SEATTLE — Carson Smith could not keep the lead in the ninth.
Danny Farquhar allowed the White Sox to take the lead in the 10th.
And the Seattle Mariners could not rally in their final at-bat to undo the mess.
The names change.
The opponents are different.
The situations can vary.
Yet, the failure is still the same.
Seattle’s 6-3 loss in 10 innings to the White Sox on Saturday night was like so many before: a wasted effort.
The Mariners bullpen — a dumpster fire for far too much of the 2015 season — gave away yet another game with lack of execution.
Smith could not get the save with a 3-1 lead, giving up two runs in the top of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
But Seattle’s 20th extra-inning affair would not last long.
Farquhar looked like the pitcher who got sent down to Triple-A Tacoma twice this season, not the one who had been solid in his previous four outings.
He was charged with all three runs scored in the top of the 10th inning to take the loss. It included a leadoff walk, a double to Jose Abreu, an intentional walk to load the bases and an unintentional walk to force in the go-ahead run. Farquhar’s other two runs were scored on a passed ball by catcher Mike Zunino and a failed inning-ending double-play attempt, which was needed after Robinson Cano’s error on a ground ball.
With most of the crowd of 32,085 shuffling out from the nonsense, the Mariners gave few remaining fans no reason to cheer in the bottom of the inning, going down in order to end the game.
It torpedoed a solid outing from starter Vidal Nuno.
The left-hander pitched 6⅔ innings, giving up one run on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts. He exited in the seventh inning after Carlos Sanchez hit a ground-rule double and his pitch count had reached 102. Most of the crowd gave him a standing ovation for the effort.
His only real mistake came with two outs in the second inning. Nuno left a 1-1 fastball on the inside half of the plate to White Sox rookie Trayce Thompson. The young slugger turned on the pitch, yanking a laser line drive over the wall in left field, banging hard against the wall near Edgar’s Cantina. Thompson is the younger brother of former Washington State standout and NBA shooting guard Klay Thompson.
Nuno worked out of minor jams in the second and fifth inning and retired the ultra-dangerous Abreu with two strikeouts and a routine fly ball.
But he was still in line for the loss until the Mariners finally broke through against White Sox starter Carlos Rodon in the sixth inning, scoring three runs.
Nelson Cruz led off with a double to center and Robinson Cano reached on an error by Sanchez at second.
Franklin Gutierrez continued his career renaissance by scoring both runners with yet another clutch hit against a left-handed pitcher. Gutierrez jumped on a 1-1 fastball from Rodon, lining it into the gap in left-center, scoring Cruz and Cano to give Seattle a 2-1 lead. The Mariners tacked on another run in the inning when Gutierrez scored on the double play off the bat of Jesus Montero.
Meanwhile, the Mariners’ bullpen held up their end of the victory effort.
Right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen replaced Nuno in the seventh and got out of the inning without allowing a run. He pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning to set up Carson Smith for the save.
