6/23/25

(Minneapolis, MN) One successful series on the road merged right into the next as the Seattle Mariners had just 24 hours to celebrate their series win over the Chicago Cubs before beginning their four-game set with the Minnesota Twins. The two teams began this month facing off with one another in a wild three-game series that saw extra inning and a couple of walk offs.

This time around, the Seattle Mariners came to town with some momentum while the Minnesota Twins limped their way into the four-game set. Two guys who pitched in that first series would meet again as Bryan Woo looked for his second consecutive win while Bailey Ober would try to end his stretch of really bad outings.

Mariners 11, Twins 2 (Game One)

Bryan Woo got into some trouble in each of the first two innings, but kept the Twins off the scoreboard thanks to four early strikeouts. In the 3rd, Seattle got in the hit column with a leadoff single from Ben Williamson. Cole Young then reached on an infield single and an errant throw from Carlos Correa allowed Williamson to move to third with nobody out. J.P. Crawford would bring in the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

That was just the tip of the iceberg in the top of the 3rd for the M’s. Right after Crawford’s sac fly, Julio Rodríguez would come to the plate and ended a 102 at-bat homerless drought. J-Rod went down and got a changeup below the zone and crushed it 442-feet for his 11th home run of the season. The bomb was a welcome sign for Julio and the Mariners as they made it 3-0.

There was more to come in the inning still for Seattle. Cal Raleigh didn’t square one up but a swinging bunt ended up being an infield single for the league’s home run leader. Jorge Polanco would then be the second out on a diving catch by Byron Buxton in center. Randy Arozarena kept the line moving with a single to left to bring Luke Raley to the dish. For the first time since coming off the IL, Raley left the yard. A drive to center field just kept flying for his third home run of the season. The three-run bomb traveled 436-feet and gave the M’s a 6-0 lead.

Woo stranded a couple more runners in scoring position in the 3rd before really settling him and cruising through the 4th and 5th innings, tying his career high in strikeouts with nine. Another Mariner blast would open things up a bit more in the 6th. After having a multi-home run day on Sunday, Dominic Canzone kept things rolling on a Bailey Ober sweeper that just hung in the zone. Canzone sent his solo blast 407-feet for his fourth of the year, making it 7-0 M’s.

Bryan Woo would finish the 6th but didn’t finish his day unblemished. The first two batters in the bottom of the 6th did damage, starting with Trevor Larnach. The lefty got his hands inside a fastball on the inside corner and drove it out to right center for his 11th home run of the season. The next batter would be Carlos Correa who matched his right fielder. The shortstop went down and got a sinker and sent it out to left center for back-to-back solo home runs and his sixth of the season. All of a sudden, Minnesota had some life, trailing 7-2.

Eduard Bazardo and Zach Pop kept Minnesota from getting closer and the Mariners broke it wide open in the 9th. Joey Wentz stayed out for his second inning of work, but was greeted by singles from Dominic Canzone and Ben Williamson. A strikeout of Cole Young was followed by a J.P. Crawford groundout. With runners on second and third and two outs, Julio Rodríguez continued his strong night with a shot to the gap. Both Canzone and Williamson scored on J-Rod’s 11th double of the season.

Then came the knockout blow off the bat of…well you already know. Cal Raleigh had been relatively quiet on Monday night until Wentz left a changeup out over the plate. Raleigh pulled it out to left for a 379-foot two-run home run. It was Raleigh’s MLB leading 32nd home run of the season and gave Cal the RBI lead in the sport with 68 while putting this one away. Zach Pop would put things away with a 1-2-3 night, giving the Mariners a dominant 11-2 win in the opener.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Twins

• Trevor Larnach- 2-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
• Carlos Correa- 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• Bailey Ober (L, 4-5)- 7 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

What’s Next

All in all it was a good night for the Seattle Mariners as they got the win while Texas was shutout by Baltimore. The Angels did get the win over Boston while both the Astros and Athletics had the night off. Houston remains in first place, 4 1/2 games ahead of the Mariners and seven up on the Angels. Texas is 7 1/2 out while the A’s remain 14 games out. Seattle also has taken full possession of the third Wild Card spot in the American League.

The four-game series and nonstop road trip continues for the Mariners on Tuesday at 4:40pm when them and the Twins meet again. It will be a very interesting pitching matchup as the two starters both took the mound in the two teams first series against one another. For Seattle, Luis Castillo (4-5, 3.38 ERA) will look to make it six quality starts in his last seven outings in game two. Castillo went six scoreless innings against the Twins back on June 1st, in a walk-off win for the M’s. His opponent on that day will be his opponent on Tuesday when Chris Paddack (3-6, 4.48 ERA) looks to gain some retribution against La Piedra. Paddack was great against the Mariners on the 1st, going eight innings and allowing just one run on four hits with one walk and ten strikeouts. Seattle’s lone run against Paddack came on a Cal Raleigh home run.

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