The Seattle Mariners wrapped up a disappointing road trip with a lopsided 10-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. The defeat was made worse by a pair of injuries, with first baseman Josh Naylor and closer Andres Munoz both forced to leave the game before it was over.
Seattle actually struck first. Josh Naylor laced a rocket into the gap in left-center in the opening inning, and Cole Young raced all the way around from first base to score, handing the Mariners an early lead. As it turned out, that would be the only run the team would manage all day.
The Nationals answered immediately. James Wood led off the bottom of the first with an absolute moonshot off Emerson Hancock to tie the game at one. Washington then seized the lead for good in the fourth, when Daylon Lyle doubled in a run to make it 3-1 and Nassim Nunez followed with a single up the middle that drove in two more, pushing it to 5-1 on the back of five straight hits and a five-run inning.
The outing was a rough one for Hancock, who was charged with six earned runs. It continued a difficult stretch for the right-hander, and left the Mariners searching for more consistency from a starting rotation that has been leaned on heavily.
The injury concerns began in the sixth inning, when Naylor fouled a ball hard off his shin and was eventually forced out of the game. Manager Dan Wilson said afterward that x-rays on Naylor came back negative and that he is considered day-to-day.
More worrying news followed in the eighth, when closer Andres Munoz, trying to get some work in, had to leave with lower back tightness. Wilson said Munoz is also day-to-day. The setbacks added to a growing injury list that already includes Brendan Donovan and J.P. Crawford, while Matt Brash went down this week with another lat strain.
The 10-1 defeat capped a 4-6 road trip and a third straight series loss for Seattle, coming after the club had its eight-game winning streak snapped. The Mariners now get an off day before opening a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday.