5/29/25

(Seattle, WA) Finally, after a long ten-game, three city road trip, the Seattle Mariners returned home for lengthy homestand. Nine games against three teams at three different levels would create a good test for Seattle while also presenting an opportunity to try to extend their lead in the AL West over the Houston Astros. Despite losing three out of four to Houston to end the road trip, Seattle still went 6-4 for a successful roadie.

First up on the homestand would be a feisty and young Washington Nationals squad. Coming in with some momentum after winning six of their last eight games, Washington has shows flashes of being the upstart this season that we saw in Detroit last season. With some key young bats in the lineup, the outfield injuries weren’t as much of an issue for the Nats with players like Jacob Young and Dylan Crews on the injured list. Some excellent pitching from guys like Mitchell Parker and ace MacKenzie Gore, the Nats key bat remained James Wood as he looked to continue his breakout season in Seattle.

Mariners 9, Nationals 1 (Game One)

In the interleague opener between Seattle and Washington, it would be an intriguing pitching matchup between two young starters just getting going in their MLB careers. For the Nationals, Mitchell Parker would be the first of two lefty starters for the visitors in the series while Logan Evans would take the mound for the Mariners.

Logan Evans rolled through the top of the 1st on just ten pitches. By the time he took the mound again, the Mariners had grabbed the lead. In the bottom of the 1st, J.P. Crawford hit a leadoff single to bring Julio Rodríguez to the plate against the young lefty. J-Rod would not be kind to the young southpaw and he hammered a 1-1 pitch into the bullpen for a two-run shot and his 10th of the season, giving Seattle a 2-0 lead. Then came Cal Raleigh and he matched Julio on a fastball at the top of the zone. Raleigh would go back-to-back with Julio for his 18th home run of the season to make it 3-0 M’s.

Evans only needed 14 pitches total in the 2nd and 3rd innings and retired the first ten batters he faced in order. The 11th batter would be James Wood and that is when Evans would allow his first base runner and it was more of a base trotter. Wood clobbered a cutter off the batter’s eye in center for his 14th home run of the season. It was the Nationals first hit and first run and got them on the board trailing 3-1.

That home run was pretty much it offensively for the Nats against Logan Evans and the Mariners got that run back in the bottom of the 5th. The last batter Mitchell Parker faced would be Cal Raleigh and would notch his 13th career multi-home run game and his third of the season. Raleigh blasted his 19th of the season out to left to push the lead back to three at 4-1.

A double play in the top of the 6th continued that Nationals struggles at the plate and in the bottom of the 6th, the M’s opened it up. Facing reliever Jackson Rutledge, Dylan Moore began the inning with his third double of the season before a walk to Donovan Solano. A wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third before Leody Taveras popped up in foul territory for the first out. Ben Williamson wouldn’t hit it hard as a soft chopper was gloved by José Tena at third. His only play was at the plate, but Dylan Moore dove across home safely to make it 5-1. J.P. Crawford then grounded out to bring home Solano to make it 6-1. Julio Rodríguez then blooped a single into center that went off the glove of Luis García Jr. to add one more, making it a comfortable 7-1 lead for the Mariners.

Logan Evans would run into trouble in the 8th, which marked the longest outing of his young career. A leadoff double by Luis García Jr. began the inning before Josh Bell drew a walk to put two men on with nobody out. Evans calmed the choppy waters quickly with a strikeout of Robert Hassell III and a lineout of José Tena to right field. Daylen Lile didn’t fare any better as he flew out to Randy Arozarena who made a running catch in foul territory to end the inning. It would be the final batter faced by Logan Evans and put a bow on an incredible start for the rookie. Evans went a career high eight innings of one-run ball with only four hits and one walk allowed with four strikeouts. Evans would light it up to start the homestand and put the Mariners in prime position to start the series with a win.

Seattle added two more runs on an error in the 8th to make it 9-1 going into the 9th. The only reliever used by Seattle would be Eduard Bazardo who picked right up where Logan Evans left off. Bazardo retired the top of the Washington order 1-2-3 for a quick and clean final inning. Seattle pitchers threw only 98 pitches in the game and they led the way to a breezy 9-1 series opening win.

Notable Performances

Nationals

Mariners

• Logan Evans (W, 3-1)- 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
• Cal Raleigh- 2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Julio Rodríguez- 3-5, HR, 3 RBI, R

Nationals 9, Mariners 0 (Game Two)

After a dominant game one, the Seattle Mariners were looking to quickly earn a series win by taking game two to try to set up an opportunity at a sweep. George Kirby would make his first home start of the season and try to bounce back from a really tough season debut in Houston. Washington would send veteran Trevor Williams to the mound as he tried to get things going after a really tough first couple of months for the Nats.

Both starters spun quick 1-2-3 innings but in the top of the 2nd, Washington would get on the board first. With one out, Kirby hung a slider right down the middle to Luis García Jr. and he got every bit of it. García Jr. crushed his fifth home run of the season out to center to give Washington the 1-0 lead. The very next batter would be Josh Bell and this time it was the Nationals going back-to-back. Bell hammered a fastball on the outside corner the other way for his seventh long ball of the season. Washington’s powerful 2nd had them up 2-0.

Miles Mastrobuoni would record the first Mariner hit but was thrown out trying to steak second to end Seattle’s first threat. George Kirby would follow by getting a quick two outs in the 4th before things fell apart. A walk to Luis García Jr. was followed by a Josh Bell single to put runners on second and third. Robert Hassell III began his big day with a two-out RBI single to left to score García and make it 3-0. Then came the big blow of the inning by José Tena. A two-run double to left capped off the two-out rally with the Nationals leading 5-0.

