The Seattle Mariners have run into a rock in the road.
The bottom third of their batting order was made of players filling in for injuries, while the bottom third of the Colorado Rockies order – Pat Valaika, Gerardo Parra and Noel Cuevas – played like All-Stars.
Even with James Paxton pitching, the Rockies’ bottom three combined to go 6-for-9 at the plate and drove in four of the Rockies’ five runs in the Mariners’ 5-1 loss on Saturday at Safeco Field.
That’s now three loses in the Mariners’ past four games, including two in a row in this interleague series, to fall to 56-34, while the Rockies (46-43) won their fifth consecutive game and have won eight of their past nine.