DETROIT — Well, it’s just not working these days for the Seattle Mariners.
James Paxton provided them with a much-needed deep start Tuesday night but couldn’t hold a two-run lead in a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
More than that, the winning run scored on Mike Aviles’ bases-loaded dribbler up the first-base line that stubbornly stayed fair with the bases loaded.
“That’s baseball right there,” Paxton said. “That stuff is going to happen. Hopefully, we get some of those breaks going our way pretty soon.”
James McCann followed with a sacrifice fly for the game’s final run.
And the June swoon now stands at 6-14.
“We do think we have a really good team here,” third baseman Kyle Seager insisted. “We do believe that, and that’s why you’re able to not stress. If there’s a little bit of waver in that, there would be a bit of a trying time.”
The Mariners had a 2-0 lead after Seager’s homer in the sixth inning against Justin Verlander, but the Tigers answered with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings before their two-run eighth.
Victor Martinez started the winning rally with a one-out single, and he lumbered to third on Nick Castellanos’ double into the right-center gap. That was the Tigers’ only extra-base hit of the game.
After Andrew Romine replaced Martinez at third as a pinch-runner, the Mariners loaded the bases with an intentional walk to Justin Upton, who hit two homers Monday, including a 12th-inning walk-off winner.
Paxton (1-3) jumped ahead of Aviles 1-2, but Aviles fouled off two more pitches before squirting his game-winning single up the first-base line. After McCann’s sacrifice fly, Edwin Diaz got the final out of the inning.
“If there’s a silver lining in this one,” manager Scott Servais said, “it is (Paxton). I said that to him on the mound: ‘James Paxton is back.’ And we need him. We keep pitching like that, I’ll take our chances every night.”
The Mariners are now 2-6 on a 10-game trip that includes two more games at Comerica Park. Paxton’s final line showed four runs and 11 hits in 72⁄3 innings.
Verlander settled for a no-decision after limiting the Mariners to two runs and six hits in seven innings.
“We were all talking about it,” Seager said. “There weren’t too many real good pitches to hit in the zone. He obviously got the good stuff. He’s got the full assortment of pitches. He was really hitting his spots tonight.”
Bruce Rondon (1-0) got the victory after pitching a scoreless eighth inning when Francisco Rodriguez stranded two runners in the ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunities.
The game was scoreless into the sixth before Seager turned around a 96-mph fastball from Verlander on a full count for a two-run homer. The two-out drive followed Robinson Cano’s one-out single, and measured 384 feet.
It was Seager’s 15th homer of the season.
Paxton then started the Detroit sixth by putting the tying runs on base; Cameron Maybin singled, and Miguel Cabrera walked.
Seager’s diving stop turned Martinez’s grounder into a double play, but Paxton couldn’t completely escape. Castellanos grounded a two-out RBI single through the left side. It was 2-1.
The Tigers pulled even in the seventh.
Jose Iglesias pushed a two-out single past first and went to second on a wild pitch. Ian Kinsler tied the game with a single to right and took second on the throw to the plate. Paxton held the tie when Maybin grounded out.
It was a temporary reprieve.
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