After miserable road trip, will coming home help Mariners? It’s worked all season.

Even before George Kirby delivered yet another strong quality start and Cal Raleigh rescued them from another looming loss with a big three-run homer, the Mariners were already talking about making things right when they got back to Seattle.

Their 5-2 win over Tampa Bay on Wednesday closed out an abysmal road trip with a somewhat positive result and making it seem a little less ugly with a 3-6 record.

But will returning home offer a remedy for the problems and poor play that were on full display on the miserable three-city road trip and have been apparent in games away from Seattle for much of the season?

Thus far, the difference in road vs. home games is startling.

Mariners on the road

Record: 19-25

Runs scored per game: 4.0

Runs allowed per game: 4.6

Hitting: .224/.300/.377 slash line, 62 doubles, six triples, 51 homers, 170 RBI, 140 walks, 445 strikeouts

Pitching: 376 innings pitched, 190 earned runs, 4.55 ERA, 55 homers allowed, 121 walks, 322 strikeouts, .306/.415/.720 opponents’ slash line

Mariners at home

Record: 27-12

Runs scored per game: 3.8

Runs allowed per game: 2.8

Hitting: .213/.298/.359 slash line, 48 doubles, three triples, 41 homers, 143 RBI, 133 walks, 393 strikeouts

Pitching: 355 innings pitched, 100 earned runs, 2.54 ERA, 33 homers allowed, 78 walks, 372 strikeouts, .195/.244/.311 opponents’ slash line

It’s not a coincidence that the performance of the starting pitchers mirror the home/road splits. Mariners starters have a combined 2.43 ERA at home and are averaging nine strikeouts, 1.8 walks and 0.9 homers per nine innings. On the road, the rotation has a 4.35 ERA and is averaging 7.0 strikeouts, 2.1 walks and 1.4 homer per nine innings

Of the Mariners’ 49 quality starts (six-plus innings pitched and three runs or fewer allowed), 29 have come at T-Mobile Park with the Mariners winning 21 of those games. The starters have produced 20 quality starts on the road with the Mariners winning 15 of those games.   

The upcoming nine-game homestand, which starts Friday, should offer a real indicator of just how good the Mariners are when playing at home or if they are just that bad on the road.

It features three-game series vs. the Twins, Orioles and Blue Jays. The Mariners lost road series to all three teams already this season, dropping three of four in Minneapolis, losing two of three in Toronto on their first road trip of the season and stealing a win in Baltimore where their pitching was beat up for much of the series.

The Twins (45-36) come into Seattle to close out a three-city trip that they started with a series win in Oakland and then followed it up by taking two of three in Arizona and scoring 25 runs in three games. They will have Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton back in the lineup for the series. Both were out against Seattle in the series in May.

The Orioles (50-30) will play four games in Texas before traveling to Seattle. They still lead all of MLB in runs scored per game (5.21), home runs (132), RBI (402) and on-base plus slugging percentage (. 776). They have lost starting pitchers Kyle Bradish and John Means to season-ending Tommy John surgeries while right-hander Dean Kremer is also out with a triceps strain.  

The Blue Jays (36-43) have been one of the most underachieving teams this season and are flirting with being sellers at the MLB trade deadline. They recently snapped a seven-game losing streak. Before traveling to Seattle, they have an eight-game homestand that features a four-game series vs. the Yankees followed by a four-game series vs. the Astros. By the time they arrive at T-Mobile Park for a post-Fourth of July weekend series, their strategy for the trade deadline could be finalized.

While the team’s performance has led to uncertainty about its future, the annual invasion of Blue Jays fans from British Columbia and other provinces into Seattle is guaranteed. Crowds nearing 40,000 are expected for all three games, making for a lively weekend in the stands.

Here are three things to watch:

The rotation and how the Mariners will replace Bryan Woo

With Woo on the injured list with a hamstring strain, the Mariners have considered skipping his spot in the rotation and bringing back Luis Castillo on normal rest to pitch in Sunday’s series finale.

However, if they were to slot Emerson Hancock or Jhonathan Diaz into one of the outings this weekend, it would give Castillo, who looked gassed at the end of his outing in Tampa, an extra day of rest. It would also allow Seattle to slot Castillo, Kirby and Logan Gilbert against the Orioles and push Bryce Miller back to the Blue Jays series. Baltimore and its array of left-handed hitters knocked Miller around earlier this season. Besides Daulton Varsho, the Blue Jays have a predominantly right-handed-hitting lineup.

The production from the trio of Cal Raleigh, J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodriguez

They were all huge contributors last season. Thus far, only Raleigh has provided expected production with a team-high 14 homers and 49 RBI, though he isn’t happy with a batting average hovering around .200 and a 31% strikeout rate.

Crawford hasn’t been able to gain much traction as compared to last year’s breakout season. An oblique injury sidelined him for almost a month. He has had stretches of being productive and he’s still putting together competitive plate appearances, but a .217 batting average and a strikeout rate of 22% is unacceptable to the Mariners’ leadoff hitter.

Rodriguez’s inconsistency and diminished power production have been maddening to everyone, including him. He’s striking out 27.5% of the time and has just seven homers. He went 3-for-31 on the road trip with three singles, two walks, nine strikeouts and so many wasted plate appearances. He’s still susceptible to fastballs inside early and off-speed away late in counts.

The bullpen is?

Andres Muñoz struggled in the road trip finale and said he didn’t feel right on the mound, but wouldn’t elaborate. The Mariners have yet to find a reliever they trust in leverage situations besides Muñoz and Ryne Stanek.

As of now, there is no external help available unless you count waiver claims or released players. Seattle will need to try and piece together the transitional innings from the starter to late innings for a few more weeks until Gregory Santos (lat strain) and Gabe Speier (rotator cuff strain) can get healthy. Talented pitching prospect Logan Evans isn’t quite ready to debut. Perhaps Carlos Vargas, who has been performing better in Tacoma, may get a chance. The Mariners don’t need them to be dominant; they just need their middle relievers to be something better than adequate.