HOUSTON — In a difficult search for positives and small victories in what was an otherwise abysmal Mariners road trip, and a sobering reality check following a 7-2 homestand, these two can be mined: The trip has mercifully ended and they didn’t get completely shut out while being swept in a three-game series by the Astros.
Facing the very real possibility of making unwanted club history, the Mariners avoided the dubious distinction of being the first team held scoreless for three consecutive games by scoring a whole two runs off Astros starter Justin Verlander in a 7-2 loss at Minute Maid Park.
The Mariners finished the nine-game road trip with a 2-7 record, falling to 12-13 on the season. Seattle is now 4-26 at Minute Maid Park since the start of the 2019 season.
Eugenio Suarez ended Seattle’s stretch of 24 straight innings without a run by smashing curveball from Verlander off the train tracks sitting atop the wall in left-center for a two-run homer. It was also the Mariners first extra base-hit of the series. Their last extra base hit was Julio Rodriguez’s first MLB homer in Miami on Sunday.
For Suarez, it was just his second hit of the road trip, breaking a streak of 26 plate appearances (24 at-bats) without a hit.
His two-run homer cut the Mariners’ deficit in the game from seven runs to five runs, making the inevitable loss slightly more palatable — like going from raw vegetables to raw vegetables with ranch dressing.
But the bigger issue coming from the loss is the continued struggles of rookie right-hander Matt Brash.
After yet another subpar start, will the Mariners make a change in their starting rotation and replace the young fireballer?
Brash pitched three innings, allowing four runs on six hits with four walks and one strikeout. Beyond the runs allowed, the hits given up and the walks issued, the pitch inefficiency and the adjustments made by opposing hitters have been glaring.
Teams know that Brash doesn’t throw enough pitches in the strike zone to have success and doesn’t have the pitch command to pinpoint a quality strike when he needs to throw one. Instead, too many of those strikes are in the middle of the plate. Regardless of their movement or speed, MLB hitters, particularly a veteran group like the Astros, will mash them.
After retiring the first two batters of his outing, Brash gave up a single to Alex Bregman and then walked Yordan Alvarez. He appeared to have struck out Yuli Gurriel to end the inning, but home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater called the 1-2 fastball on the outside corner a ball. On the next pitch, Gurriel doubled into right field to score Bregman for a 1-0 lead.
Brash’s start fell apart in the second inning.
A leadoff single from Aledmys Diaz and later back-to-back walks with one out loaded the bases for veteran hitter Michael Brantley. After falling behind 1-2, Brantley fouled off two fastballs and then looped a misplaced breaking ball into center for a two-run single. Bregman followed with a hard single to left to score another run to make it 4-0.
