7/3/25

(Seattle, WA) Only four games remained at T-Mobile Park for the Seattle Mariners before the All-Star Break and next up was the finale of their four-game series against the Kansas City Royals. With the M’s in a position to win the series, the pitching staff would look to continue to quiet a struggling Royals lineup while Seattle would also look to wake up the bats on this homestand.

For the finale, veteran Seth Lugo would take the ball for the Royals and looked to put together yet another quality start. For the Mariners, Logan Evans was recalled on Thursday to make the start and give the rest of the rotation an extra day of rest.

Royals 3, Mariners 2 (Game Four)

Seattle would leave a runner stranded in scoring position in each of the first two innings. However, Logan Evans did not allow a baserunner until the 4th which is when Kansas City put together a threat. A walk to Jonathan India and a hit by pitch for Vinnie Pasquantino put two on with one out. Things got worse when Maikel Garcia singled to load the bases. However, Evans was up to the challenge and figured his way out of trouble. Salvador Perez popped out to Cole Young before John Rave grounded out to J.P. Crawford to end the inning and strand the bases loaded.

In the bottom of the 4th, we would finally have a breakthrough. On the second pitch of the inning, Seth Lugo ran a fastball onto the inner black to Jorge Polanco. The switch-hitter was able to get his hands in and barreled it up out to right field. The ball just continued to carry until it sailed out for a solo home run and Polanco’s 12th of the season. While Seattle would strand Luke Raley at third to end the inning, they had still grabbed a 1-0 lead.

Making a spot start, Logan Evans was terrific for Seattle. The rookie right-hander did have to wiggle out of danger in the 5th before being pulled on what turned out to be a harmless two-out double by Salvador Perez in the 6th. Evans would complete his day with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk with two hit batters and three strikeouts. With his continued success in the big leagues, there will be conversation now on who takes the fifth spot until Bryce Miller comes back between Evans and Emerson Hancock.

After stranding another runner in scoring position, things imploded for the Mariners in the 7th. Casey Legumina stayed in after getting the final out of the 6th and he would retire Freddy Fermin before back-to-back walks to Kyle Isbel and Jonathan India. With Bobby Witt Jr. coming to the plate, Dan Wilson brought in Carlos Vargas to try to get out of trouble. It did not work. A base hit to center would bring home Isbel to tie the game at 1-1. After Witt stole second, Vargas would then give up a base hit to right by Vinnie Pasquantino. While India scored, Dominic Canzone made a great throw to the plate, but Bobby Witt Jr. would make a better slide. He would avoid Cal Raleigh’s tag to score and give the Royals a 3-1 lead.

That would be the score going into the bottom of the 9th with Carlos Estévez looking for the four-out save. Things would get intense after Dominic Canzone led off the inning with his sixth home run of the season to make it 3-2. Miles Mastrobuoni then pinch hit for Ben Williamson and dunked a single into right to put the tying run on and bring the winning run to the plate. After Cole Young struck out, J.P. Crawford singled to left and he and Mastrobuoni would move up on a wild pitch. With the tying run at third and the winning run at second, Seattle had the dangerous part of the order up. A borderline pitch would go the Royals way however as Julio Rodríguez went down looking for the second out. Kansas City elected to pitch to Cal Raleigh and it was worth the risk this time. The game’s home run leader would roll a grounder to second for a routine final out, leaving two more stranded in scoring position. Seattle went 0-11 with runners in scoring position, resulting in a 3-2 loss to the Royals.

Notable Performances

Royals

Mariners

• Jorge Polanco- 3-4, 2 2B, HR, RBI, R
• Dominic Canzone- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• Logan Evans (ND)- 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

What’s Next

Unfortunately, the Seattle Mariners (45-42) have to settle for a series split with Kansas City and will have a quick turnaround with an afternoon game for the 4th of July on Friday. The Rangers and Athletics both had Thursday off while the Astros lost to the Rockies and the Angels defeated the Braves. Seattle doesn’t lose ground in the AL West but remain seven games back while the Angels take over third at 8 1/2 back. The Rangers aren’t far behind them at nine games back and the A’s are way behind at 17 games out. The M’s still hold the final American League Wild Card spot but just by a game and a half over the Angels.

For their final home series before the All-Star Break, the Mariners will welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates (38-50) to town for a three-game series. While the Pirates pitching staff has been fantastic with a team ERA of 3.64, good for 7th best in baseball, the offense has been even worse in 2025. Pittsburgh has the fifth fewest runs scored this season and a big reason for that is the lack of home runs with only 61 as a team this year. They also strikeout a lot, setting the table for some potential highlight outings for the M’s rotation, but the bats need to be dialed in all weekend long.

There is one player on the Pirates that stands above the rest and that of course is Paul Skenes. Originally not scheduled to pitch in this series, a shuffling of the rotation put Skenes in the Sunday slot for Pittsburgh as he looks to make a push to win his first Cy Young. The strikeouts are down a touch this year, but that isn’t hurting the face of the franchise. Skenes possesses a 2.03 ERA, the second best in the game behind only Hunter Brown of the Astros. Skenes went five scoreless against St. Louis earlier this week after a tough start against Milwaukee. Skenes has only gotten one win since the end of May but did beat the Mariners last season when he allowed just two runs on three hits with six strikeouts over six innings.

Normally I would write about Paul Skenes here, but he will not take the field in this series. Instead, we will talk about the enigma that is O’Neil Cruz. A big time prospect through the minors, Cruz was viewed as an elite shortstop with a cannon for an arm that could make incredible throws on the regular. However, Pittsburgh has begun experimenting with him in center field and the results have not been great. A lack of effort could stem from the fact that Cruz doesn’t want to be in the outfield, but his bat is still there regardless. A team-high 15 home runs is part of the good. 110 strikeouts, tied for the lead in baseball, is another check in the very bad column. You always have to be careful when he is in the batter’s box, but at the end of every series it seems that O’Neil Cruz is right in the spotlight for the Pirates.

• Game 1, Friday 1:10pm- TBA vs. Bryan Woo (7-4, 2.93 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 7:10pm- TBA vs. Luis Castillo (4-5, 3.55 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 1:10pm- TBA vs. George Kirby (2-4, 4.85 ERA)

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