6/29/25

 

(Arlington, TX) With the end of a long ten-game road trip in sight, the Seattle Mariners headed down to Arlington for their final trip to Globe Life Field this season. A three-game series with the Texas Rangers would give the M’s a chance to also finish the road trip with a winning record. With a 5-1 record against the Rangers this season the M’s would look to add on to their success against their AL West foe.

Texas came into the series with a bit of momentum after winning a couple series against lower tier teams. The one problem with the Rangers has been inconsistent offense that has let down their starting pitching time and time again. For Texas to really make a move they would need to find some success against playoff contenders and would need to turn their luck around against Seattle.

Mariners 7, Rangers 6 (12 Innings) (Game One)

Starting the opening game of the three-game series, it would be a terrific pitching matchup between two guys that have dealt with injuries for a bit of the season. For Seattle, Logan Gilbert would get the ball for the Mariners as he took on Nathan Eovaldi who was fresh off the IL for Texas.

It didn’t take too long for the M’s to get on the board in this series. Julio Rodríguez singled with one out and then moved up to second on a Cal Raleigh walk. Jorge Polanco would break the ice for scoring in this one with a base hit to right field. J-Rod would fly around to score on the Polo single. Randy Arozarena would then hit into an inning ending double play to kill the first threat with the Mariners grabbing the minimal 1-0 lead.

Texas would be ready to respond against Logan Gilbert. Gilbert would get off to a great start with back-to-back strikeouts of Josh Smith and Sam Haggerty before running into a buzzsaw in Corey Seager. A first pitch slider would hang in the middle of the plate and Seager crushed it to right center for a no-doubt solo home run. It was his eighth of the season and tied the game at 1-1.

In the 3rd, Seattle would do enough damage to get Nathan Eovaldi out of the game very early. A leadoff single by J.P. Crawford and a double by Julio Rodríguez put runners on second and third with nobody out. Texas intentionally walked Cal Raleigh to face Jorge Polanco who would get the job done. Polo hit into a fielder’s choice to bring home Crawford and give the Mariners back the lead 2-1. Randy Arozarena would bring home another run with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 in what would be Eovaldi’s last inning of work.

Jacob Webb was the first man out of the bullpen for Texas and he did not find instant success. Dominic Canzone welcomed him to the game with a single to left before Ben Williamson singled to right to put two on with nobody out. Cole Young’s single would load the bases for the top of the order but J.P. Crawford hit into a 3-2 fielder’s choice to cut down Canzone at the plate for the first out. However, Julio Rodríguez would send a grounder to short that would get a run in as Williamson scored to make it 4-1 Seattle.

Cole Winn came in to pitch the 6th against the top of the Mariner order and got in some trouble after J.P. Crawford singled to begin the inning. Julio Rodríguez would then drive a fly ball deep to center that was robbed by Evan Carter to prevent a two-run homer and instead turn it into an out. Cal Raleigh finally got a chance to hit and recorded his 16th double of the year to put two in scoring position. After Jorge Polanco walked to load the bases, a wild pitch would allow Crawford to score to make it 5-1. Unfortunately, Seattle couldn’t add on and settled for the 5-1 advantage.

Logan Gilbert was in a nice groove until the bottom of the 6th. A leadoff single by Josh Smith was followed by Gilbert hitting Sam Haggerty to put two on without an out recorded. Gilbert would get a huge strikeout of Corey Seager before Texas started to cut into the Mariner lead. Marcus Semien doubled to left to bring home Smith and make it 5-2 with still two in scoring position. Adolis García would bring them both in with a two-run single to center to make it a one-run game at 5-4. After Evan Carter singled with Carlos Vargas in the game, Josh Jung hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning and keep the Mariner lead intact.

After the 7th inning stretch, Gabe Speier would retire the first two batters as he looked to cruise through the home half of the frame. He would hit a speed bump when Josh Smith doubled to left for his 12th two-bagger of the year. Sam Haggerty would then hurt his former team with a knock to center to bring in Smith. Back-to-back two-out knocks had the game tied at 5-5.

Both bullpens settled in and got the game to extra innings tied at 5-5. Luke Jackson would allow the Mariners to score their automatic runner in the 10th on a Donovan Solano single to make it 6-5. Texas would answer with a sacrifice fly by Adolis García to get the game to the 11th. Seattle couldn’t score in the top half, but a sensational catch by Miles Mastrobuoni at third kept the Rangers off the board as well and sent things to the 12th.

With a man on and two outs, Miles Mastrobuoni clutched up at the plate just like he did on defense. A base hit to left just allowed Randy Arozarena to score on a very close play at the plate to give the M’s a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Eduard Bazardo stayed out for his second frame and got an out on a rundown. With Marcus Semien at second, Bazardo would get more help from his defense as Luke Raley made a diving catch in right to take a hit away from García. After walking Evan Carter, Bazardo would blow away Josh Jung with a strikeout to slam the door. It was a dramatic thriller but Seattle took the opener from Texas in 12 innings, 7-6.

