7/7/25

(Seattle, WA) For the final time until after the All-Star Break, the Seattle Mariners began a series at T-Mobile Park to wrap up a seven-game homestand as well as ending a stretch of 17 games in 17 days. With a day off on the horizon, the M’s first had to take care of business against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. Much like the 2020’s Mariners, Pittsburgh has been extremely successful in terms of pitching but have not been able to find the offensive support to go along with it.

A reshuffling of the Pittsburgh rotation made sure that Paul Skenes would pitch in Seattle for the first time in his professional career. The young phenom would match up with George Kirby in the finale, making the first two games vital for the Mariners to avoid a situation where they had to beat Skenes to win the series.

Mariners 6, Pirates 0 (Game One)

Seattle and Pittsburgh played day baseball to open up the series on the 4th of July on Friday afternoon. For the holiday game, Bryan Woo would get the start and looked to add another 6+ inning start to his resume this season. For the Pirates, it would be Bailey Falter making his first start against the Mariners since 2013.

Woo would get in some trouble early in this one as a two-out walk to Bryan Reynolds kept the top of the 1st alive for Pittsburgh. Nick Gonzales would jump on a first pitch sinker and smoked it the other way into the right field corner. Dylan Moore got it in quickly to prevent Reynolds from scoring as Gonzales reached second with his fifth double of the year. O’Neil Cruz then came to the plate and sent a pop fly down the left field line. It looked like it would be trouble, but a terrific sliding catch by Randy Arozarena instead made it the third out, keeping the Pirates off the board.

Fireworks started early for the Mariners as in the bottom of the 1st the M’s struck. Julio Rodríguez hit a hard one hopper that was handled by Nick Gonzales but the throw to first was dropped by Spencer Horwitz to allow J-Rod to reach. That was very costly for the Pirates as Cal Raleigh made them pay. The AL’s starting catcher got a fastball right in his sweet spot and hit the ball harder than he has all season. At 115.2-mph off the bat, the ball flew 433-feet into the upper deck for a two-run bomb. It was Raleigh’s MLB-leading 34th home run of the season and put Seattle on the board quick, 2-0.

Both pitchers settled in the next couple of innings but Woo was in hot water again in the 4th. A single by Nick Gonzales and a walk to O’Neil Cruz put two on with one out for the Pirates. Ke’Bryan Hayes then reached on an error by Cole Young to load the bases for former Mariner Adam Frazier. Woo would get Frazier swinging for a massive second out while the bags remained pack. A grounder by Joey Bart to Ben Williamson would officially put out the fire as Woo escaped the jam without giving up a run.

While Cal Raleigh is without question the Mariners best player in 2025, the hottest bat on the roster right now belongs to Randy Arozarena and he showcased that again in the opener. After Bailey Falter struck out Cal Raleigh, he would get Arozarena to chase a 1-1 curveball off the plate away. Arozarena flipped the ball high and deep into the right field corner and somehow got it out for his 13th home run of the season. It was also Randy’s fifth long ball of the week and extended the Seattle lead to 3-0.

Bryan Woo would roll through his final couple innings of work and thanks to a beautiful deke by J.P. Crawford, got a fly ball to Julio to turn into a double play as the runner lost track of the ball. Woo was fired up about the play and celebrated coming off the field with J-Rod and Donovan Solano as well as J.P. It was another quality outing for Bryan Woo as he went six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out eight to set the tone for the series.

Falter would also look to get through six and in the bottom of the 6th he was in good shape. Retiring J.P. and Julio for a quick two outs left Cal Raleigh for him to complete his six frames. It was not meant to be on this day for the veteran. Once again he let a fastball get too much of the inside corner and once again Raleigh didn’t miss it. This time he sent a solo blast out to left center for his 35th of the season. That tied the Mariners record for most home runs before the All-Star Break as Ken Griffey Jr. is the only other to do so back in 1998. It also continued to help the M’s pull away and made the score 4-0.

Eduard Bazardo worked out of some trouble in the 7th to preserve the shutout but Seattle landed the knockout blow in the home half of that inning. After a Donovan Solano single off of Braxton Ashcraft began the inning, Dylan Moore would finally breakout of his terrible stretch at the plate. D-Mo took advantage of a hanging slider and just got the ball high enough to get over the left field wall for a two-run shot and his ninth of the year. It was only Moore’s second hit since May 28th and his first homer since May 22nd and put the M’s up comfortably 6-0.

