Mariners offense silent again in ugly 10-1 loss to Twins

MINNEAPOLIS – What began as such a promising trip turns now to Texas with more questions about the Mariners’ maddeningly inconsistent offense.

The Mariners sat through a 4-hour, 22-minute rain delay Thursday, then made their fans back home in Seattle sit through another listless showing in a 10-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins in their series finale at Target Field.

After beginning this 10-games-in-10-days trip with four wins in their first five games, the Mariners (41-39) were nearly shut out for the second game in a row by a Twins club that was reeling coming into the week.

“Another tough day,” M’s manager Dan Wilson said.

The Mariners’ deficit in the AL West ballooned to a season-high 61/2 games behind the surging Houston Astros, who are 16-6 in June after completing a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The Mariners close out the trip with a three-game series starting Friday against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas.

With two outs in the ninth inning, the Mariners snapped a 17-inning scoreless streak on three straight singles from Dom Canzone, Donovan Solano and Miles Mastrobuoni. It hardly mattered.

“We’ve talked about this club, and the Twins have good pitching. Sometimes that pitching can quiet you offensively and they were able to do it here the lsat couple nights,” Wilson said. “We just need to get back to what we do, which is getting runners on, creating the traffic, creating the pressure and driving ’em in. And that’s what we’re going to look to do in Texas.”

The Mariners managed just three hits through the first eight innings Thuresday and didn’t advance a runner past second base until there were two outs in the ninth inning.

Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson allowed two hits over five shutout innings, with one walk and six strikeouts.

Trevor Larnach hit a two-run homer off Emerson Hancock to break a scoreless tie in the fifth inning, and the Twins broke it open in the sixth off Mariners reliever Zach Pop, who surrendered eight runs (seven earned) on six hits, two walks and two home runs.

“Emerson gave us the five (innings) that we were looking for with just the two runs,” Wilson said. “And then they were able to add on there quickly in the sixth and take the game out of reach.”

Things got so bad that the Mariners used a position player, Mastrobuoni, to pitch the eighth inning.

There is an injury concern, too, after Mariners catcher Mitch Garver had to exit the game in the fifth inning after taking a foul tip off his jaw/chin.

Cal Raleigh moved from DH to catcher, meaning the Mariners lost their DH spot in the lineup. Dylan Moore wound up pinch-hitting in that spot later, for what it’s worth.

Wilson said Garver would be evaluated further in Texas to determine the severity of his injury. Top catching prospect Harry Ford is joining the Mariners in Arlington. He’ll be formally called up if Garver needs a stint on the injured list.

Rookie second baseman Young finds his way

This is Cole Young’s first trip to Minnesota’s Target Field as the Seattle Mariners’ second baseman. It’s not his first time taking the field here, though.

As a precocious 10-year-old, Young won the national Pitch, Hit & Run competition for his age group during the 2014 MLB All-Star Game at Target Field. He even got to run around the outfield as part of the big-leaguers’ Home Run Derby.

“I was so young that I kind of forget what it was like here,” Young said this week. “But it’s super cool, for sure. That was a fun moment in that Home Run Derby, and it’s cool to be back.”

The 21-year-old second baseman seems to be enjoying himself more and more as a big leaguer, too.

Young had a fairy-tale walkoff moment in his first MLB game against the Twins at T-Mobile Park on May 31. He struggled for the next week, though, going 0 for 15 with eight strikeouts in next five games.

He had a small breakthrough with two hits, including his first double, in Anaheim on June 7, and since then he’s produced at a steady clip.

In his previous 51 plate appearances coming into Thursday, Young was hitting .340 with a .360 on-base percentage and a .404 slugging (.764 OPS) with a 122 wRC+ (100 is average).

“Just learning how to stick to my approach each at-bat, each game – not worrying about how good the pitcher is, more so just having the confidence that I’m going to go do the job and get it done,” Young said. “Having that confidence and having that approach helps.”

He had a sharp single off the Twins’ flame-throwing closer, Jhoan Duran, to spark a ninth-inning rally Tuesday.

“You forget sometimes he’s 21 years old,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “And I’m sure each day that he comes here, it’s a lot for him. When you’re 21, you’re young, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that unless you knew. And I think he’s been getting more and more comfortable, and defensively done an outstanding job at second base, learning that position here at this level.”

Young and rookie third baseman Ben Williamson have played together the past couple of years in the minor leagues – and they were roommates in Tacoma to start this season in Triple-A. They’ve leaned on each other a lot during their first foray in the big leagues over the past month.

“It’s helped so much,” Young said. “We played together all last year, so we have that friendship. And it’s awesome to come up here and already be close with someone. He can help me with some stuff; he got here like a month and a half before myself … and it’s nice to talk with him about anything.”