Sweepless in Seattle: Yankees manage just one hit in losing series finale to Mariners

SEATTLE – Even in a season filled with offensive futility, the Yankees reached – or lowered themselves to – some kind of bar Thursday afternoon.

The Yankees were one-hit in a 4-0 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. At one point, 22 straight batters were retired by Seattle pitching.

Kendall Graveman hit DJ LeMahieu with one out in the ninth to snap the streak, but he retired the next two to end it.

After Aaron Judge grounded into a game-ending double play, he engaged in a lengthy stare-down with Graveman, as did more than a few Yankees.

"I think Graveman was just kind of staring him down right away [after the hit by pitch]," Boone said. "It continued after the double play as he was running across the field."

LeMahieu, in insinuating Graveman might have had some purpose behind the pitch that hit him and the one that went up and in on the batter preceding him, Rougned Odor, said of the rare flash of anger he showed: "Don’t really want to get into it."

The teams looked at each other harshly for a bit leaving the field but nothing materialized, much like with the Yankees’ offense.

After outhitting the Mariners, 28-8, in winning the first two games of the series, the Yankees (44-42) were outhit, 5-1, Thursday. Despite the loss, they are still 21-5 in this ballpark since 2013 and 26-9 since 2011.

It was not an ideal way to head into a weekend series at Minute Maid Park against the 54-34 Astros.

Doing the vast majority of work against Yankees hitters was righty Logan Gilbert, who retired the final 18 he faced. The 24-year-old Gilbert, a hard-throwing fastball/slider pitcher whom the Mariners made their first-round pick (14th overall) in 2018, was making the 10th start of his big-league career. He allowed one hit and struck out eight over seven scoreless innings. Gilbert came in 2-2 with a 4.10 ERA.

"Sneaky fastball," LeMahieu said of what made Gilbert effective. "He settled in and started throwing some pretty good sliders, and he shut us down."

Said Boone: "Obviously, a great opportunity today with the chance to sweep a series and frustrating that we got held down, but credit to Gilbert. He was tough and on his game today. We just obviously couldn’t mount anything against him."

Jordan Montgomery, 3-3 with a 4.17 ERA entering the day, wasn’t bad. He allowed three runs and four hits over 6 2/3 innings in which he struck out nine. But he allowed two homers, a solo shot to Kyle Seager and a two-run blast to Dylan Moore, which was enough to cost him.

After Gilbert retired the Yankees in order on nine pitches in the top of the first, the Mariners (46-42) took their first early-inning lead of the series in the bottom half when Seager hit his 16th homer with two outs to make it 1-0.

In the second inning, the Yankees blew the one scoring chance they had.

Giancarlo Stanton led off the second with a double and Luke Voit got hit by a 96-mph fastball on his right hand. Gleyber Torres’ long fly out to center allowed Stanton to tag and take third but Gio Urshela struck out swinging at a 98-mph fastball and Brett Gardner grounded to short to end the threat.

Montgomery, as he did in the first, retired the first two batters in the bottom of the second but Luis Torrens, a former Yankees farmhand, lined a single to left. Moore followed and crushed a 1-and-1 changeup to left-center, his eighth homer making it 3-0. Coming into the day Montgomery had allowed nine homers total this season, just two over his previous six starts.

"It kind of came back middle, but [it was] first-pitch and he just got it," Montgomery said of the 94-mph fastball Seager hit out. "The second one, I just kind of aimed a changeup in there and left it up and he made me pay for it. So two mistakes, two homers. But the changeup is going to be the one that really is under my skin."

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.