SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners were tasked with stopping one of the most dynamic offenses in the league on Tuesday in the first game of a series against the Baltimore Orioles. The good news: the Mariners successfully stifled the Orioles’ offense. The bad news: Seattle’s offense was nonexistent, resulting in a 2-0 win for Baltimore at T-Mobile Park.

It’s the third-straight loss for the Mariners, who fell to 47-40 on the year. Here’s a breakdown on everything that happened in Tuesday’s cross-country American League contest:

Offense. There’s not much else to be said. Seattle’s offense mustered just two hits for the game. Its best chance to score didn’t come until the bottom of the ninth with the game-tying runs at second and third and the go-ahead run at the plate. Both those base runners got on base via hit-by-pitches.

The Mariners missed out on the walk-off opportunity and the chance to get in a position to score in general. Seattle had three at-bats with runners in scoring position, and went 0-for-3. That makes the Mariners 5-for-35 with runners in scoring position in its last four games, including the most recent three-game series against the Minnesota Twins.

Seattle’s starting pitcher George Kirby did his job. He went 6 1/3 innings pitched and struck out five batters while letting up two earned runs on seven hits and walked one batter.

Manager Scott Servais bumped Julio Rodriguez down to seventh in the lineup to, in his words, give him a breather and try to get more hitters comfortable. It didn’t have the results he or Rodriguez wanted. Josh Rojas was the lone Mariner to earn a hit and Rodriguez went 0-for-4 and struck out twice — the second time in the ninth inning to end the game with two men on.

Orioles first baseman Ryan O’Hearn hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth to put his team up 1-0 .

Baltimore extended its lead to 2-0 in the top of the seventh courtesy of an RBI single from Cedric Mullins.

Mariners reliever Austin Voth came in for the last two outs of the seventh inning and helped leave the bases loaded to prevent the Orioles from tacking on any further runs.

Rodriguez struck out swinging in the ninth with Luke Raley at third base and Ryan Bliss at second, giving Baltimore the win and preventing a potential game-tying or go-ahead scenario for the Mariners.

This was a winnable game for Seattle. Many of its losses have been winnable games. Luckily for the Mariners, the Houston Astros also lost 7-6 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, keeping Seattle’s lead at three games in the American League West. … Unluckily, the offensive woes continue for the Mariners. The best performance in the lineup came from Rojas, who accounted for both of Seattle’s hits. … Kirby took the loss and fell to a 7-6 record on the year. … The Mariners’ pitching staff combined for seven strikeouts and two walks for the game. … Logan Gilbert will get the start in Game 2 of the series at 7:10 p.m. PST on Wednesday. He will face Dean Kremer for the Orioles.

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To many fans and pundits, the Seattle Seahawks’ likely plan at quarterback seems very clear: start Geno Smith this season, then probably hand the reins over to offseason acquisition Sam Howell next season to not only save money, but get younger at the position as well.

However, there are certainly some… out there predictions for what the Seahawks could do instead. Some national analysts have named Seattle as a suitor for for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, which doesn’t make sense from a salary cap perspective considering his stats relative to Smith.

Then there’s a prediction by Marissa Myers of The Wrightway Sports Network, who believes that Seattle’s starting quarterback in 2025 won’t be Smith, Howell or even a rookie, but Desmond Ridder. Yes, really.

“That’s where Ridder comes into play as the candidate to lead the Seahawks offense,” Myers writes. “While the play hasn’t necessarily been great for Ridder, his situation with the Atlanta Falcons wasn’t necessarily ideal either. Ridder coming out of Cincinnati was known for diagnosing defenses, which he’s been able to show glimpses of at the NFL level as well. …

“Ridder is also able to utilize his mobility, as he has the capability to pick up yards on the ground and manipulate the pocket as well, which would be essential for the Seahawks under new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.”

Listen, there’s absolutely no ill will towards Myers or the folks at TWSN. That said, where do we even begin here?

First off, saying that Ridder’s play “hasn’t necessarily been great” is the textbook definition of an understatement, as he was one of the worst starters in the entire league last season. The 24-year-old finished the season with a 64.2 percent completion rate, 2,836 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for a passer rating of 83.6, which ranked 26th among qualified quarterbacks. He also added 193 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, but fumbled 12 times, an absurd amount for any player.

Ridder also had a propensity for turnovers at the worst possible time, and especially in the red zone. The low point came when a late interception against the Carolina Panthers directly led to Atlanta losing the game on a last-second field goal. Yes, Ridder was largely responsible for one of Carolina’s two wins last season, which is about as damning of an indictment as there possibly could be.

It’s no surprise that Falcons fans wanted him gone long before they even signed Kirk Cousins, and they got their wish when the team traded him to the Arizona Cardinals.

