The Seattle 17

Mariners' losing streak among all-time worst


Not much was expected of the Seattle Mariners this season.  Before the season, the consensus among scouting reports was that although Seattle had talent on the pitching side of the ball, whether it be established talent like 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez or young and up and coming like Rookie of the Year candidate Michael Pineda, the offense would yet again be so horrifically bad that the Mariners would never catch up to the high powered offense of Texas.  Believe it or not, this year's Mariners have been almost as awful offensively as last year's team which barely managed to score 500 runs on the season.  Even 600 runs in a season would be considered a bad offensive season for a team.

The 2010 Mariners were led in home runs by Russell Branyan with 15.  And Branyan did that in only 205 at-bats.  Franklin Gutierrez led the team with 64 RBIs.  Chone Figgins, a big free agent signing for the Mariners before 2010, was a huge bust in his first season with the team.  But he still managed to lead the team in batting average at .259.

The 2011 version is currently being led in homers and RBIs by Miguel Olivo, with 14 and 46, respectively, and in batting average by Ichiro Suzuki at .272.  About two-thirds of the way through the season, the Mariners have scored an underwhelming 345 runs, easily the worst total in MLB.  They have also been held to three or less runs 56 times, or in 54% of their 104 games so far this season.   This incompetent offense is to blame for Seattle's now-infamous 17-game losing streak that began before the All-Star Break.

The streak began on July 6 with a 2-0 loss in a series finale in Oakland.  The Mariners then went to Anaheim, and promptly got swept in a four-game series.  Hernandez, Pineda, and Brandon League then went to Arizona for the All-Star Game.  The three probably wish they could've stayed in Arizona for a while longer, as their team would go on to lose 12 more in a row.  First, the Mariners hosted the Rangers in a four-game series and got swept, scoring two runs in the entire series.  Yes, two runs scored in four games.  Then the M's went to visit the Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Yankees, playing a three-game series against each and losing all of them except the last game against the Yankees, which ended the streak on Wednesday.

During the streak, the Mariners only scored 44 runs, or 2.6 runs per game.  The futility of this streak will live in infamy for quite some time not only because of its sheer length, but because it blew the Mariners' chance at the wild card.  Right before the streak began, the Mariners were at .500 (43-43) thanks to the pitching staff.  But a closer examination reveals that this isn't the first time the Mariners have been plagued by such infamy down the stretch.  

On August 24, 2007, the 73-53 Mariners, fresh off a 4-2 win in Texas by none other than the same Hernandez (one of just two players on that team that remain on the Mariners today, along with Ichiro), began a similar losing streak that would knock them out of contention.  Although the M's had a relatively comfortable lead in the Wild Card after the win, they lost the lead to the Yankees during their nine-game losing streak.  The Mariners came out of it two games behind the Yanks and would never get the lead back.  This makes it twice in five years that the Mariners were knocked out of contention by a uncommonly long losing streak.  

Despite the team's overall struggles in 2011, the Mariners' pitching has held up pretty well.  Even including the streak, the Mariners staff ranks 9th in MLB in ERA, 6th in quality starts, and 3rd in walks allowed.  If pitching actually does win championships like they say, where are the championship rings for the Mariners?  At 44-60, to say it'll be a while until they get some is a major understatement.  Maybe in the mean time they'll score a run, or maybe even two.  Be warned.