R.I.P. 2011 Seattle Mariners

Following a valiant 8-2 stretch that pushed the M's to the brink of a .500 record they proceeded to lose six straight games, some in spectacular late-inning fashion. The week-long debacle was a total team failure: the bats went silent, pitchers threw erratic and the effort was lacking (here's looking at you, Figgins).

Hell even Felix failed.

Of course the worst sins were committed by closer Brandon League, who was Bobby Ayala-esque in his last four appearances:

DATE	OPPONENT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
05/13	@ CLE	0.2	3	3	3	1	0	0
05/12	@ BAL	0.1	2	2	2	0	0	0
05/10	@ BAL	0.2	4	2	2	0	0	1
05/08	vs CHW	1.1	3	3	3	0	0	2

Four losses, three blown saves, too many fuckups and no shot at the playoffs for the Mariners. Not that Seattle had a good shot at October baseball anyway but after Saturday's washout the team remains at 16-23. Reaching 90 wins to have even a glimmer of playoff hope the M's need to play 74-49 the rest of the season. That's a .600 clip and that ain't gonna be sustained (not by this mediocre club anyway) through 4 1/2 months.

That being said there's still a lot to played for. A complete tailspin will likely cost Jack Zduriencik his job and enable the dualing idiots Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong to undo the great strides Z & Co. have made with the franchise from top to bottom. Justin Smoak, Michael Pineda and (hopefully) Michael Saunders will continue to develop as the team's future core. Franklin Gutierrez is primed to return as soon as next week. Dustin Ackley is killing the baseball lately and is scheduled to make his MLB debut in June.

So while it may be over it really isn't.