White Sox best the Mariners 4-1

Published 1:30 am Sunday, August 28, 2016

CHICAGO — Maybe manager Scott Servais saw this coming Sunday, another downturn in the Mariners’ inconsistent offensive attack that resulted in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox and a lost weekend at U.S. Cellular Field.

Speaking prior to the game, Servais outlined what he saw as the Mariners’ biggest need as they head into the final five weeks of the regular in search of their first postseason appearance since 2001.

“I was thinking about things coming to the park this morning,” he said. “We’d talked about getting consistent starting pitching. Our pitching has been pretty good.

“To kind of carry us, especially here on the road today and going into Texas, I’d like to see our bats wake up and start putting a consistent five, six, seven runs up there on the board, and then see where we’re at.”

Instead, the Mariners managed just one run.

“We had a couple of chances there with runners in scoring position,” Servais said after the game. “We didn’t really come through. We just didn’t get much going offensively. You’ve got to get hits with runners in scoring position.”

The Mariners were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position as they wasted a strong start from Taijuan Walker in losing for the fifth time in six games.

Walker (4-9) permitted just two hits through the first seven innings before weakening in the eighth. Unfortunately, one of those hits was a well-placed Justin Morneau grounder that produced two Chicago runs in the fourth inning.

Melky Cabrera’s RBI triple finished Walker in a two-run eighth that effectively ended the game. Even so, this was a new-look Walker, who hit three batters by pitching with an aggressive, buzz-them-inside attitude.

“When you throw in,” he said, “it’s going to happen. You have to make them uncomfortable. Obviously, I’m not trying to hit a batter, but I’m trying to get them off the plate.”

His body language suggested this was an angry Walker, and he didn’t deny it: “I was just trying to be aggressive and go out there and shove it down their throat.”

Had the Mariners backed Walker with a few runs, it might have been different. As it was…well, so it goes.

The loss dropped the Mariners farther back in the wild-card hunt — they trail Baltimore by three games for the American League’s final postseason berth with 32 games remaining.

The problem was a familiar one: the Mariners struggled against a left-handed starter. They saw three this weekend in Chicago, where they lost three times in four games.

And they are likely to see two more in their upcoming three-game series against Texas. The Mariners are 20-28 against lefty starters this season in contrast to their 48-34 record against right-handers.

“Every series, we face two lefties,” said Robinson Cano, whose homer in the sixth inning, his 30th of the season, produced the Mariners’ only run. “And every one you face is different. There are no excuses.

“Taijuan pitched a really good game today. We just didn’t score runs.”

There were chances. The Mariners trailed 2-1 when they started the seventh inning with singles by Kyle Seager and Franklin Gutierrez, which prompted the White Sox to pull lefty Carlos Rodon.

Mike Zunino’s attempted sacrifice against reliever Chris Beck resulted in a force at second base.

When the Mariners sent up Adam Lind as a pinch-hitter for Dae-Ho Lee, Chicago countered by bringing in Dan Jennings, their only lefty reliever, for matchup purposes.

The strategy worked. Lind grounded into a double play.

The Mariners put two runners on base with one out in the ninth inning against Chicago closer David Robertson but, again, came up empty.

Rodon (5-8) got the victory after limiting the Mariners to one run and five hits in six-plus innings. Four relievers covered the final nine outs, with Robertson getting his 33rd save.