SEATTLE -- It just does not stop.

The Mariners capped off a dreary return from the All-Star break with a 2-1 loss to the Angels at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday, capping a 1-5 homestand with their first time being swept this season.

It¡¯s the first time the Angels have swept Seattle in a three-game series since July 12-14, 2019. Coupled with the three games the Mariners lost to end their four-game set in Anaheim going into the All-Star break, they¡¯ve dropped six straight games to the Halos for the first time since the summer of 2010.

¡°It¡¯s just a struggle right now, there¡¯s no question about it,¡± manager Scott Servais said.

But it¡¯s not the loss, or yet another silent game at the plate, or another blown lead that¡¯s the main story in Seattle -- it¡¯s the injury.

For the third time in the past four games, the Mariners had a key component in their plans for the stretch run walk off the field with the trainer. On Wednesday, it was Gregory Santos, who gave up a game-tying single in the eighth and left before throwing another pitch.

Santos, making just his fourth appearance since coming off the injured list on July 9, allowed a leadoff single but bounced back with two quick outs -- the latter of which moved Nolan Schanuel to second base. Willie Calhoun followed with a ground ball through the left side that got past a shifted-over Dylan Moore, bringing Schanuel around to score.

The Angels pinch-ran Kevin Pillar for Calhoun, and Santos immediately threw over to first. Getting the ball back on the mound, Santos looked in, got the sign and began to come set, but immediately grimaced and stepped off the mound -- without disengaging, sending Pillar to second on a balk and bringing Servais and the trainer out to the mound to look at his right knee.

¡°He said he¡¯d felt it a couple pitches earlier. He got up there and felt a sharp pain in his knee,¡± Servais said. ¡°I don¡¯t have a whole breakdown, diagnosis or anything from the doctor yet on where that is at. We¡¯ll find out more here later tonight.¡±

Santos is just the latest in what¡¯s become a stream of injuries out of the break. Sunday¡¯s win over the Astros -- the only win on this homestand -- was marred by Julio Rodr¨ªguez hurting his ankle. Monday¡¯s series-opening loss to the Angels was compounded by J.P. Crawford leaving with what turned out to be a broken hand.

Tuesday didn¡¯t bring any new maladies but saw Seattle officially put its starting center fielder and shortstop on the IL, and Wednesday, general manager Justin Hollander made a surprise appearance to the media and confirmed that while the timeline for Rodr¨ªguez is fluid, Crawford is going to be out at least a month.

Now, it¡¯s the bullpen¡¯s turn to get bit by the injury bug, after a brief period of relative health.

Santos was the key piece in recovery for the entire spring, after being placed on the injured list in March with a lat strain. His long road back finally ended in June, and he looked like a weapon from the get-go, dominating in his first two outings. The Mariners tried to slow-play his return by limiting his usage; earlier this week Servais said they were hoping to get him a stretch of pitching twice in a series and see how he responded, before making the stretch into outings on back-to-back days.

Now, that¡¯s come to a halt.

Trent Thornton came in as an emergency replacement, and allowed a game-tying single on the second pitch he threw after an extended warm-up on the mound.

It¡¯s the second game in the series that the Mariners have taken a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning, only to lose the game.

¡°It¡¯s very thin margins there,¡± Servais said. ¡°You¡¯ve got to throw strikes, which we did today. We didn¡¯t do that the other day, we kind of gave that game away. We threw strikes, they got a couple hits.¡±

Prior to July 14, Seattle had only lost three games all year when leading after seven innings; in the 10 days since, they¡¯ve lost three. In that span, the bullpen has a 6.48 ERA, while the offense has averaged fewer than two runs per game.

¡°Getting those final outs in these games [has] been difficult,¡± Servais said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to win one-run games and 1-0 games, no question about it. No real production in this series at all offensively.¡±