5/20/25
(Chicago, IL) After a slow start on Monday night, the Seattle Mariners got enough offense to take the opener over the Chicago White Sox and extend their winning streak to four games. Seattle has been living off of home runs so far on the road trip and really all season long. With nasty weather in Chicago however, the long ball might not be as easy to come by which will force the M’s to manufacture some runs.
Game two of the series got off to a chaotic start for a couple of reasons. First, Chicago would sign Adrian Houser about four hours before the scheduled first pitch to make the start for the White Sox. Also, Seattle would be going with a bullpen day to counter the last second replacement for Chicago. Add in a one hour and thirty-five minute rain delay and we were due for a wild and weird night of baseball.
White Sox 1, Mariners 0 (Game Two)
If you are a fan of offense, this wasn’t the game for you. Both teams got a couple of baserunners in the 1st inning, but neither team could bring a run in. A Lenyn Sosa double was also squandered by the White Sox in the 2nd as Adrian Houser looked very good in his Chicago debut.
In the bottom of the 3rd after Casey Lawrence took over for Casey Legumina, Chicago put together another little threat. Chase Meidroth singled and then stole second for his seventh stolen base of the season. With one out, Joshua Palacios continued to hit the ball very well against the Mariners. Palacios shot a grounder to right field for a base, scoring Meidroth and giving the White Sox the 1-0 lead.
A double play helped both teams get out of some more trouble and both Lawrence and Houser pitched around a double as well. After signing a contract with the White Sox hours before first pitch, Adrian Houser pitched extremely well. After some good seasons in Milwaukee, things had gone south for Houser but he figured something out for this one. Houser went six innings of shutout ball with just two hits and three walks allowed and two strikeouts. Casey Lawrence was phenomenal for the Mariners, but Houser was the star of the show on Tuesday night.
Chicago’s bullpen got into some more trouble in the 8th just like they did in the opener. Steven Wilson gave up a leadoff double for Leody Taveras for his sixth two-bagger of the season. Miles Mastrobuoni wouldn’t be able to move him over as he flew out to left for the first out. Wilson would then hit pinch hitter Leo Rivas to put another runner on before Cam Booser came in once again and hit J.P. Crawford to load the bases. With Jorge Polanco not able to hit right-handed again, Mitch Garver would pinch hit and battled back from 0-2 to 3-2 with nowhere for Chicago to put him. Garver would take a sweeper over the heart of the plate for a called strike three for a huge second out.
One night after hitting a grand slam off of Cam Booser in the 8th inning, Julio Rodríguez came up against Cam Booser with the bases loaded in the 8th inning. A chance to hit the repeat button but this time with two outs, Julio would look to not do too much and tie the game up. J-Rod sent a fly ball out to center instead that was caught by Luis Robert Jr. to end the threat. Bases loaded and one out turned into no runs and sent the game to the 9th with Seattle still trailing 1-0.
Jordan Leasure looked to close things out for Chicago and made quick work of Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena for a quick two outs. One Mariner that has not worked out quite like the front office had hoped did keep the game alive. Donovan Solano pulled a line drive down the left field line for his second double of the season. Down to their final out with the tying run in scoring position, Leody Taveras would look to be the hero for Seattle. It wouldn’t work out this time. Taveras went down swinging as Leasure closed it out for the White Sox. For just the second time this season, the Mariners had been shutout as they fell to the White Sox 1-0.
Notable Performances
Mariners
- Casey Lawrence (L, 1-2)- 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Cal Raleigh- 1-4, 2B
- Leody Taveras- 1-4, 2B
White Sox
- Adrian Houser (W, 1-0)- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO
- Joshua Palacios- 2-3, 2B, RBI
- Lenyn Sosa- 2-3, 2B
What’s Next
Fortunately for Seattle, both Houston and Texas lost as well on Tuesday while the only AL West team to get a win was the Angels who defeated the Athletics for their fifth consecutive victory. Seattle (27-20) maintains a 2 1/2 game lead over Houston and a 3 game lead over Texas despite having their four-game winning streak snapped in the Windy City
With the series on the line in the rubber game on Wednesday afternoon, both teams will send rookie starters to the mound who have both impressed and could set the stage for a third consecutive pitchers duel for the finale. For the Mariners, Logan Evans (2-1, 2.57 ERA) will look to follow up the best start of his young career with another quality outing. Evans has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his four career starts and has gone at least five innings in each of those starts as well. For Chicago, it will be Shane Smith (1-3, 2.05 ERA) taking the hill. Smith has not had much offensive support as the White Sox are averaging two runs per game in his nine starts this season. First pitch is scheduled for 11:10am on Wednesday.
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