SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 05: George Kirby #68 of the Seattle Mariners reacts during the seventh inning against the Athletics at T-Mobile Park on September 05, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Jack Compton / Getty Images)
The slow-motion collapse of the Seattle Mariners continued on Saturday night with a third straight loss to the Sacramento Athletics as Jeffrey Springs tossed seven scoreless innings in a 6-2 loss.
Seattle managed just two hits and two walks against Springs while striking out six times in the game. The Mariners managed to score two runs off the A's bullpen that were inconsequential.
Springs has been awful this year for the Athletics, entering Saturday's game with a 3-13 record and a 6.37 ERA on the season. However, he has a penchant for carving up the Mariners. In 16 total appearances and six starts against Seattle, Springs has never allowed more than two earned runs in an outing. In 42 innings pitched in his eight starts, Springs has allowed seven earned runs in total for a 1.50 ERA with 48 strikeouts and 11 walks.
The backstory:
Max Muncy homered for the second straight day, Lawrence Butler added a two-run homer, Henry Bolte and Donovan Walton each had RBI hits, and Geoff Hartlieb and Elvis Alvarado worked the final two innings.
The A's (57-86) have won four in a row for the first time since June 13.
The Mariners (66-77) dropped a season-worst 11 games under .500, losing their third straight against the Athletics. Seattle is seven games behind first-place Houston in the AL West and six back of Cleveland for the final AL wild-card spot.
Springs (4-13) bounced back after a tough stretch in August, including allowing seven runs in his previous start against Baltimore on Aug. 30. Heading into Seattle with a 6.37 ERA, the 33-year-old allowed no runs on two hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked two on just 81 pitches. It was Springs' first win since April 14.
Muncy hit his ninth homer of the season — a 428-foot solo blast into left field off George Kirby (9-11). Muncy added an RBI single in the fourth to make it 2-0.
Kirby went 6 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits.
Butler hit his 13th home run of the season to left field off Michael Rucker in the eighth inning.
Up next
Athletics LHP Gage Jump (6-9, 5.15) was set to face RHP Bryan Woo (10-9, 4.25) in the series finale Sunday.
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The Source: Information in this story came from The Associated Press and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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