Steven Moya homers twice as Detroit hands Mariners fifth consecutive setback

DETROIT – Well, hello third place.

The Seattle Mariners’ ongoing skid deepened Wednesday in a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers that simultaneously dropped them into third place, behind Houston, in the American League West Division.

Detroit right fielder Steven Moya hit two homers against Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma, who lasted just 4 2/3 innings. Moya entered the game with only one career homer in 79 career at-bats over parts of three seasons.

It’s been a dizzying June swoon for the Mariners.

They began play on June 3 tied with Texas atop the division. Less than three weeks later, the Mariners find themselves trailing the Rangers by 10 1/2 games – and the Astros by one-half game.

“I don’t want to say frustration,” second baseman Robinson Cano said, “because to say frustration is like you’re blaming it on something. I always say that if you win as a team, you lose as a team.

“We’re losing, but I don’t want to say frustration.”

The Mariners also fell back to .500 at 36-36. They were 10 games over .500, at 28-18, after a 13-3 victory over Oakland on May 25. They need a victory Thursday to avoid a four-game sweep at Comerica Park.

“There’s a lot of ball left to play,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We’re all disappointed in how this road trip has gone (at 2-7 with Thursday’s finale against the Tigers still to play).

“I say all of that, but there is – there are plenty of teams that have been in this spot before, at .500, and then get it going and end up having a really nice season. We’ve certainly seen it. We’re capable of it.

“We’ve got to go out and do it.”

While the Mariners lost their four previous games after building early leads, this one was all Detroit from the beginning. The Mariners finished with just three hits.

Miguel Cabrera’s two-out homer in the first inning opened the scoring. He timed and squared up a 71-mph Iwakuma curve for a 407-foot drive to left for a 1-0 lead.

Iwakuma found two-out trouble in the second when Jose Iglesias lined a two-run doubled over Nori Aoki’s head in left field after singles by Moya and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Detroit led 3-0.

“When I started off,” Iwakuma said, “I left that pitch up in the zone to Cabrera. It was a curveball, and he got to it. He didn’t miss that pitch. And the fastball that I wanted away came in on Iglesias for a double.

“Those were the two mistakes early on, and they kind of took advantage from there.”

Moya’s first homer came when leading off the fourth. The Tigers had a chance to blow open the game after loading the bases later in the inning, but Iwakuma struck out Victor Martinez for the third time.

For all that, Detroit starter Michael Fulmer couldn’t complete the necessary five innings for the victory even though he had retired 10 in a row before walking Adam Lind to start the fifth.

After Steve Clevenger served a one-out single into center, Fulmer hit successive batters, Aoki and Leonys Martin.

That quickly, Fulmer was gone.

Kyle Ryan (2-2) took over with one out and the bases still loaded. The Mariners countered by using Franklin Gutierrez as a pinch-hitter for Seth Smith.

The Mariners settled for one run. Gutierrez struck out, and Cano grounded out to first. They never threatened again – and the Tigers got that one run back on Moya’s second homer later in the inning.

“I thought we had a shot there with the bases loaded,” Servais said. “We were starting to get back into the game. We needed a couple of big hits. It didn’t happen.”

Wilhelmsen returns to M’s

Seven months after being traded by Seattle, Tom Wilhelmsen is back with the Mariners.

As for what happened in between – the right-handed reliever is hoping to put all that behind him.

“It wasn’t pretty, no,” he said Wednesday. “I could sit here and wonder why, wonder why, but the best part about this move is that that’s over and done with, and there’s no sense in looking back at it.”

The Mariners have signed Wilhelmsen to a one-year deal after he declined an outright assignment by Texas earlier this month and was granted free agency. He went 2-3 with a 10.55 ERA in 21 appearances for the Rangers, but he was a solid reliever for the previous five seasons with Seattle.

The Mariners traded him in November in the deal that sent outfielder Leonys Martin from Texas to Seattle.

“There’s no doubt I was a little heartbroken when I got sent away, but that’s the nature of the game,” Wilhelmsen said. “I was mighty happy here in Seattle, so I’m even happier to be back.”

The Mariners also announced before Wednesday night’s game at Detroit that they have acquired minor league left-hander Wade LeBlanc in a trade with Toronto.

To clear a roster spot for Wilhelmsen, Seattle transferred left-hander Charlie Furbush (left shoulder) to the 60-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Jonathan Aro to Triple-A Tacoma.

Wilhelmsen went 2-2 with a 3.19 ERA for the Mariners last season and had 13 saves. In 288 major league appearances, he’s 13-13 with a 3.45 ERA and 67 saves.

LeBlanc was acquired in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. He was 7-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 14 starts with Triple-A Buffalo. He last pitched in the majors in 2014 with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels.

Seattle might need a starter for Friday night’s game against St. Louis, since right-hander Taijuan Walker’s right foot has been bothering him. Manager Scott Servais said Walker would probably be able to pitch during the next homestand, but he was noncommittal about who would start if Walker isn’t ready by Friday.

Servais also said star right-hander Felix Hernandez is making progress in his recovery from a right calf strain.

“I think he threw (Tuesday) out to 75 feet for about 7 or 8 minutes,” Servais said. “He’s picking up pace on his progression.”