By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA – For the fifth time in seven days, the Seattle Mariners lost. This loss came to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, behind a solid night on the mound by superstar Shohei Ohtani and a pair of two-run homers from Mike Trout. Seattle continues to struggle offensively, consistently failing to give its starting pitching enough run support. Offensive inconsistency is one of the things Seattle has actually been consistent at in 2022.  

Second home 

Angels superstar Mike Trout is one of the greatest players of all time, and some argue that he’s the greatest. With that being said, there’s a bit of cringe whenever he does something good as a Mariners fan, especially when it’s against Seattle. That same cringe came back in this game, as Trout slammed a pair of two-run homers, taking responsibility for all of Anaheim’s runs.  

Not only is Trout one of the greatest to ever play the game of baseball, he has a high rate of success when he players the Mariners. The second homer that Trout blasted was his 30th in T-Mobile Park. Coming into this game, he posted a .326 average with 36 doubles, ten triples, 47 home runs and 121 RBI against Seattle. Those 47 homers, now 49, are the second most all-time against the franchise, behind only Rafael Palmeiro with 52. It’s safe to say Trout could pass that mark this year.  

Ohtani Sho 

Shohei Ohtani is an international superstar, and could be argued the current face of baseball. The most proficient player to both pinch and hit since Babe Ruth (yes, that Babe Ruth. Shohei is also probably better than Ruth) is having a “down” year compared to his 2021 campaign, but he still has game breaking ability. That was showcased in the Angels win 

Ohtani pitched six innings for the Angels, allowing only three hits and giving up a mere two walks. Anaheim’s interim manager Phil Nevin stated that Ohtani could have gone seven innings, but they wanted to keep him in check. Ohtani also checked in on the offensive side, recording two hits. Shohei singled in the third and fifth innings.  

Struggling bats continue 

The Mariner offense is a conundrum. When they produce (four or more runs), Seattle more often than not wins the game. A main issue? That “when” does not happen enough for Seattle. Its stars have been quiet this homestand, and arguably their best player did not play tonight. All the Mariners could put together was a singular run thanks to Dylan Moore getting on base by taking a pitch, and JP Crawford doubling him home.  

Granted that six of tonight’s nine innings came against Shohei Ohtani, a unicorn in his own right, time for excuses has run out. This offense needs to figure itself out, and the team needs the players that it bet on to succeed. Relying on players to repeat career years or hoping that the young talent carries the lead will not work in your fortune. Having those two in moderation is good, but at the end of the day bringing in proven talent is necessary for playoff contention.  

Quick notes 

• With his two singles tonight, Eugenio Suarez has 12 multi-hit games on the season 

• Eugenio Suarez leads Seattle in the extra-base hits category, with 25 

• With his two walks tonight, Jesse Winker has 40 total walks on the season. He leads the American League in that stat and is third in all of baseball.  

• The Mariners lead all of baseball in players left on base, coming in to this game with 467.  

Seattle continues to struggle in a critical homestand. It is not an exaggeration to say that this stretch of games at T-Mobile Park very well could be looked back on in the late months of the season due to who the team faced. Losing series to a team in a wild card spot (Boston) and a team that leads their division (Minnesota) will be big for playoff standings. That is, it will only be important if the Mariners figure themselves out and find themselves in a position like that later on.  

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