Notable Performances

Mariners

  • Julio Rodríguez- 3-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R
  • J.P. Crawford- 3-6, 2 R
  • Logan Gilbert (ND)- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Rangers

  • Adolis García- 1-5, 3 RBI
  • Sam Haggerty- 1-4, RBI, 2 R, BB
  • Nathan Eovaldi (ND)- 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

Rangers 3, Mariners 2 (10 Innings) (Game Two)

After both teams had to use most of their bullpens in the opener on Friday night, they would look to get long outings from their starters on Saturday afternoon. For Seattle, they would have the perfect guy on the mound to eat some innings as Bryan Woo would look to go six or more innings which he had done in all 15 of his starts this season. For Texas, Kumar Rocker would look to continue his stretch of good starts to close out the month of June.

Neither side got much offense in the first couple of innings. Double plays helped both teams get out of any small trouble early and kept the scoreboard clean into the 3rd. Leading off the top of the 3rd, Dominic Canzone would check in for the Mariners and grab them the first run of the game. A curveball hung up in the zone and Canzone clobbered it to right field for a 425-foot bomb. It was Canzone’s fifth of the season and grabbed Seattle the 1-0 lead.

Bryan Woo would get into some trouble in the bottom of the 3rd after walking Alejandro Osuna to begin the inning. Cal Raleigh would bail him out by erasing Osuna trying to steal on a perfect throw before Woo got Kyle Higashioka to fly out to center for the second out. Josh Smith then hit a grounder to short that was booted by J.P. Crawford and it extended the inning on the error. Corey Seager would then pull one down the line in right field and made the error hurt. A two-run shot would be Seager’s ninth of the season and put Texas out in front 2-1.

Seattle couldn’t answer back against Rocker for awhile and continued to look for some offense. In the 6th, they found it. A single for Cal Raleigh turned into a double as he moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Luke Raley would move him over to third on a grounder to first but with two outs, Seattle needed a two-out knock from Randy Arozarena. Randy would take advantage of a fastball in the middle of the zone and sent it to center for a base hit. Raleigh was able to walk home and Arozarena had tied the game at 2-2.

Only a handful of runners reached base as both bullpens once again pitched really well and kept the game tied up. More double plays killed any opportunity for either team to break the deadlock. Both teams got those nice performances from their starters but it would not matter. For the second day in a row the game moved to extra innings.

Shawn Armstrong was on to pitch the top of the 10th for Texas with Ben Williamson starting at second. Armstrong rolled through the first couple of batters as he struck out both Dylan Moore and Cole Young for a quick two outs. J.P. Crawford would have to clutch up for the M’s with two outs but a pop up to Corey Seager at short would end the Mariners half of the 10th with the game still tied.

It would be Andrés Muñoz pitching the bottom of the 10th with Alejandro Osuna starting at second representing the winning run. A strikeout of Sam Haggerty was a big start to the inning for the Mariners closer, but he would hit Josh Smith on the first pitch to put a runner at first as well. That at least gave Seattle a shot at the double play but a wild pitch moved both runners up. A walk to Corey Seager loaded the bases for Marcus Semien who brought the game to an abrupt end. A base hit to right brought home Osuna and evened up the series as Texas walked off Seattle in 10 innings, 3-2.

Notable Performances

Mariners

  • Randy Arozarena- 2-3, RBI, SB
  • Dominic Canzone- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
  • Bryan Woo (ND)- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO

Rangers

  • Corey Seager- 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB
  • Marcus Semien- 2-5, RBI, Walk-Off
  • Kumar Rocker (ND)- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO

Mariners 6, Rangers 4 (12 Innings) (Game Three)

One final game to decide the series in Arlington, the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers met for the final time in the state of Texas this season. Sunday afternoon would have a nice veteran vs. up and comer pitching matchup as Luis Castillo would look to get the bullpen some rest as he took on Jack Leiter for Texas.

Jack Leiter would pitch around a couple of singles in the opening inning before he settled in. After a relatively clean 1st, Luis Castillo would hit a speed bump in the bottom of the 2nd for the Rangers first opportunity. A one-out double by Evan Carter was his fourth double of the season and put a runner in scoring position for the first time for Texas. Castillo would then look to attack Josh Jung inside, but Jung would send a jam shot out to right field for a base hit. Carter’s speed would be enough to bring him home and give Texas the 1-0 lead.

Seattle had some mighty nice opportunities to tie the game up throughout the middle innings, but they could not get the big hit against Leiter as he continued to strand runners on. In the 6th, they would put together another little threat that started with a one-out single by Randy Arozarena. Dominic Canzone drove a fly ball deep to center but Evan Carter would run it down. Arozarena was able to tag up and move to second to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Mitch Garver would then get to hurt his former team as he lined a base hit to left. Osuna bobbled the ball in the outfield, allowing Arozarena to score without a throw to tie the game at 1-1.

