The boos started as a murmur and built from there, and by the time the Mariners were done with a 6-2 loss to the A’s on Saturday night, they were rolling through T-Mobile Park loud enough to drown out anything else.
Seattle is running out of time to stop this from becoming a lost season. With three weeks left, the Mariners have now dropped the first three games of the series and are one loss away from a four-game home sweep, which would be their first since Aug. 10-13, 2017, against the Angels.
The defeat pushed Seattle to a season-high 11 games under .500 at 66-77. The last time the club sat that far below even in a full season was on the final day of 2019, when it finished 68-94.
The only more recent comparison came in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when the Mariners were 8-19 on Aug. 20.
“We’ve just got to figure it out, pull our heads out of you-know-where,” George Kirby said after allowing four runs, three earned, over 6 2/3 innings without any run support.
Manager Dan Wilson kept the tone matter-of-fact after the loss.
“It's frustrating, of course, and I think we all feel that,” Wilson said. “But that's not going to stop us from continuing to work and continuing to prepare. And we’ve got to come back tomorrow and get ready to play.”
What makes this skid sting even more is the opponent. The A’s came in at 57-86, third worst in the sport, and were missing six key players from a lineup that had more upside when these clubs last met from May 25-27 in West Sacramento. Seattle swept that series during its season-best eight-game win streak, the stretch that put the Mariners in first place in the AL West.
That feels like a different lifetime now.
Kirby wasn’t the reason Seattle lost. He gave the Mariners a chance. The offense never met him halfway.
The lineup managed only two hits through its first 27 batters, both singles from Cal Raleigh. Seattle finally broke through with two outs in the eighth, when Dominic Canzone lined an RBI single up the middle to avoid what would have been the Mariners’ 15th shutout. But Julio Rodríguez followed with a first-pitch groundout, and that was the end of any real threat.
The Mariners were quiet against Jeffrey Springs, a left-hander who entered the game winless in his previous 21 starts and carrying a 6.37 ERA, with an ERA+ of 70. Instead of looking like one of the sport’s most vulnerable starters in 2026, Springs was sharp enough to sail through seven innings on 81 pitches.
He struck out six despite generating only eight whiffs, and he worked around Raleigh’s leadoff single in his final inning by getting Josh Naylor to ground into a double play. Naylor was slow out of the box and then was out by a step after A’s second baseman Donovan Walton bobbled the ball.
Asked afterward about the play, Wilson said, “I was watching the ball,” Wilson said. “I didn't see what happened, but, obviously, these guys know what it means to play hard, and that's what needs to happen.”
Wilson was also asked whether he thought the team lacked energy.
“It always feels that way when you can't get much going offensively,” Wilson said. “But I think it was Springs just was pitching us tough, and we weren't able to make the adjustments we needed to.”
Kirby summed up the mood in the clubhouse.
“Losing is never fun,” Kirby said. “Especially with just the talent in this room. ... We’ve just got to compete until the end, and that’s our focus.”
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Mariners Suddenly Have A Lazaro Montes Concern They Cant Ignore
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The early read offered at least some relief, with X-rays coming back negative, but that does not fully settle the matter for Seattle. The Mariners are now left to monitor Montes and see whether the soreness fades or lingers, and for a team already keeping close tabs on its depth and development, even a clean scan is only the first step in figuring out what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Face An Urgent Clubhouse Question As Season Slips Away
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For Seattle, the sharper question is who inside the room is willing and able to do that work from within. Olney framed it as a leadership problem as much as a performance one, asking which Mariners players have the voice and standing to hold teammates to a higher standard while the losses keep piling up. It is the kind of concern that can linger in a clubhouse long after the immediate slump fades, and for a team still searching for traction, it only adds to the pressure on everyone involved. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Bullpen Takes Another Hit As New Reliever Gets His Chance
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Into that spot steps Taylor, a right-hander the Mariners recalled as they try to absorb the latest loss without letting the late innings slip further away. His track record has been uneven in the minors and in the majors, with some recent struggles mixed in with enough promise to keep him in the conversation as a bullpen option, and now Seattle will get another look at whether he can handle a larger role. [Read more 🡒]