Mariners extend dominance of A’s and Cole Irvin in 10-2 rout

“I gave Suárez two good pitches to hit out, and he hit both of ’em,” Irvin said. “It was just a night where I didn’t get away with a couple of bad pitches. That’s how it goes sometimes.”

Since the beginning of last season, the A’s have lost 23 of 30 games against Seattle, including 20 of the past 23. The A’s struggles against the Mariners are even more pronounced at the Coliseum.

Seattle has won 10 straight in Oakland. That ties Houston’s 2016-17 win streak at the Coliseum for the second longest by an A’s opponent. Only a 13-gamer by Baltimore from 1976 to ’79 is longer.

Irvin entered Friday 0-5 with an 8.69 ERA in his career against the Mariners, with those stats compiled last season. His first start against Seattle in 2022 could have gone much differently if not for Suárez and a key error by rookie shortstop Nick Allen.

The lefty and the A’s owned a 2-1 lead with one out in the fourth. Mitch Haniger singled before Suárez jumped on a curveball and launched it over the left-field wall. Estimated at 397 feet, Suárez’s drive was his 21st homer of the season and it put Seattle ahead to stay at 3-2.

It was still 3-2 with one out and Jesse Winker on first in the sixth. Haniger then hit a tailor-made double-play ball to Allen, who bobbled it trying to make the exchange to throw to second. Allen recovered and tried to get Haniger at first, but Haniger just beat the throw.

“I went and got it,” Allen said of Haniger’s grounder. “I didn’t stay back on it, and it just slipped out of my hand. I wish I could go back, obviously, but those things happen.”

Suárez made the A’s pay dearly for Allen’s mistake. The former Cincinnati infielder smoked an Irvin sinker over the wall in dead center, this drive estimated at 416 feet. That made it 6-2 and it was all over but the postgame fireworks. Irvin isn’t the only pitcher Suárez has taken deep. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, Suárez leads the majors in homers with 151.

Irvin gave up those six runs (five earned) on six hits in six innings. He struck out two and walked two. That extends his streak of starts walking two or fewer batters to 23, all 22 this season and his final start last season.

Said Irvin: “I felt like I had a little dead arm. I didn’t feel quite comfortable with how my body felt today. ... My body was kind of all over the place today. I felt like I’d never thrown a baseball before. It was just kind of one of those days.”

Irvin also had a 23-start streak of walking two or fewer batters last year. That’s the second longest such streak in Oakland history. Only Gil Heredia’s 26-start streak in 1999 was longer.

Not developing: The A’s 10-game homestand features two teams (the Mariners and Yankees) with designs on the playoffs and one team (the Marlins) that has little to no chance of reaching the postseason.

In his pregame news conference, A’s manager Mark Kotsay was asked if he’ll do things any differently with his young team depending on whether it’s facing a contender or an also-ran.

“We attack every game the same way, with the same mentality. We prepare to win each day,” Kotsay said. “We’ve talked about that with this group now that’s here. The mind-set has to be that we’re not here to develop. We’re here to win baseball games.

“Developing happens at the minor-league level. We’re here to teach and we’re here to learn, for sure. Every player — whether you’re in your first year or your 17th year — you’re still learning.”

The A’s don’t have any players in their 17th year in the majors, but do have plenty in their first. Oakland has 15 rookies on its 26-man roster. The A’s have used an Oakland-record 27 rookies this season, including an Oakland-record 15 rookie pitchers.

Right-handed reliever Norge Ruiz, selected from Triple-A Las Vegas on Friday, became the 27th rookie and 15th rookie pitcher. The 28-year-old from Cuba allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits in 1 2/3 innings in his major-league debut. He recorded his first two big-league strikeouts.

Seattle updates: The Mariners are in the top spot of the AL wild-card standings, two games ahead of the Rays, who own the third and final wild-card spot. Seattle hasn’t made the postseason since 2001. ... Lefty Marco Gonzales got the win and improved to 10-4 lifetime against the A’s.