Castillo would strand a runner in scoring position in the 6th to end his day and once again we had a battle of the bullpens on our hands. With the game tied at 1-1 in the 9th, Cole Young would force the Rangers to make a move with his fourth double coming with one out. Luke Jackson would have to come in for the Rangers but he got out of trouble despite allowing a J.P. Crawford single. Eduard Bazardo would only allow a two-out single by Alejandro Osuna and while he stole second base, he would be left stranded. A third consecutive extra innings game would decide the series between the Mariners and Rangers.

With Julio Rodríguez beginning the inning in scoring position, Texas intentionally walked Cal Raleigh to start the 10th. Luke Raley moved the runners up on a sacrifice bunt that forced Jackson to make a terrific play to at least get Raley at first. Another intentional walk to Randy Arozarena loaded the bases for Donovan Solano and he put Seattle out in front. A single to left scored Julio, but a great throw by Osuna cut down Raleigh and made it just a 2-1 game. A two-out single by Mitch Garver would tack on another run as Arozarena scored to make it 3-1 Mariners.

Carlos Vargas would come on in the 10th for Seattle and had Kyle Higashioka at second as the automatic runner. He would advance to third on a groundout by Josh Smith before the game was turned on its head. Corey Seager would once again crush the Mariners spirits as he sent a cutter on the outside corner out to left center. The ball would leave the field for Seager’s 10th home run of the season. The two-run blast kept the series alive with the game tied back up 3-3.

Neither team pushed across a run in the 11th so the game went to the 12th. Randy Arozarena’s single put runners on the corners as Raley held at third to begin the 12th inning. Donovan Solano then brought home a run with an RBI groundout to give Seattle a 4-3 lead. The next pitch made this the Mitch Garver game. A sinker right down the heart of the plate was demolished by the former Ranger as he sent his fourth home run of the season into the second deck in left. The bomb opened things up a little more for the Mariners as they took a 6-3 advantage.

Trent Thornton stayed out for the bottom of the 12th and got off to a nice start with a groundout by Josh Smith to Crawford at short. Corey Seager would bring home another run with a sacrifice fly to left to make it 6-4. However, there would be no comeback this time for the Rangers. Marcus Semien would hit a harmless pop fly on the infield that was handled by J.P. Crawford for the final out. After 34 innings of play, Seattle had outlasted the Texas Rangers in this series by winning the finale in 12, 6-4.

Notable Performances

Mariners

  • Mitch Garver- 3-6, HR, 4 RBI, R
  • Randy Arozarena- 2-5, 3 R, BB
  • Luis Castillo (ND)- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Rangers

  • Corey Seager- 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB
  • Evan Carter- 3-4, 2B, R, BB, 2 SB
  • Jack Leiter (ND)- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

What’s Next

After a long ten-game, three city road trip, the Seattle Mariners (43-40) return home after a 6-4 trip and will now settle in for a seven-game homestand. Seattle will also finish up a stretch of 17 games in 17 days as they will finally have a day off on July 7th after this homestand is completed. The Mariners remain in second in the AL West, 6 1/2 games behind Houston. Los Angeles is 8 1/2 back while Texas in nine back. Once again, the Athletics bring up the rear at 17 games back. Seattle does now hold a two-game lead over the Angels for the final Wild Card spot in the American League.

One team that has consistently given the Mariners problems in recent years will make the trip to Seattle as the Kansas City Royals come to town for a four-game series. Kansas City (39-45) has not had the season they were hoping after they broke out last year en route to the ALDS. The Royals had a big sweep of Texas on June 17th-19th before falling apart. Since that sweep, the Royals are 2-7 but against good competition like the Padres, Rays, and Dodgers.

Bobby Witt Jr. was supposed to be the biggest competition for Aaron Judge for the AL MVP this season, but Vinnie Pasquantino might be the Royals MVP so far this season. Leading the team in home runs with 12 and 47 runs batted in as well. The big lefty got off to a real rocky start this season before breaking out in May. He has cooled off a little bit in June, but Pasquatch continues to rake and be very productive for Kansas City. The pressure is really starting to build up for Kansas City and this series will be extremely important for them before we approach the Trade Deadline.

  • Game 1, Monday 6:40pm- Michael Wacha (4-7, 3.33 ERA) vs. George Kirby (1-4, 5.40 ERA)
  • Game 2, Tuesday 6:40pm- Michael Lorenzen (4-8, 4.91 ERA) vs. Emerson Hancock (3-4, 5.30 ERA)
  • Game 3, Wednesday 6:40pm- Noah Cameron (2-4, 2.79 ERA) vs. Logan Gilbert (2-2, 3.55 ERA)
  • Game 4, Thursday 7:10pm- Seth Lugo (5-5, 2.74 ERA) vs. Bryan Woo (7-4, 2.93 ERA)

 

elisportsnetwork.com

WordPress Image Lightbox