SEATTLE — With a thin bullpen and too many squandered opportunities on offense, the Seattle Mariners were unable to hold onto an early lead in a 6-4 loss against the Athletics on Monday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
With the game tied 3-3 and right-handed relievers Eduard Bazardo and Casey Legumina both up in the bullpen going into the top of the eighth; Mariners manager Dan Wilson opted to go with the latter in hopes of getting more than one inning of work.
Instead of getting multiple outs, the Athletics took control of the game.
A's left fielder Tyler Soderstrom hit a double, shortstop Jacob Wilson singled and second baseman Jeff McNeil walked to load the bases with no outs.
Athletics third baseman Max Muncy hit an RBI sacrifice fly to score Soderstrom and right fielder Lawrence Butler brought home Wilson and McNeil with a two-RBI single to give the Athletics a 6-3 lead.
Butler's single capped off six unanswered runs for the A's after Seattle (10-14) started with a 3-0 lead through the first two innings.
"You've got to cover more innings than just the one," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview Monday. "Trying to balance which spot you want which guy in — you have to look at it all and we just felt like at that moment (Legumina) was the choice."
Seattle had multiple opportunities to tack on runs in the eighth and the ninth, respectively.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Mariners had two runners in scoring position. Center fielder Julio Rodriguez hit a single and first baseman Josh Naylor singled and subsequently stole home to set the M's up with runners on second and third.
Left fielder Randy Arozarena struck out swinging and designated hitter Rob Refsnyder flew out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, second baseman Cole Young reached with a one-out single. He was brought home on an RBI double hit by third baseman Leo Rivas, which resulted in the eventual final of 6-4.
Shortstop J.P. Crawford popped out to foul territory and catcher Cal Raleigh flew out to right field, which ended the game. Seattle went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven Monday night.
"I think (we're) doing a decent job of getting on-base and giving ourselves a chance," Wilson said. "(We were) just not able to convert. And we've seen that a couple of times over the past week or so. Our approach, the at-bats have been better. Just not able to transfer them into runs tonight."
Raleigh hit an opposite-field, solo home run earlier in the bottom of the first to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
Naylor bolstered the M's' advantage to 2-0 in the first after hitting an RBI double to bring home Rodriguez.
Naylor's first-inning double was the only hit with runners in scoring position Seattle had Monday.
The Mariners' lead increased to 3-0 in the bottom of the second after right fielder Dominic Canzone hit his own solo homer.
The Athletics chipped away at their early deficit with a trio of solo homers before taking the lead in the eighth.
A's designated hitter Carlos Cortes hit his solo shot in the top of the fourth.
In the top of the sixth, first baseman Nick Kurtz and catcher Shea Langeliers both had solo shots to tie the game 3-3.