KANSAS CITY — Baseball’s hottest team got one of its most dangerous hitters rolling again Wednesday night, but a rare bullpen collapse spoiled the Mariners’ chance at taking advantage of it.
Eugenio Suárez had his first four-hit game as Mariner, which included a two-run homer before he scored the game-tying run in the seventh, but reliever Matt Brash gave up a go-ahead two-run blast in the eighth in Seattle’s eventual 7-5 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Brash gave up a season-high four runs four hits, just the second time all season he gave up more than one run in his 50 outings, as the Mariners’ 10-game winning streak was abruptly ended after taking a late lead.
Due to Houston’s (84-69) win over Texas (79-74) on Wednesday night, Seattle (83-69) no longer sits atop the American League West. However, the Mariners still remain two games behind the Tigers (85-67) for the No. 2 seed in the AL, which earns a bye into the AL Division Series. Seattle is also tied with Boston (83-69) for the second Wild Card spot, holding a 2 1/2-game lead over Cleveland (80-71) as the first team out.
There’s a lot at stake every night, and it’ll only get more intense over the final 10 games of the season, so losses like Wednesday night sting despite Suárez providing the pop the Mariners have been waiting for since he was acquired from Arizona.
Suárez entered on an 0-for-32 stretch, batting just .165 with a .613 OPS in 42 games with the Mariners. That’s a stark contrast from his time with the D-backs earlier this season, when the 34-year-old veteran clobbered 36 homers en route to a .896 OPS over 106 games with Arizona.
But things changed in the second inning Wednesday when Suárez connected on a Cole Ragans fastball and sent it a Statcast-projected 416 feet over the left-center-field wall. He added a double and two more singles, scoring three runs for the first time as a Mariner — the last coming after attempting to ignite a ninth-inning rally with a leadoff base hit.
“Obviously, it feels great. After that first at-bat [where] I was able to hit that fastball up and away really well, that’s when I started feeling that, ‘OK, that’s all I need,’” Suárez said. “It’s not something that I have to make an adjustment [on]. I just need one hit and I’m very sure that they’re going to come by. Today was one of those days that you just start to feel better.”
Despite Suárez’s struggles, the Mariners were still rolling. He didn’t record a hit in eight of Seattle’s 10 straight wins — a stretch where the club scored 78 runs. Team success helped Suárez put the pressure on himself, despite being in the middle of a postseason push.
“It’s something that when you’re winning, everything else is fine,” Suárez said. “It’s not something about, ‘OK, I got to worry about it because I’m not helping the team win’ — or whatever like that. They’ve been doing a really good job. It’s not about me. It’s about the team. All wins are good for everybody.”
Suárez attempted to will the Mariners to a win almost single-handedly Wednesday, but the loss was a firm reminder that despite the winning streak, there’s still a lot to be settled before Game 162.
Starter Bryce Miller surrendered a three-run homer to Salvador Perez in the first inning to put Seattle in an early deficit, but Miller limited the damage the rest of the way despite allowing two or more baserunners in four of five innings.
That allowed Suárez to start the rally that tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh before J.P. Crawford hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth, giving the Mariners the lead for the first time.
The Mariners had it set up the way they wanted, but Brash, who has allowed a run in back-to-back outings for the first time this season, wasn’t able to make it hold.
“That’s how we wanted it to roll,” manager Dan Wilson said. “The home run from J.P. was huge to give us the lead there. You’re looking at Brash and then [Andrés Muñoz], but sometimes it doesn’t go that way. And tonight it didn’t, but tomorrow we come back and go after it.”
The Mariners will go for a series victory Thursday afternoon before heading to Houston on Friday for a three-game set that will not only determine the playoff tiebreaker, but could very well decide the AL West.
And they’ll need Suárez to be a big part of that.
“One thing comparing this team to last year, it felt like a lot of times if we went down early, we were just done — and that’s not the case with us this year,” Miller said. “We’re always fighting, even when we go down, we’re still in it. It’s been a lot of fun the last couple weeks, and we have what, 10 left? Still time to go.”
