Vince Grippi: Mariners continue to drop ball in big situations

A Little League game was on national television Sunday.

That’s not exactly right.

The Mariners’ 10-1 loss to the Yankees was televised only regionally.

If you are wondering why the M’s have been basically 50/50 all season, the bottom of the first from Yankee Stadium went a long way in explaining it to you.

It was an aberration, sure, but it also was symptomatic of what ails this team.

Not to go all alt-Shakespeare on you, the first inning was a tragedy of errors.

Ben Gamel booted a ball in left. Jean Segura booted a ball at short. Kyle Seager booted a ball at third. There is only one word to describe three errors in one inning: deplorable.

And then Segura added another: disgusting.

The veteran shortstop dropped Gamel’s throw on Jacoby Ellsbury’s two-out double, couldn’t find the ball and, after picking it up, his throw to home bounced over Mike Zunino’s head.

At least it was a historically bad inning.

The five errors in one inning was a franchise record. The last time anyone in major league baseball had seen such ineptitude was 1977, when the Chicago Cubs did it.

Funny thing about that Cubs team. It finished 81-81.

Which is where the M’s seem headed. Halfway good, halfway bad.

With the Mariners there doesn’t seem to be anything you can depend upon.

The defense has been pretty good this season, but this crucial road trip it has fallen apart.

The hitting has been explosive at times, non-existent at others.

The bullpen has been a rollercoaster, with Everest-like games mixed in with dives into the Dead Sea.

And the starting pitching? It’s been the least dependable aspect of the team all season. There are a million reasons, sure, most notably injuries. But it doesn’t matter. There is no one in the rotation that Scott Servais can count on.

And don’t say the again-injured James Paxton.

Dependability means you actually pitch consistently. That’s not something you can say about Paxton.

With Paxton and Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma et al on the disabled list, the Mariners have been forced to rely on guys like Andrew Albers, Sunday’s starter.

He’s a recent pickup – general manager Jerry Dipoto made his one-millionth trade Aug. 11 to get Albers from the Braves’ minor leagues – and maybe he’s rubbed a few guys in the clubhouse the wrong way.

We’re just kidding about that, though the M’s did play as if they weren’t all that fond of him Sunday. And he’s probably not enamored with some of them right now.

Look, the Mariners began the 12-game, four-city road trip kicking the ball around a bit. But they still won two of three in both Tampa and Atlanta.

That changed in New York. The Yankees lead the wild-card standings. The M’s wanted to move up in them.

Taking at least two-of-three seemed imperative. But after a 2-1 win Friday night, players’ weekend featured another disappointing trip to the Bronx, with two never-in-the-game losses.

If the rest of the American League, minus Cleveland, Boston and maybe Houston, weren’t a big pile of burning refuse as well, this Mariner season would already be consigned to the junk pile. As has every season since 2001.

It’s really simple. The Mariners have made the trip down Interstate 95 to Baltimore. Three more games await against another wild-card rival.

Win two of three – or better – and the road trip is a success. Lose two of three – or worse – and it isn’t.

In fact, lose two of three and the M’s finish the road trip 6-6. They will come home 67-67. A .500 team.

Maybe that’s just their fate.