Mariners swept away by Dodgers on their freefall back to .500
LOS ANGELES – Even after they took a one-run lead in the second inning and despite having their best starting pitcher, Logan Gilbert, on the mound, the possibility of victory still seemed unlikely.
The combination of how the Mariners had been playing on this horrendous road trip, which could be described as rancid, and who they were playing – the Los Angeles Dodgers at near full strength – well, it wasn’t exactly a formula for success.
Similar to seven of the eight previous games on this three-city journey to what could be best described as rock bottom, the Mariners found the familiar path to defeat Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
But the 8-4 pasting put on them by the Dodgers, in game that wasn’t that close, might have been the worst loss of the 1-8 road trip, particularly given the circumstances surrounding embattled manager Scott Servais.
it was the second time in the series that the Mariners lost on a day where the Astros also lost. They remain five games behind in the AL West standings. They also fall to 64-64 on the season.
They have an off-day on Thursday, but will there be action from the Mariners front office?
With a vocal portion of the fanbase in search of someone to take the fall and lose their job for the team’s struggles, Servais has become the most demanded target. The comments from Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners president of baseball operations, in a story on The Athletic didn’t offer much of an endorsement or vote of confidence in Servais’ future.
The Mariners’ performance to close out the road trip and avoid being swept by the Dodgers didn’t help Servais’ cause.
Gilbert struggled to navigate his way through the Dodgers loaded lineup, giving up hard contact and struggling to command his offspeed pitches, His teammates failed to make plays behind him and the offense provided its usual less than stellar run support when it mattered.
With the Mariners leading 1-0 thanks to Dom Canzone’s sac fly in the top of the second off Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty, Gilbert seemed to have worked a scoreless third inning when he got No. 9 hitter Kevin Kiermaier to hit a two-out groundball to shortstop Leo Rivas.
But the young rookie mishandled it and never made a throw to first base. It allowed the top of the Dodgers lineup that features three former MVPs in the top three spots in the order – Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman – to come to the plate.
Gilbert walked Ohtani and then gave up a double to Mookie Betts, who ambushed a first-pitch fastball at the bottom of the zone for a double that scored both runners for a 2-1 lead.
The Dodgers tacked on another run in the fourth inning when Teoscar Hernandez led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on the first of three wild pitches from Gilbert and scored on Will Smith’s sac fly.
Gilbert’s outing fell apart in a fifth inning he couldn’t finish. With one out, Ohtani singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch from Gilbert and trotted home on Freddie Freeman’s two-out double to center. Hernandez scored Freeman with a single on a hard one-hopper off Rivas glove to make it 5-1.
Gilbert couldn’t get the third out. He gave up a single to Gavin Lux and walked Will Smith to load the bases.
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With lefty slugger Max Muncy coming to the plate and his starter clearly done, Servais had to call on Trent Thornton instead of lefty Tayler Saucedo, who was unavailable due to usage. Having returned from the injured list for the series and homering in each of the first two games, Muncy yanked a double into the right field corner that cleared the bases.
All five runs were charged to Gilbert, who finished with a final line of 4 2/3 innings pitched, eight runs (six earned) allowed on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
The Mariners pieced together three more runs over the final four innings, including a homer by Mitch Haniger. It was only the second time on the road trip that Seattle scored more than three runs in a game.