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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Noon Number: 13

Few fans remain in the stands as a baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers stretches into the 13th inning, Friday, May 5, 2017, in Seattle. The Rangers won 3-1 in 13 innings. (Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

The Seattle Mariners lost to the Texas Rangers 3-1 in 13 innings on Friday.

The Mariners also are stuck on 13 wins, against 17 losses, 30 games into the season, a 70-win pace over the course of a regular season.

And to be honest, that’s exactly how they’re playing.

The team has become specialists at losing from ahead. They just placed their best pitcher on the disabled list, to join their second- and third-best players. They just sent their starting catcher to the minors for the third season in a row. They lost two more relievers to injury. The first baseman is slugging .395.

It sounds made up, but it’s not.

An organization can only stash so much MLB-ready talent in its organization, and the Mariners have run square up on their limit. It’s tough to say that things could get worse before they get better, but it’s really hard to see the silver lining to these clouds right now.