Seattle’s offense couldn’t get anything going against Trevor Williams which really made it hard for Kirby to build momentum either. With just three hits off of the Washington starter, the Mariners were in a really bad spot while the Nationals continued to add fuel to the fire. In the 5th, James Wood once again left T-Mobile Park with a 435-foot bomb to right center. It was the slugger’s 15th of the season and was the sixth and final run allowed by George Kirby.

Jackson Kowar made his Mariner debut after being acquired in the Jarred Kelenic trade back in December of 2023. Returning from Tommy John surgery, Kowar looked good with a scoreless 6th inning. The MLB debut of Blas Castaño was not as successful as he pitched the 7th and 8th. Castaño pitched around a couple of walks for a scoreless 7th but Robert Hassell III would hit his first MLB home run off of Castaño in the 8th to make it 7-0. A two-run double by James Wood capped off the blowout as the Mariners were shutout in game two, falling 9-0.

Notable Performances

Nationals

Mariners

• Miles Mastrobuoni- 2-2
• George Kirby (L, 0-2)- 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Nationals 9, Mariners 2 (10 Innings) (Game Three)

With the series coming down to the finale, things lined up very well for the Washington Nationals as they would have their ace MacKenzie Gore on the mound in the rubber game. Seattle would not have a bad matchup though, as the red-hot Emerson Hancock would take the ball looking to get the Mariners a home series win.

It was a pitchers duel right away as neither team put anything together through five scoreless innings. In the top of the 6th, walks to José Tena and CJ Abrams put a couple of guys on and manager Dan Wilson decided to go to his bullpen early. Gabe Speier came in against a very dangerous James Wood and made a mistake on his first pitch. A sinker right down the middle was slapped down the left field line and into the corner. Tena and Abrams both scored on Wood’s 15th double as the Nats grabbed a 2-0 lead.

The bottom of the 6th was a wild half inning. Singles by Leody Taveras and Ben Williamson put runners on first and second with nobody out. J.P. Crawford would come to the plate and was punched out on a pitch off the plate. Crawford would get ejected as he erupted on home plate umpire Andy Fletcher, who had a bad night behind the plate. Julio Rodríguez would then go down swinging before Cal Raleigh was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Unfortunately they would be left loaded as Randy Arozarena went down swinging, ending the threat with the M’s still down 2-0.

Jorge López took over for Gore in the 7th and also almost got ejected by the home plate umpire who missed more calls than he got right to the first two batters of the inning. Miles Mastrobuoni drew a walk before Rowdy Tellez struck out and Jorge Polanco grounded out. With a runner on second and two outs, Leody Taveras came through with a big knock. A base hit to left would bring in Mastrobuoni to make it 2-1. A stolen base for Taveras and a wild pitch moved him to third when Ben Williamson singled him home. The two-out burst tied the game up at 2-2.

The game would stay tied thanks to Taveras throwing Nathaniel Lowe out at the plate in the 8th. Seattle also left runners stranded at second and third in the 8th and the game headed to extras. In the top of the 10th, Collin Snider fell apart. A wild pitch moved the automatic runner to third and Daylen Lile brought him home with a sacrifice fly to give Washington back the lead at 3-2.

They weren’t done. A double by CJ Abrams was followed by an intentional walk to James Wood. Nathaniel Lowe then slapped a base hit to left and a bad throw by Randy Arozarena let Abrams score easy to make it 4-2. An error by Collin Snider then loaded the bases and Luis García Jr. brought home two more with a double to right. Josh Bell put the nail in the coffin with his eighth home run of the season. Seven runs came home for the Nats in the 10th and while the Mariners would get a run on a Leo Rivas single, it was way too little too late. It was a disaster of a series as the Mariners dropped the rubber game to the Nationals in extras, 9-3.

Notable Performances

Nationals

Mariners

• Leody Taveras- 3-4, RBI, R, SB
• Ben Williamson- 2-4, RBI, R, SB
• Emerson Hancock (ND)- 5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

Seattle (30-25) has seen their division lead shrink to just half of a game over the Houston Astros. Texas is now 4 games behind the M’s while the Angels and Athletics sit five and eight games back. Seattle also now has lost three consecutive home series and three of their last five series overall.

The homestand continues and gets tougher as the Mariners will welcome the Minnesota Twins (30-25) to town. Minnesota has been one of the hottest teams in baseball in the month of May, holding a record of 17-7 this month including a 13-game winning streak from the 3rd thru the 17th. The Twins have made their way up to a tie for second in the AL Central and continue to pitch the ball really well.

While there are plenty of guys we could look at for the player spotlight, we have to talk about the former Mariner in Ty France. After being traded to Cincinnati last season, Ty France signed with Minnesota and has looked like the All-Star he once was in Seattle. France leads the Twins in both hits with 49 and runs batted in with 30. His .254 batting average isn’t something to write home about, but he is hitting .382 with runners in scoring position. Always loved as a Mariner, France will surely get a warm welcome back to the PNW…but hopefully will not have a happy trip back home.

• Game 1, Friday 7:10pm- Zebby Matthews (0-1, 7.71 ERA) vs. Bryan Woo (5-2, 2.40 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 4:15pm (FOX)- Bailey Ober (4-1, 3.41 ERA) vs. Bryce Miller (2-4, 5.22 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 1:10pm- Chris Paddack (2-5, 3.92 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (4-3, 3.32 ERA)

elisportsnetwork.com