a hitters’ park as anywhere else.

Though the M’s have played just two more games at home, they’ve hit 45 of their 84 home runs there, they’ve scored 32 more runs and they get on base at a better rate.

Which brings us back to the pitchers. At home, they are receiving run support of 5.3 per game. On the road, 4.5 per game. Not such a big difference if Safeco is supposed to be overly pitcher friendly.

It is, though, when your starters aren’t succeeding on the road.

Sunday’s starter, and loser, Ariel Miranda has been the most obvious malefactor.

In Safeco, before Sunday’s start, he was holding hitters to a .182 batting average. His ERA was 2.20 and his walks plus hits per inning pitched was 0.918.

On the road the same numbers were .277, 6.56 and 1.626. Even after Sunday’s poor fourth inning, Miranda has yielded just nine extra-base hits at Safeco. On the road, in 21 less innings, that number is 21.

How is that possible?

Yes, it’s easier to play – and pitch – at home. Own bed, own clubhouse, own umpires. OK, that last one isn’t true but the term homer wasn’t invented in a vacuum.

But does that really explain Miranda’s awful splits? Or James Paxton’s, whose numbers are eerily similar to Miranda’s? Though, to be fair, the sample size this season is much smaller.

In his four away starts, Paxton’s ERA is 5.14. At Safeco, in seven, 2.48.

Felix Hernandez, Sam Gaviglio and the now-demoted-to-the-minors Christian Bergman have similar splits.

At least there is one guy with more than a handful of starts who has been better on the road. That would be Yovani Gallardo.

Of course, he’s been poor everywhere. Figuratively and literally.