CHICAGO — Maybe manager Scott Servais saw this coming Sunday, another downturn in the Mariners’ inconsistent attack that resulted in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox and a lost weekend at U.S. Cellular Field.
Speaking prior to the game, Servais outlined what he saw as the Mariners’ biggest need as they head into the season’s final five weeks in search of their first postseason appearance since 2001.
“I was thinking about things coming to the park this morning,” he said.
“We’d talked about getting consistent starting pitching. Our pitching has been pretty good.
“To kind of carry us, especially here on the road today and going into Texas, I’d like to see our bats wake up and start putting a consistent five, six, seven runs up there on the board, and then see where we’re at.”
Instead . . . just one run.
The Mariners wasted a strong start from Taijuan Walker in losing for the fifth time in six games.
Walker (4-9) permitted just two hits through the first seven innings before weakening in the eighth.
Unfortunately, one hit was a well-placed Justin Morneau grounder that produced two Chicago runs in the fourth inning. Melky Cabrera’s RBI triple finished Walker in the eighth and keyed a two-run inning.
So it goes.
The Mariners also dropped a game farther back in the wild-card hunt; they trail Baltimore by three games for the American League’s final postseason berth with 32 games remaining.
The problem was a familiar one; the Mariners struggled against left-handed starters.
They saw three this weekend in Chicago, where they lost they lost three times in four games.
And they are likely to see two more in their upcoming three-game series against Texas.
The Mariners are 20-28 against lefty starters in contrast to their 48-34 record against right-handers.
The Mariners trailed 2-1 when they started the seventh inning with singles by Kyle Seager and Franklin Gutierrez, which prompted to White Sox to pull lefty Carlos Rodon.
Mike Zunino’s attempted sacrifice against reliever Chris Beck resulted in a force at second base.
When the Mariners sent up Adam Lind as a pinch-hitter for Dae-Ho Lee, Chicago countered by bringing in Dan Jennings, their only lefty reliever, for matchup purposes.
The strategy worked. Lind grounded into a double play.
The Mariners never threatened again.
Rodon (5-8) got the victory after limiting the Mariners to one run and five hits in six-plus innings. Four relievers covered the final nine outs with David Robertson getting his 33rd save.
The Mariners got a bit of a gift triple when right fielder Avisail Garcia misplayed Seager’s one-out drive in the second inning.
The ball struck the wall and caromed away from Garcia and center fielder Adam Eaton.
Rodon escaped when aided by a bit of a gift strikeout on a 3-2 pitch to Gutierrez that crew chief John Hirschbeck saw as a strike. The PitchF/x computer suggested the pitch wasn’t close to a strike.
Seager was the game’s only baserunner until Walker started the Chicago fourth by hitting Eaton. The White Sox got their first hit later in the inning on Cabrera’s pop-fly double to right that moved Eaton to third.
When Walker hit Jose Abreu, Chicago had the bases loaded with no outs.
Morneau then beat an overshifted infield with a two-run single on a grounder through the normal shortstop position before Walker steadied and retired the next two hitters.
The Mariners got their second hit on Gutierrez’s one-out single in the fifth, and he moved to second on Dae-Ho Lee’s two-out walk. But Rodon stranded both runners when Ketel Marte grounded out to short.
Robinson Cano finally got the Mariners on the board with a two-out homer in the sixth inning. His 364-foot drive to right on a 93-mph fastball from Rodon was Cano’s 30th homer of the season.
Play of the game
Shortstop Ketel Marte went a long way to run down a pop near the left-field foul line by Tyler Saladino for the first out in the fifth inning. The White Sox had a runner at first base.
Stat pack
Robinson Cano reached 30 homers for just the second time in his 12-year career.
He is now three homers shy of his career-best 33, hit in 2012 with the New York Yankees. Cano also has more homers than doubles (29). He has never finished a season with more homers than doubles.
Further: Cano is only the fifth second baseman in American League history to post multiple 30-homer seasons.
Alfonso Soriano did it three times, while Ian Kinsler, Bret Boone and Joe Gordon each did it twice.
Short hops
Mariners starter Taijuan Walker hit three batters, including Jose Abreu on two occasions. Adam Eaton left the game soon after being hit by a pitch in the fourth inning because of a bruised right forearm. X-rays on Eaton confirmed the damage was limited to a bruise…
