6/25/25

(Minneapolis, MN) Three consecutive wins had the Seattle Mariners feeling really good going into the third game of their four-game series with the Minnesota Twins. While the Twins were on the other end of that, losing five in a row, Seattle had found their bats after a long lull in offensive production through most of the month.

The offense would get tested on Wednesday. After waiting to see if the game would be played in what was a very rainy Minneapolis, everything went as planned and on schedule. That meant that George Kirby would look to keep the winning streak alive for the Mariners while Minnesota’s ace Joe Ryan would try to put a stop to their skid.

Twins 2, Mariners 0 (Game Three)

Seattle put together some nice threats early. In the 1st, Julio Rodríguez was hit by a pitch with one out and then stole second for his 13th stolen base of the season. Joe Ryan would then strikeout Cal Raleigh before Jorge Polanco lined out to second to end the inning. In the 2nd, an error put Luke Raley on before Cole Young singled to put runners on first and second with two outs. Ryan would again get himself out of trouble by striking out Miles Mastrobuoni to keep the M’s off the board.

George Kirby retired the first ten batters he faced as he got Byron Buxton to ground out to open the bottom of the 4th. Trevor Larnach was the first Twin to reach as he drew a walk but Kirby bounced back by striking out Willi Castro. Minnesota put more pressure on Kirby when Carlos Correa singled to left to put two on. Matt Wallner’s grounder to first would end Minnesota’s first threat as the game went to the 5th still scoreless.

The scoreboard was still all zeros heading into the bottom of the 6th when Minnesota threatened again. Byron Buxton would single and then look to steal second. While he couldn’t swipe the bag, he would move up to second on a ground out by Trevor Larnach. With a man on second and two outs, a clutch base hit would end the scoreless drought. Willi Castro sent a base hit to right field that easily scored Buxton to give Minnesota the 1-0 lead.

Both starting pitchers were brilliant on Wednesday evening. George Kirby allowed only three hits in six innings of work but the Twins did manage to string a couple hits together to get a run off of Kirby. He would only walk one while striking out three. Joe Ryan was strong himself as he pitched around the edges of the zone consistently. Ryan also went six innings but did not allow a run on three hits without a walk issued and eight strikeouts.

Eduard Bazardo would be the first man out of the Mariner bullpen in the bottom of the 7th and quickly disposed of Matt Wallner and Ty France on strikes. He would not find the same success against Kody Clemens. A first pitch slider broke back to far over the plate and Clemens hammered it the other way to left center. It would just get out for Clemens ninth home run of the year. The solo blast doubled the Twins lead as they were up 2-0.

Seattle struggled mightily against the Minnesota bullpen who picked up right where Ryan left off. Louis Varland only allowed one walk while Griffin Jax pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning. That left the 9th for Jhoan Duran who would not allow the Mariners to get him two nights in a row. Duran only needed nine pitches to retire Cal Raleigh, Jorge Polanco, and Randy Arozarena in order to close out the game. Seattle’s three-game win streak came to an end as they fell to Minnesota, 2-0.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Twins

• Joe Ryan (W, 8-3)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO
• Kody Clemens- 1-3, HR, RBI, R
• Willi Castro- 1-3, RBI

What’s Next

Seattle (41-38) sees their winning streak come to an end and also lose ground in the AL West, Houston shutout Philadelphia for the second consecutive day while Texas shutout Baltimore. The Athletics also recorded a shutout of Detroit while Los Angeles knocked off Boston, leaving Seattle as the only team in the AL West to lose on Wednesday. Seattle now sit 5 1/2 games back of Houston while Los Angeles remains seven back and Texas 7 1/2. The A’s are still at the bottom of the AL West, 15 games back. The Mariners do still hold the final Wild Card spot, just half of a game ahead of Cleveland.

Breakfast and baseball will be on the menu on Thursday morning as the Mariners and Twins wrap up the four-game series and season series. While Seattle has locked up the season series with a 4-2 advantage and just one game left, Minnesota can still make this series end in a split. Emerson Hancock (3-3, 5.43 ERA) will look to avoid that fate and instead give the M’s a series win. Hancock allowed three runs total in his first three starts of June but was tagged for nine runs his last time out against Chicago. For the Twins, it will be Simeon Woods Richardson (2-4, 5.06 ERA) will taking the ball in the finale. Minnesota has lost all three of his starts this month and he took the loss in two of those three games. First pitch is scheduled for 10am on Thursday morning.

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