Mariners offense sputters in 4-1 loss to Nationals to drop series

SEATTLE – In the players lounge of the Mariners clubhouse, which rarely gets used for anything other than pregame meetings, a small library, which is used even less, if at all, was installed featuring a collection of books mostly about motivation, self-help, leadership and improvement.

Many of them favorite-to-mandatory reading of the Mariners leadership – front office and field staff – and the talking points and vocabulary permeate the organization.

You hear them daily: process, preparation, effort, journey.

They are core beliefs that the organization’s feel are key to sustained success.

But as the 2023 Mariners found a way to sink to a new nadir in this season of disappointment – though it could get worse – a few other things can also be true.

Effort isn’t enough. Process and preparation must still lead to production. And it isn’t a journey when you are heading nowhere, it’s called being lost to the point where endlessly playing “Country Roads” won’t take you home.

Less than 24 hours after handing away a victory to one of the worst teams in baseball when they failed to score a run despite having bases loaded and no outs in the 10th, the Mariners somehow suffered a worse defeat in a 4-1 loss to the Nationals.

It was a performance not worthy of the sun-drenched Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

Seattle’s anemic offense looked even more lifeless at the plate against a pitcher who has been mostly awful for the better part of three seasons.

Left-hander Patrick Corbin pitched seven scoreless innings for the first time since 2019 and the Mariners never threatened to lead or make the game close after starter Logan Gilbert allowed three runs in the first four batters of the game.

An oft-used phrase not found in the library but a favorite of manager Scott Servais: “This is a results-based business.”

Far too often this season, the results have been dismal to deplorable.

“Where to start, the last couple of days? Obviously, we haven’t played good baseball,” Servais said.

But it’s more than the last couple of days. It’s been a series of two- and three-day periods throughout the season where they play careless in the field or feckless at the plate. It’s why they straddle the .500 mark, not quite good enough to make a run, but just good enough to not fall apart. That could change for the worse in the weeks ahead.

“It hasn’t gained any traction at all,” M’s catcher Tom Murphy said. “We’re just as frustrated as everybody. It seems like every day you come into the park, it’s feels like it’s do-or-die, it really does at this point in the season, which is grinding way to play. I believe those feelings will subside. We’ll find a groove. We’ll find a way to relax.”

Losing the three-game series was particularly galling considering it was against a team with the fourth-worst record in baseball. Seattle now welcomes the team with the best record in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, in for a three-game series on Friday. That’s followed by trips to San Francisco and Houston.

“Today, you go out in the game and you try to wipe the slate clean from the disappointment of last night and they jump on us early,” Servais said. “We failed to get any momentum going. When you’re down early, you’ve got to figure out a way to get back into it.”

The free-swinging, but contact-making Nationals were leading 3-0 before most of the 26,437 fans taking a “long lunch” made their way to their seats.

Logan Thomas led off with an infield single, Luis Garcia singled to right, Jeimer Candelario drove in a run with a double to left and Keibert Ruiz drove in two runs with a single to center before Gilbert recorded an out.

“I hold myself to a pretty high standard, especially in a game like this that we need to win the series,” he said. “It’s tough that I couldn’t put us in a position to win.”

Gilbert did reel in his outing, to pitch six innings and allow four runs. It wasn’t a great start. But it should’ve been enough for the game to be competitive.

But it never got competitive. The Mariners made Corbin, who came in with a 4-9 record and 5.32 ERA, look like Steve Carlton. How bad

Besides the seven scoreless frames, Corbin allowed five hits and struck out a season-high nine batters. His previous high was six.