Left out: Mariners scuffling against southpaws

ARLINGTON — It’s not hard to figure out why the Mariners have struggled with left-handed pitchers this season when you look at a lineup heavy on lefties and with several right-handed counterbalances struggling to contribute.

Seattle is 20-28 against southpaw starters compared to 48-34 against right-handers going into Monday’s series opener against the Rangers and the offensive numbers are telling.

The Mariners line as a team is .247/.313/.418 in 1,547 at-bats against left-handers this year, compared to .262/.330/.435 in 2,904 at-bats vs. right-handers.

Much of that is tied to the production of the Mariners’ big three in the middle of the order, with Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager both left-handed hitters. Cano has hit .320/.376/.585 against righties and Seager is at .321/.404/.564. But against southpaws, those numbers fall to .267/.308/.443 for Cano and .234/.294/.439 for Seager.

Nelson Cruz is the counterbalance as the big right-handed stick in the cleanup spot, but he’s actually hit just as well against right-handers (.285/.360/.500) as he has against southpaws (.277/.366/.591).

Meanwhile, other players who were supposed to help out against lefties — like switch-hitting shortstop Ketel Marte (.221), right-handed slugger Dae-Ho Lee (.226) and recently demoted left fielder Norichika Aoki (.207) — haven’t produced as expected in those situations.

That imbalance was exposed in last weekend’s White Sox series when the Mariners ran into three straight quality southpaws in Chris Sale, Jose Quintana …

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