7/1/25

(Seattle, WA) A nice start to the homestand on Monday night would look to be built upon as the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals met in game two of their four-game series on Tuesday. With the home run ball driving the Mariners in the opener, they would look to find extra power in game two.

Emerson Hancock would take the ball for the M’s in this one as he has held down the #5 spot in the rotation with multiple injuries plaguing the Mariners this year. For Kansas City, Michael Lorenzen would be the guy as he hoped that July would be more like his excellent month of April as compared to tough months in May and June.

Royals 6, Mariners 3 (Game Two)

Scoring started early in this one as Jonathan India hit his 17th double of the season to begin the game. After moving up to third on a groundout, India would score on a two-out RBI single by Maikel Garcia to put Kansas City out in front 1-0. A walk to Jac Caglianone began the 2nd, and he would come home to score on Nick Loftin’s fourth double of the season to make it 2-0. A single by John Rave put runners on the corners and another run came home on an RBI groundout by Kyle Isbel to make it 3-0 early.

Seattle wouldn’t have to wait too long to see their squad get on the board. In the bottom of the 2nd, Jorge Polanco would single to give the Mariners a leadoff baserunner. It would not end the way anyone thought as Polanco was picked off to erase the single. However, Randy Arozarena did his part and continued his power surge against the Royals. Arozarena smoked a fly ball to left center that would get out for his 11th home run of the season. The solo blast was his third in his last four at-bats and got the M’s on the board trailing 3-1.

Things got ugly in the 5th as the Royals opened things up a bit. An infield single by Bobby Witt Jr. began the inning before Vinnie Pasquantino doubled despite Julio Rodríguez making a tremendous effort to take that hit away. With one out, Salvador Perez drove a fly ball out to center field that was misread by J-Rod. While the Mariner center fielder leapt to try to rob a home run, the ball would hit the wall a ways away from Julio. Two runs came home on Salvy’s 21st double of the season and the Royals had a 5-1 lead.

Luke Raley would give the Mariners some optimism with his fifth double of the season to begin the bottom of the 5th. Dominic Canzone did his job and moved Raley to third with a grounder to first for out number one. Ben Williamson shot a line drive the other way down the right field line for an RBI. As Raley scored, Williamson hustled into second with his ninth double to make it 5-2. Cole Young would then fly out to deep left field, which allowed Williamson to tag-up and move to third. J.P. Crawford clutched up with a single the other way to left to add another run, making it 5-3.

Opportunities then began to slip through the Mariners grasp against the Royals bullpen. In the 6th, a Jorge Polanco walk and Randy Arozarena single put two on with one out. Angel Zerpa came in and got Donovan Solano to hit into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play to kill that threat. In the 7th, walks to Dylan Moore and Ben Williamson put two on with nobody out. Lucas Erceg would then enter and get Cole Young to hit into a double play before J.P. Crawford grounded out to second to end the inning.

After dominating the top of the 8th, the debuting Juan Burgos would not fly through the 9th in his second inning of work out of the Mariners bullpen. Bobby Witt Jr. would hit his 30th double of the year before stealing third for his 22nd stolen base. Burgos got a big out as Vinnie Pasquantino fouled out for the second out. A walk to Maikel Garcia extended the inning for Salvador Perez who once again delivered a blow to the Mariners. A two-out RBI single brought home an insurance run and made it 6-3 Royals going into the bottom of the 9th.

Former AL West foe Carlos Estévez came into close this one out for the Royals and he had no issues doing so. A couple of fly outs to Drew Waters in left put the Mariners in a really tough spot. Miles Mastrobuoni entered as a pinch hitter and would send a third fly ball to center field this time. It would be caught for the final out and the series was even as the Royals took down the Mariners, 6-3 in game two.

Notable Performances

Royals

Mariners

• Randy Arozarena- 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• Ben Williamson- 1-2, 2B, RBI, R, BB
• Emerson Hancock (L, 3-5)- 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO

What’s Next

The split of the first two games doesn’t do the Seattle Mariners (44-41) any favors in their quest to track down the Houston Astros. Houston beat Colorado 6-5 on Tuesday while the rest of the AL West also won. Texas, Los Angeles, and the Athletics all picked up wins which meant the M’s were the only team to lose ground. They are now a season-high seven games back of Houston while the Angels and Rangers are right on their tails at 8 1/2 and 9 1/2 games back.

In a pivotal game three on Wednesday night, we will have on paper a very good pitching matchup in Seattle. For the Mariners, Logan Gilbert (2-2, 3.55 ERA) will continue his quest to get back into All-Star caliber form in his fourth start since coming off the IL. Home runs have hurt Gilbert since returning from injury as he has allowed five home runs in 15 1/3 innings. Noah Cameron (2-4, 2.79 ERA) will take the ball for Kansas City looking to continue his fantastic rookie season. Cameron has allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his nine starts, although he has been roughed up by the Yankees and Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm.

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