6/26/25

(Minneapolis, MN) Somehow the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins were able to avoid any sort of delay with nasty weather on Wednesday but they weren’t as fortunate for the finale on Thursday. With the M’s looking to take three of four and the Twins trying to earn a split of the series and get some momentum back after a really tough stretch.

After a 4-hour and 22-minute rain delay, the game would finally get going in a small weather window. Since the game was delayed before it started, both starting pitchers in Emerson Hancock and Simeon Woods Richardson would still get the start for their respective teams.

Twins 10, Mariners 1 (Game Four)

After the game was supposed to start at 10:10am on the west coast, Simeon Woods Richardson fired the first pitch at 2:32pm to get the game underway. He was lights out early and didn’t allow a hit until a Randy Arozarena double in the 4th as well as a Mitch Garver double in the 5th. Seattle couldn’t bring in either of the doubles but Emerson Hancock was really good as well for the M’s. All the trouble Hancock got into was with two outs in the first four innings and he was able to keep the Twins off the board as well.

In the bottom of the 5th, Minnesota drew first blood. A one-out walk for Byron Buxton put a man on with really good speed. That speed ended up affecting the game as Hancock tried to pick off Buxton but threw the ball away, allowing him to move up to second. It ended up not mattering where Buxton was as Trevor Larnach unloaded on a 2-1 changeup. It would sail out for Larnach’s 12th home run of the season and gave the Twins the 2-0 lead.

Both teams would go to their bullpens in the 6th despite strong starts from their starters. In the bottom of the 6th, Zach Pop came in for the Mariners and the wheels completely came off. Brooks Lee began the inning with a solo shot for his eighth of the season to make it 3-0 Minnesota. A couple of one-out walks to Ryan Jeffers and Kody Clemens put more traffic on for the top of the order. Byron Buxton smoked his 10th double down the left field line to make it 4-0 with still runners in scoring position. An error by Ben Williamson brought in another run and then Willi Castro doubled in another. Carlos Correa’s two-run single was followed by Matt Wallner’s two-run home run to cap off the big inning as Minnesota took a commanding 10-0 lead.

Seattle would stare at that large deficit as the game went to the 9th. Cole Sands came on to get the final three outs for the Twins but couldn’t get through the inning clean. After getting Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena for two quick outs, Dominic Canzone and Donovan Solano both singled to extend the inning. Miles Mastrobuoni would then get an infield single that would actually bring home a run to snap the Mariners 17-inning scoreless drought. That would be it as Cole Young grounded out to put an end to this one as Seattle dropped the finale in a blowout, 10-1.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Twins

• Trevor Larnach- 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Matt Wallner- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Simeon Woods Richardson (W, 3-4)- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO

Other News

• On Friday morning, Cal Raleigh announced that he would be participating in this year’s Home Run Derby on July 14th. Raleigh will look to become the first switch hitter and catcher to win the Derby and will be the eighth Mariner to ever participate in the event. Ken Griffey Jr. dominated the event for years while Edgar Martínez, Jay Buhner, Alex Rodriguez, Bret Boone, Robinson Cano, and Julio Rodríguez have also represented the M’s in the event.
• A roster move could be coming based on the jaw injury suffered by Mitch Garver in the finale on Thursday. If he needs to go on the IL, the Mariners will call up their #5 prospect in catcher Harry Ford. Ford was scratched from the Rainiers lineup on Thursday and is in Texas just in case he is needed. We will update once the move is made.

What’s Next

Seven games into the 10-game road trip and the Seattle Mariners (41-39) have gone 4-3 so far. It wasn’t a great start to the week for the M’s as they fall back to 6 1/2 games behind Houston in the AL West, who swept Philadelphia during the week. Los Angeles is just behind the Mariners at 7 1/2 back while Texas is eight games out. The Athletics are still in last place, 16 games behind the Astros. Seattle maintains their half of a game lead over Cleveland for the third and final Wild Card.

Now the Mariners will head south for their final AL West series of the first half as they visit the Texas Rangers for the final time in a three-game series. Texas (40-41) is returning home after going 4-2 on a short road trip where they took two out of three from both Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Offense has been a problem for the Rangers this season and that is still the issue heading into this weekend. The two division foes have played six times already, with the M’s dominating the season series 5-1. If Seattle takes the series this weekend, they will lock up the season series and own the tiebreaker over the Rangers.

We have to spotlight the first player that the Mariners will see in the series and that is starter Nathan Eovaldi. The veteran right-hander has been completely dominant this season and the only thing that has slowed him down was a little triceps injury. Friday will be Eovaldi’s first appearance in the month of June but in 26 2/3 innings in May, Eovaldi only allowed two runs. He is as consistent as they come when it comes to starting pitching and he has a chance to get one back on the Mariners. Back in April, Eovaldi was outdueled by Logan Gilbert in a 3-1 Mariner win that completed the sweep in Seattle. It was a Cal Raleigh home run that did in Eovaldi and he and Gilbert will run it back in the opener on Friday night.

• Game 1, Friday 5:05pm- Logan Gilbert (2-2, 3.12 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (4-3, 1.56 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 1:05pm- Bryan Woo (7-4, 3.12 ERA) vs. Kumar Rocker (3-4, 6.68 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 11:35am- Luis Castillo (4-5, 3.69 ERA) vs. Jack Leiter (4-5, 4.55 ERA)

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