Mariners 2, Tigers 1: Drew Smyly dominant, but Tigers offense remains MIA, AWOL and DOA

The Seattle Mariners' offense was a tad less bad than the Detroit Tigers' offense, while Jason Vargas out dueled Drew Smyly for a 2-1 victory.

For Tigers fans, the Mariners are becoming this decade's Minnesota Twins. Bad things happen when the Tigers play them. The Tigers number? The Mariners have it.

The lack of anything resembling a major league offense is becoming troublesome. But luck is a big part of baseball, and we saw lots of it --all bad -- tonight. It was one of those nights where nothing broke the Tigers' way, especially on offense.

What few balls the Tigers hit hard, were right at Mariners defenders. Brennan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera hit rockets which could have kept rallies alive...but were turned into double plays instead. Ryan Raburn just missed going yard, a deep fly fell just short of the fence. Prince Fielder hit what looked to be a sure single up the middle. But the Mariners had a shift on, shortstop Brendan Ryan stationed in short center field, and easily threw Fielder out.

If those balls are hit a foot or 2 in another direction, I'm likely writing about a Tigers series win. Cabrera, Fielder and the rest of the offense are not going to continue to hit into such hard luck. It would be next to impossible, actually.

So as I said, there was not a break to be found.

For the nuts and bolts recap:

Mariners 2, Tigers 1 Snap Reaction: Drew Smyly has a severe case of no-run-support-itis

I'm not going to get all up in arms over this loss. The Tigers starting pitching as been good to excellent. (Remember when we were more worried about the rotation than anything else?). They are in sole possession of 2nd place in the Central, only 2 games back of the Cleveland Indians.And I'm still of the belief the bats will ultimately come around as the weather heats up. Hell, it could even be tomorrow in Oakland.

Keep in mind the Tigers were missing some important bats tonight because of injuries. Alex Avila missed his second straight game with a balky knee, and the white hot Andy Dirks was resting his bad hamstring.

It's becoming a trope at this point, Drew Smyly pitches more than well enough to win, yet has nothing but a no-decision to show for it. The rookie with a sterling 1.59 ERA could easily be 6-0 with even a modicum of run support. But another no-decision leaves him 1-0 on the season, showing why wins and losses are not how you rate the effectiveness of a pitcher.

3 ROARS:

Drew Smyly: Another great performance, another no-decision. Smyly has 6 career MLB starts, allowed only 1 run in 5 of them. The other? A whole 2 runs. 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 5 K, 93 P.

Gerald Laird: His double sparked the Tigers only rally, if 1 run can be called such. 1-3, 2B, R.

Miguel Cabrera in the field: Cabrera couldn't buy a hit, but the Mariners couldn't hit it by him. The least of the Tigers' problems is Cabrera's defense.

3 HISSES:

Miguel Cabrera with the bat: 3 games, 0-13. Cabrera hit into some awful luck in the series (deep flies into Safeco's death valley, smashes turned into double plays), but the Tigers aren't going to win squat when their MVP candidate goes hitless.

Ryan Raburn: 0-3 night dropped Raburn's average to .130. If someone could brainwash Raburn into thinking it's already August, when he annually clobbers the ball, they would receive my endless thanks.

The Tigers offense: The lack of hits, runs,or anything having to do with using a wooden stick on a round ball in the correct fashion is getting ridiculous.

GAME 29 PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Andy Dirks is quickly becoming a fan favorite, beating both Justin Verlander and Don Kelly with 66% of the BYB vote.