6/11/25

(Phoenix, AZ) Not many teams in baseball have been struggling in recent weeks quite like the Seattle Mariners. Losers of seven of their last eight games, the M’s wrapped up their six-game road trip on Wednesday afternoon in the desert against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Just trying to build something positive before returning home, Wednesday felt like a turning point one way or another for the direction of this team.

For the finale of the three-game series, Seattle would get their most consistent starter this season on the mound in Bryan Woo. Woo kind of took over the spotlight last season and has carried that over as one of just two starters to be in the rotation the entire season. Seattle would have to face a veteran for Arizona as the lefty Eduardo Rodriguez took the ball for the D-Backs.

Diamondbacks 5, Mariners 2 (Game Three)

For the first time in the series, Seattle would take the lead and grab the first run of the game. In the 1st inning, a single by Julio Rodríguez and a walk for Cal Raleigh put a couple of runners on with one out. Randy Arozarena was able to avoid hitting into a double play, but the Diamondbacks still erased Raleigh at second for the second out. Jorge Polanco would deliver the clutch base hit for the M’s as the switch hitter flipped a single to right field. Rodríguez scored and the offense gave Bryan Woo a 1-0 lead before he even threw a pitch.

Woo looked dominant in the first couple of innings but ran into some trouble in the 3rd. A leadoff double by Alek Thomas led to a sacrifice bunt by Jose Herrera and luckily Bryan Woo was able to keep his feet after stumbling while fielding the bunt to get the out at first. Still, Thomas was the tying run at third with just one out, but the young Mariner starter escaped the trouble. Corbin Carroll popped out to Jorge Polanco in shallow right field before Ketel Marte grounded out to Polanco as well, stranding Thomas at third and keeping it 1-0 Mariners.

With Woo dealing, extra insurance would be hard to come by for the Mariners. One of the few guys actually hitting the ball well for the M’s lately would provide insurance in the 5th. Leading off the inning and with his brother sitting in the Arizona bullpen as their bullpen catcher, Donovan Solano checked off his first Mariner home run. Solano got the barrel to a fastball in off the plate and was able to get it out to left field for a solo blast. His first opportunity to hold the Home Run Trident also came with a 2-0 lead for Seattle.

The 6th inning changed the feel of the game entirely. Julio Rodríguez was left stranded after a leadoff double to begin the inning and Arizona took advantage. Facing the top of the order for the third time, Bryan Woo gave up back-to-back singles by Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte to put a couple of runners on. Geraldo Perdomo would line out to center for the first out. Josh Naylor had a tough at bat as Woo just missed a couple spots and didn’t get the call on a 3-2 pitch, walking Naylor to load the bases. In stepped former Mariner fan favorite Eugenio Suárez and he brought bad vibes to Seattle. Geno clobbered a slider that just hung in the middle of the plate, sending a grand slam out to left field to erase the Mariners lead. It was the 19th home run of the year for Suárez and gave the D-Backs a 4-2 lead. Two batters later, Pavin Smith added another run with his fifth homer of the year, making it 5-2 going into the 7th.

Seattle put a threat together in the 7th off of a double by Mitch Garver and walk for Dominic Canzone, but a double play killed that rally immediately. In the 8th, Julio Rodríguez doubled again but didn’t move an inch as the M’s wasted another extra base hit. Shelby Miller would not have a 1-2-3 9th as Donovan Solano singled with one out, but that was it for the Mariners. Dominic Canzone struck out swinging ending the 5-2 loss for the Mariners and completing the 1-5 road trip.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Diamondbacks

• Eugenio Suárez- 3-4, HR, 4 RBI, R
• Pavin Smith- 1-3, HR, RBI, R
• Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 2-3)- 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

What’s Next

Things continue to spiral out of control for the Seattle Mariners (33-34) who are now below .500 for the first time since April 15th when they lost to Cincinnati. Houston bounced back with a win over the White Sox on Wednesday, while the Angels swept the A’s and the Rangers lost to Minnesota. Houston is still in first place, but the Mariners have dropped to a tie for second after being caught by the Angels. Seattle now sits four games back of Houston.

Seattle will now return home for a six-game homestand against a couple of teams in a similar spot to the Mariners as of late and really in terms of the entire season. First up, the M’s will welcome the Cleveland Guardians (35-32) for a three-game set beginning on Friday. Cleveland is stumbling as of late, losing three consecutive series to the Yankees, Astros, and Reds. The offense has really struggled for the Guardians as before they scored 11 runs on Wednesday, they hadn’t scored more than four runs since May 31st. Seattle has lost three of their last four series against Cleveland dating back to 2023.

Another year and another All-Star selection is in the future for José Ramírez who will also likely see more MVP votes thrown his way after this season. One of the most underrated stars of the game, Ramírez has been Mr. Reliable during his time with the Guardians and his .331 average and .938 OPS is well out in front of the rest of the Cleveland lineup. The rest of the lineup has cooled down with Kyle Manzardo and Steven Kwan having tough starts to the month and that has caused the production to go down for Ramírez. However, he is still batting .368 in June and is still tough to strikeout. Cleveland’s approach at the plate hasn’t changed, but the strikeout numbers are up. The M’s have to take advantage of that and keep the supplementary pieces off base when José Ramírez gets to the plate.

• Game 1, Friday 7:10pm- Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (4-4, 3.31 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 6:40pm- Tanner Bibee (4-6, 3.81 ERA) vs. George Kirby (1-3, 6.53 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 1:10pm- Luis L. Ortiz (3-7, 4.26 ERA) vs. Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.04 ERA)

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