Trent Thornton would spin a quick 1-2-3 top half of the 8th so Dan Wilson kept him in for the 9th as well. He would get O’Neil Cruz to fly out to center and Ke’Bryan Hayes to pop out to Donovan Solano for two outs. He couldn’t complete the perfect outing as Adam Frazier singled to right but it only extended the game by one batter. Thornton bounced back to strikeout Joey Bart swinging to put a bow on it. It was a Happy 4th of July to all in Seattle as the Mariners started the series with a shutout of the Pirates, 6-0.

Notable Performances

Pirates

Mariners

• Cal Raleigh- 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Dylan Moore- 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Bryan Woo (W, 8-4)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO

Mariners 1, Pirates 0 (Game Two)

With game one in the bank, Seattle would look to wrap up the series before facing Paul Skenes in the finale. To do that, they would have to defeat young starter Mike Burrows who had been very good entering the outing for Pittsburgh. Seattle would counter with veteran Luis Castillo who was facing an old NL Central foe from his time in Cincinnati.

An early leaping catch against the wall by Julio Rodríguez took away a double from Andrew McCutchen and seemed to take the wind out of the Pirates sails right away. Seattle couldn’t really get anything going either against Mike Burrows, outside of doubles by J.P. Crawford and Dominic Canzone that were left stranded. The young pitcher would not stay in the game long as they pulled him after just 85 pitches. Burrows would go five scoreless innings and allowed three hits and four walks while striking out six in a nice performance.

Leading off the bottom of the 6th, Jorge Polanco would add on another extra base hit for the M’s as he doubled to left for his 12th two-bagger of the season. This time it came to start the inning and the M’s had a chance to grab an elusive run. Luke Raley did his job with a grounder to first, advancing Polanco to third with just one out. Donovan Solano could not get his job done as he grounded out to Ke’Bryan Hayes at third while Polanco had to stay put. With two outs and the opportunity slipping away, a rookie played hero for Seattle. Ben Williamson clutched up and shot a line drive down into right field for extra bases. Polanco scored on Williamson’s 11th double of the year and the Mariners grabbed the game’s first run and took a 1-0 lead.

One run was enough for Luis Castillo who was unbelievable on Saturday night. Looking like the same guy who helped the Mariners get their first playoff win since 2001, Castillo rolled through the Pirates from start to finish and pitched a masterclass in front of his home fans. Castillo went seven scoreless innings and allowed only two hits, both to Spencer Horwitz. La Piedra did not allow a walk and struck out eight batters in his best start of the year. It was complete dominance from Castillo giving the bullpen plenty of rest.

Matt Brash hung a zero in the 8th and passed the baton to Andrés Muñoz for the 9th. It might have been the best performance of the season for Muñoz as well as he picked up where Castillo left off. He needed just six pitches to strikeout Spencer Horwitz and Andrew McCutchen for a quick two outs. He couldn’t get the immaculate inning but he would finish off a quick and clean outing as Bryan Reynolds flew out to Randy Arozarena in left for the final out. Seattle wrapped up the series and gave themselves a chance for a sweep with a 1-0 shutout of the Pirates.

Notable Performances

Pirates

Mariners

• Luis Castillo (W, 5-5)- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO
• Ben Williamson- 1-4, 2B, RBI
• Jorge Polanco- 1-4, 2B, R

Mariners 1, Pirates 0 (Game Three)

The main event of this series was always going to be Sunday with one of the best pitching matchups we’ve seen in the sport this season. For Pittsburgh, it would be the phenom Paul Skenes who looks to be the potential starter for the National League in the All-Star Game for the second time in just his second season of professional baseball. For Seattle, George Kirby would try to steal the spotlight and earn the M’s a sweep to wrap up the homestand.

Terrific defense helped out both teams in the 1st. Dominic Canzone made a great running catch in the right field corner to end the top of the 1st. Then in the bottom of the 1st, Seattle put some serious pressure on Paul Skenes right out of the gate. A single by J.P. Crawford would be followed by Cal Raleigh being hit by a pitch. With runners on first and second with one out, Jorge Polanco recorded his 1,000th career hit with a single to left center. O’Neil Cruz would come up and throw an absolute perfect strike to the plate to cut down J.P. Crawford at the plate, keeping the M’s off the board. Randy Arozarena would then fly out to center to end the Mariners scoring threat.

Skenes and Kirby were both lights out after that. Seattle would get another double from Julio Rodríguez in the 3rd, but that was it for the Mariners. The phenom only went five surprisingly and just threw 78 pitches in his scoreless performance. Skenes only allowed the five hits and did not allow a walk while striking out 10. He lived up to the hype and despite giving the Mariners opportunities, could not cash in on their chances.