There’s also the simple fact that if the Seahawks really wanted Ridder for some reason, they could’ve just traded for him this offseason. They instead went after Howell, who did throw more interceptions than Ridder, but outperformed him in nearly every other stat while playing on a worse team.

This is one of those takes that almost deserves respect for how absurd it is, but if Ridder is actually in a Seahawks uniform next year, something has gone horribly wrong.

The Seattle Mariners made a trade that went under the radar in May, acquiring 27-year-old minor leaguer Jake Slaughter from the Chicago Cubs for relief pitcher Tyson Miller.

Passan: With prospect wealth, Mariners should be bold

Slaughter came to the Mariners’ system with strong power numbers, owning an .879 OPS with five homers in 32 games for Triple-A Iowa. And on Monday night, fans of the Tacoma Rainiers got the chance to see a particularly impressive example of his power at the plate.

If you’ve ever been to Cheney Stadium, home of the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate, you know about the very tall wall in center field. And that means you know how hard it is for a hitter to homer over that wall.

Well, add Slaughter to the very short list of players who have done it.

HE SLAUGHTERED THIS ONE! Jake clears the center field wall at Cheney Stadium with a two-run home run that went 452 feet. pic.twitter.com/04dw4LggJ8

— Tacoma Rainiers (@RainiersLand) July 2, 2024

That’s a 452-foot home run, an absolutely mammoth blast from Slaughter that needed not just distance to get over the wall (which is 425 feet away from home plate) but also towering height to clear it.

Slaughter’s blast was just one of three on the night in the Rainiers’ 7-3 win over the Salt Lake Bees, with the other two coming from some familiar names for Mariners fans: Tyler Locklear and Jonatan Clase, a pair of rookies who have made their MLB debuts with Seattle this season.

After going 1 for 3 with a walk on Monday, Slaughter has a .278/.363/.413 slash line for a .776 OPS with seven homers, 13 doubles, 36 RBIs and 36 runs scored over 68 Triple-A games combined between Iowa and Tacoma this season. The LSU product was an 18th-round MLB Draft pick by Chicago in 2018.

The Rainiers are in Tacoma for two more games against the Bees on Tuesday (7:05 p.m.) and Wednesday (6:05 p.m.), then will head out on the road for the next two weeks.

Santos set for M’s system debut

Speaking of those Rainiers home games, Tuesday night will be one worth keeping tabs on.

Mariners relief pitcher Gregory Santos was scheduled to join Tacoma for a rehab assignment on Tuesday, where he will throw a pitch as a member of the Mariners organization for the first time in a competitive game.

More: Mariners reliever Santos to begin rehab assignment

Seattle acquired Santos in an offseason trade from the Chicago White Sox, but the high-leverage option has been sidelined since the start of spring training due to a lat injury. He pitched against some Mariners hitters in live batting practice sessions last week, and the reviews were strong.

“He would be a weapon in the bullpen for a team like us, and I’m just excited for him to get back,” said Mariners second baseman Ryan Bliss, who faced Santos in both live BPs. “… (Santos’ sinker) is 98 mph with splitter movement. You really just don’t see that. I mean, the ball drops out of nowhere, you don’t really see it. It’s just something unique and it’s a really good pitch.”

With Santos starting his rehab assignment Tuesday, it remains to be seen if he could debut with the Mariners before or after the MLB All-Star break, which starts in less than two weeks.

Meanwhile in Everett

Finally, let’s take a trip up I-5 to look at the strong start Lazaro Montes is having with the High-A Everett AquaSox.

Called up from Single-A Modesto last week, the 19-year-old outfielder is 9 for 25 (.360) through his first six games for Everett. Montes has two doubles, a homer, and three walks to eight strikeouts so far at High-A, and has reached base safely in each of his six contests.

Montes is the Mariners’ No. 4 prospect and the No. 53 overall prospect in baseball as ranked by MLB.com, and he checks in at No. 49 overall per Baseball America.

#Mariners No. 4 prospect Lazaro Montes has hit safely in each of his first six Northwest League games with a homer, five RBIs and three walks.@USAFRecruiting #AimHigh pic.twitter.com/skOmIxjVfK

— Everett AquaSox (@EverettAquaSox) July 2, 2024

The AquaSox will wrap up a series at Vancouver with a game each Tuesday and Wednesday, then will be back at Funko Field in Everett for three 7:05 p.m. games against the same Canadians on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Two Mariners prospects named to All-Star Futures Game
• Mariners Update: AL West lead shrinks ahead of tough series
• Mariners PxP Goldsmith: ‘How do you get Julio free again?’
• Mariners Breakdown: Storylines after fourth straight series loss
• MLB insider Jon Morosi reports on Seattle Mariners’ trade pursuits

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