Any lingering postseason hopes for the Mariners dimmed significantly in the lost series on a homestand that featured an inexplicable series loss to the lowly Diamondbacks and a frustrating lost series to the Red Sox in games that they chances to win.
And now with Saturday’s disappointing 8-1 loss to the Royals, a team that has delivered multiple gut punch losses to derail the dream of a postseason appearance, the Mariners find themselves four games back for the second American League wild-card spot with 14 games left to play and three teams ahead of them.
Yusei Kikuchi put the Mariners in an early hole and an error by Kyle Seager on a sure double play opened the floodgates for a four-run eighth inning, crushing any lingering hopes of a miracle ninth-inning rally when the deficit ballooned from three runs to seven runs.
Kikuchi delivered yet another abbreviated, pitch-filled outing where he was basically ineffective from the very first pitch.
His final line: three innings, three runs allowed on eight hits with no walks, eight strikeouts and three wild pitches.
Beyond those numbers, Kikuchi’s pitches lacked life and command. He threw a whopping 63 pitches to get the six total outs in the first two innings. Of the 17 batters he faced, he threw first-pitch strikes to just nine of them and went to three-ball counts to 10 batters.
MLB Statcast data showed that the velocity on each of his pitches were down 1-3 mph and the spin rate was down a minimum of 150 revolutions per minute.
And because of the inordinate number of pitches thrown and his tendency to work slowly with runners on base, he sapped the game of any early rhythm or enthusiasm.
Royals leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield started off the inning by reaching on an infield “single” that could’ve been ruled an error on Kyle Seager for a poor throw to first base.
Merrifield advanced to second on a first-pitch wild pitch to Nicky Lopez. An apparent miscommunication between Kikuchi and catcher Tom Murphy on their changing signs used with a runner on second led to another wild pitch that put Merrifield on third. Later with one out, Kikuchi uncorked his third wild pitch in the inning, allowing Merrifield to score.
After the wild pitch adventures, Kikuchi allowed three straight singles as the Royals tacked on another run on Andrew Benintendi’s run-scoring line drive into right field. When Kikuchi finally got Michael A. Taylor to fly out to end the inning, he’d thrown 30 pitches.
And yet, it somehow got worse.
In the second inning, Kikuchi allowed back-to-back singles and then allowed careless stolen base to put runners on second and third with no outs. But he managed to get out of it, striking out Merrifield, getting an out on at the plate with the drawn-in infield and striking out Salvador Perez for the second time. But he also needed to throw 33 pitches for the scoreless second.
Kikuchi would make it one more inning, allowing another run on back-to-back two-out doubles from Mondesi and Taylor.
With Kikuchi at 83 pitches (53 strikes), Mariners manager Scott Servais had seen enough. He went to his bullpen to cover the remaining innings.
Meanwhile, the Mariners offense was sluggish and nonproductive against Royals starter Kris Bubic. The big lefty pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
He benefitted twice from inning-ending double plays and Dylan Moore getting caught stealing after leading off the third inning with a single. The Mariners’ lone run charged to Bubic came in the seventh inning when Ty France led off with a double. He was the first and only base runner to get into scoring position for Seattle against Bubic. France advanced to third on Kyle Seager’s groundout. Kansas City went to right-hander Domingo Tapia, who was briefly with the Mariners this season. Abraham Toro’s ground ball to second base allowed France to score.
