It was exactly week ago, the Mariners were cratering into baseball irrelevance at an alarming rate. They couldn’t hit. They couldn’t win. The everyday lineup had at least two or three players that might not start for most Triple-A teams. The bullpen they had relied upon so often early in the season was decimated by a positive test for COVID-19 and the contact tracing that followed.
They had played themselves a six-game losing streak that included getting swept in a lopsided fashion by the Padres where the talent and performance gap was so striking noticeable that it was fair to wonder if the Mariners would truly be a contender.
More losing and anguish were sure to come in their trip to Oakland where the division-leading A’s were waiting.
A visibly frustrated and emotionally exhausted Scott Servais tried to spin positives at the time, noting the work of Justin Dunn and the improved at-bats.
But the words felt hollow and Pollyannish based on how the team had been performing. The Mariners were 21-26 and headed toward seasonal irrelevance faster than expected.
A week later almost to the hour, the Mariners were on the field of T-Mobile Park, shaking hands and celebrating a 4-2 win over the Rangers that completed a rare four-game sweep. They had won six of their last seven games and were back at .500.
Yusei Kikuchi delivered a brilliant outing for Seattle. He took a no-hitter through five innings and produced his sixth quality start in a row to improve to 3-3 on the season.
Ty France drove in three runs on a pair of hits and Kyle Seager hit a solo homer.
