CLEVELAND -- The Mariners left Progressive Field with a win that slipped through their hands, and Cal Raleigh didn’t try to sugarcoat any of it.
After Seattle built a lead Sunday, then watched it disappear in a brutal eighth-inning bullpen collapse, Raleigh pointed straight to the bigger issue: the offense let too many chances die on the vine. The Mariners stranded 14 baserunners and went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in a loss that magnified both missed opportunities and a late-game unraveling.
“We've got to keep the foot on the gas; that’s the story of the game there,” Raleigh said. “We've got to play full nine -- come to the field ready to compete for two, three hours a day, and not an hour and a half. So that's kind of what I saw.
"We’ve just got to be better, myself included."
Seattle had reasons to feel good early. In the sixth inning, Julio Rodríguez turned an infield single into a run after Victor Robles swiped second and third, and a bobble by Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana helped bring Robles home. That pushed the Mariners to four runs for the day, a mark they hadn’t hit in a game since June 12.
But the bullpen couldn’t protect it. Michael Rucker and Josh Simpson combined to allow five runs in the eighth, flipping a game Seattle had controlled for most of the afternoon.
The offense still had one last chance to rescue it, and to its credit, it pushed back - getting a run on an error and then putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Still, the final punch never came.
“We’ve got to learn from it,” Raleigh said. “We’ve got to put together better nines [nine innings] than we’re doing right now. You’ve got to play all nine innings as hard as you can with a lot of energy, and find a way to scrap and claw for runs -- because you never know when you might need that extra run.”
The loss fit a frustrating pattern for Seattle over the weekend. On Saturday, the Mariners were close to being blanked before rallying to within one run in the eighth on Randy Arozarena’s three-run homer. Even then, they left the tying and go-ahead runs stranded in both the eighth and ninth.
Sunday looked different for much of the day. Emerson Hancock gave them a strong rebound outing, and the lineup put a runner on base in every inning. But once the bullpen gave up the five-run burst, Seattle was left with only three outs to answer.
The numbers told the same story. The Mariners hit .252 for the series, better than their .232 season average, and posted a .353 on-base percentage, well above their .313 mark.
But the power wasn’t there. They finished with just five extra-base hits across 123 plate appearances and a .336 slugging percentage.
That lack of thump has been a problem all month. Seattle has hit 26 home runs in June, tied for 24th in MLB, after hitting 42 in May, tied for the most in the league. On Sunday, the Mariners fell to 6-22 this season when they don’t homer.
Since June 12, their most recent game with more than four runs, they’re hitting .183 with a .520 OPS and have hit only two homers with runners in scoring position.
“Just keep your head down, just keep having a good approach, keep putting the balls on play,” Rodríguez said, “and I think things are going to happen. ”
Raleigh said the fix has to come from a more disciplined approach in the biggest moments.
“We’ve all got to do a better job of just executing with people on base and being mentally disciplined, mentally tough enough to be able to come through in those moments," Raleigh said. "It’s not going to be handed to you.”
For Raleigh, the message came with extra weight. He’s been the team’s spokesman after losses like this for years, but the role seems to sit heavier now, especially with his own numbers lagging. Since returning from the injured list on June 16, he’s slugging .282.
And he didn’t dodge that part either.
“I think what's lacking is just that discipline to stay in the middle of the field and not get too big and to sacrifice yourself as a hitter sometimes, and do what's best for the team,” Raleigh said. “I think we all could do a better job of that, and like I said, myself included.”
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