Well that was a frustrating way to start off this long road trip. The rain made the series in Baltimore particularly agonizing but the sloppy play combined with an unlucky offense made Thursday’s game a slog. The Mariners will have to regroup quickly because this is the toughest stretch of their August schedule; six more games on the road against the two top teams in the NL East followed by series against the A’s, Padres, and Guardians. The M’s did well to build up a bit of a buffer in the Wild Card race with their eight-game win streak, but if they want to challenge the Astros for the division, these are the games they need to win. Sunday’s game is also the Little League Classic played in Williamsport, PA, the highest profile regular season game the Mariners have been involved in since their Tokyo series in 2019.

Fresh off signing Juan Soto to the largest contract in sports history, the Mets have stumbled through an up-and-down season. They’ve gone back and forth with the Phillies at the top of the NL East and were 21 games over .500 and 5.5 games ahead of Philadelphia at one point. Since that high point on June 12, they’ve gone 19-33 and are now trailing in the division by five games and are only a half game ahead of the Reds in the NL Wild Card race. They’re 2-13 over their last 15 games and desperately need a spark to regain their momentum in the playoff race.

There are a host of reasons why the Mets have tumbled down the standings, but an inconsistent offense has been the most glaring. Led by their three superstars, their entire lineup is driven by Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Pete Alonso. Since that June 12 peak, only Soto has really been contributing up to his usual level (a 151 wRC+); Alonso has been alright (107 wRC+) but Lindor has been mired in a months-long slump (88 wRC+). There are a handful of league average contributors in the back half of the lineup but most of them are slumping with the rest of the team since the All-Star break. The lone standout has been catcher Francisco Alvarez who has a 171 wRC+ since being recalled from a month-long stint in Triple-A on July 21.

After a strong start to his career, Sean Manaea looked like he was well on his way to journeyman status after bouncing from the Padres to the Giants in successive years. He signed a one-year deal with the Mets last year and quickly became a key member of their rotation after dropping his arm slot to great success. He re-signed for three years but a spring oblique injury and a minor elbow issue during his rehab delayed his 2025 debut to mid-July. What’s interesting is that his pitch mix this season looks nearly unrecognizable from the revamped look it had after he made his mechanical adjustment last year. He’s really emphasized the four-seam fastball that he unlocked with his lower arm slot and has completely cut out the sinker and cutter from his repertoire.

Nolan McLean, the Mets third ranked prospect, is slated to make his major league debut in Saturday’s game. A third-round pick in the 2023 draft, he was a two-way player in college but dropped the bat to become a full-time pitcher as a pro. He reached Double-A during his first full year in the minor leagues behind a 25% strikeout rate and quickly moved up to Triple-A this year after raising that strikeout rate a couple of points. He’s got great command of his deep repertoire and has a good feel for pitching that belies his limited experience on the mound.

Clay Holmes signed a three-year deal with the Mets this offseason with the intent to switch from high-leverage work in the bullpen to the starting rotation. He had worked as a starter early in his career and was initially called up as a member of the Pirates rotation in 2018, but quickly moved to the bullpen and pitched in some big innings as the Yankees closer for a few years. The experiment started off fairly well; in 19 starts before the All-Star break, his ERA was 3.31 with a FIP almost a run higher at 4.61. In five starts during the second half, his ERA has ballooned to 5.56 and a heavy workload is suddenly a very real concern after never pitching more than 100 innings in a season in the big leagues.

After tying the Astros atop the AL West on Tuesday, the M’s have quickly fallen 1.5 games behind after their two losses in Baltimore. Houston will host the Orioles this weekend. Meanwhile, the Rangers have fallen all the way down to .500 after losing their series against the Diamondbacks earlier this week and now they have to face the best team in the AL in Toronto this weekend. In the Wild Card race, the Red Sox host the Marlins, the Yankees travel to face the Cardinals, and the Guardians look to continue their summer surge against the Braves.