Slumping Seattle Mariners Seek Answers To Recent Woes

Raleigh socked his 24th homer this season in Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at T-Mobile Park. That number leads all MLB sluggers. What gives with the recent slump? Even Raleigh is looking for answers himself.

“We've got to turn the page,” Raleigh said on Thursday, MLB.com reported.  “We’ve got to create our own luck and can't wait around. I think that's the big thing I want to see in the next couple games is kind of creating our own luck, creating our own kind of chaos on the bases and and things like that — and not just waiting for that home run or that one hit. So I think that's kind of how we’ve got to push the envelope, in my mind.”

Cal Raleigh has been a one-man wrecking crew for the Mariners

Over the past 15 games, Seattle is 5-10. But the story lies in the numbers and Raleigh, for his part, has been carrying the Mariners on his broad shoulders. Take a look at these statistics. Since May 10, Raleigh has been hitting at a .345 clip with nine homers and an OPS of 1.286.

How about his teammates? Well, that's a totally different story. They have combined for a .214 average with nine combined homers and a .581 OPS.

That's not a winning combination at all. Seattle needs more contributions from the rest of the 40-man roster if they're going to reclaim their AL West leadership. The Houston Astros hold a 1.5-game lead over Seattle entering Friday. The Astros finished off a series win against the Pittsburgh Pirates late Thursday night, winning 8-2.

It's a familiar spot for Seattle, looking up at the Astros in the No. 1 spot in the division. 

“We're getting guys on, but you've got to take advantage of it, right?” Raleigh said. “I mean, it's kind of the name of the game. We've just got to find a way to get those runs across like we were early in the year. 

"Sometimes, it's not always going to be from the swing," he said. "You've got to get a bunt. You've got to steal bases, kind of like what we're doing earlier — creating some traffic that way. So it's not taking two, three singles to get the job done."

Seattle has plenty of season left to right its wrongs. The Mariners, though, probably need to start picking up the pace as the long, hot summer hits MLB teams.