Servais questions Mariners' intensity as losing skid hits 5 games

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais couldn't hold it in Wednesday after watching his club drop a fifth straight game, demanding greater intensity from his players following a 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals that left Seattle 11 games back of first in the American League West.

"We've got to pick up our intensity," Servais told reporters, including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. "We are better than this. I've about had enough of this. We need to dial it up a little bit."

Despite starting the campaign 8-13, the Mariners sat at 17-17 just two weeks ago after an 11-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 10, but things have gone south in a hurry. With four-fifths of their Opening Day rotation, as well as right fielder Mitch Haniger, on the disabled list, the Mariners have dropped 10 of their last 13 contests, plummeting to fifth place in the division in the process.

“We know we are banged up, nobody cares,” Servais said. “Nobody feels sorry for you in this league. You have to go out and fight and claw and scratch and figure out a way. It’s just not happening right now. There’s only way to get out of this hole, you have to dig yourself out of it because nobody cares. Players are frustrated, we are frustrated, we are better than this."

Limited to just one run per game in each of their last five contests, the Mariners sit dead last in the majors in offense over the past two weeks, having managed a measly .584 OPS and .109 isolated power.

"It's definitely been frustrating and the last little bit has been very frustrating," Servais said. "We don't like to lose and we certainly don’t like to lose in the fashion we’ve been losing. It's nothing crazy. We just have to play better."