Carmen Mlodzinski would take the ball as the first reliever in the bottom of the 6th. Mlodzinski would get the first two outs quickly before facing Randy Arozarena. A 2-0 fastball at the bottom of the zone turned out to be the difference in the game. Arozarena went down and barreled it up and clobbered yet another solo home run out to left field. It was Arozarena’s 14th of the season and his sixth of the week alone. Once again the Mariners had grabbed a run off of the Pittsburgh bullpen to take a 1-0 lead.

George Kirby would get an out to start the 7th before a Tommy Pham single chased him from the game. Carlos Vargas would come in and get out of the inning with no damage done. Kirby did a great job going toe-to-toe with Paul Skenes the entire way and actually was able to go a bit further than the superstar. Kirby went 6 1/3 with four hits and no walks while striking out nine. It was a brilliant performance as Kirby continues to shape back into the guy that Mariners fans have seen for years.

Andrés Muñoz once again entered in the 9th to try to protect a 1-0 lead. Muñoz would make quick work of Nick Gonzales for a quick strikeout to begin the 9th. An O’Neil Cruz fly out to Dominic Canzone in right put the M’s one out away from the sweep. Tommy Pham would get jammed on a fastball running in on his hands and sent a harmless grounder to short to finish the game off. For the first time in franchise history, the Seattle Mariners shutout a team for an entire series as they swept the Pittsburgh Pirates with another 1-0 win.

Notable Performances

Pirates

Mariners

• George Kirby (W, 3-4)- 6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO
• Randy Arozarena- 1-3, HR, RBI, R
• Dominic Canzone- 3-3

Four Mariners Earn All-Star Nods

With Cal Raleigh being announced as the starting catcher for the American League in this year’s All-Star game, the rest of the rosters were announced Sunday and the Mariners will be well represented in Atlanta.

Joining Cal on the American League squad from a position player standpoint will be Julio Rodríguez who will makes his third All-Star Game. It hasn’t been an outstanding year for J-Rod especially with runners on, but a consistent approach at the plate with elite defense in center field got him back to the Midsummer Classic after missing out last season.

For the second time in his career, Andrés Muñoz will be representing the Mariners in the All-Star Game. After making the team last year but not making an appearance, the MLB’s league leader in ERA by a closer has dominated this year outside of a little hiccup in June. Muñoz 11.9 K/9 is among the best by a closer as well.

Last but not least, for the first time in his young career, Bryan Woo will head to Atlanta as a member of the American League team. After a breakout season in 2024, Woo has been even better in 2025, going 6+ innings in every single one of his starts this season. His 2.77 ERA leads the team’s rotation and he has become Mr. Reliable for a rotation that has been hit with injuries this year.

Other names to watch that could be added as players are scratched or opt out would be J.P. Crawford and Matt Brash.

What’s Next

You can’t ask for much more than a sweep if you’re the Seattle Mariners (48-42) as they now hit the road for a six-game road trip to end the first half of the season. Unfortunately for Seattle, Houston also pulled off a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The other three teams in the AL West all dropped their series as the Angels were swept by Toronto while the Rangers dropped two of three in San Diego and the Athletics lost two of three against San Francisco. Houston still leads Seattle by seven games in the AL West but have opened up a double-digit lead over the rest of the division. The M’s do hold onto the final Wild Card spot with a 2 1/2 game lead over Boston and sit just a game behind both Tampa Bay and New York who hold the top two.

Speaking of the New York Yankees (49-41), that is who Seattle will take on first in a grueling six-game road trip. The Bronx Bombers took two out of three in Seattle back in May but outside of game one, the series was extremely close and could have ended in a Mariners win or a Yankees sweep. This time around, the Yankees are coming in with some bad vibes after losing their lead in the AL East to Toronto. They would also drop two out of three to the Mets over the weekend, but did snap their six-game losing streak on Sunday.

Two players in the game of baseball stand out among the rest. Shohei Ohtani is one. The other is Aaron Judge. The two-time MVP winner is on his way to winning a third but will go head-to-head with his biggest competition for that award in Cal Raleigh this week. While he is behind Cal in homers with 33, Judge is still putting together a season that would be ridiculous even if it was on a video game. He leads the sport in average, hitting .360 and is tied with Cal Raleigh for second in RBI with 74 behind only Seiya Suzuki. He gets on base in nearly half of his at-bats with a .468 OBP and is one of only two players with an OPS of 1.000+. The only other? Of course it is Cal Raleigh. This series will get a ton of national attention due to the two front runners for Amercian League MVP going head-to-head. It is going to be an electric series that the M’s need to win to show they can hang with the best teams in the sport.

• Game 1, Tuesday 4:05pm- Logan Gilbert (2-2, 3.40 ERA) vs. Will Warren (5-4, 5.02 ERA)
• Game 2, Wednesday 4:05pm- Logan Evans (3-2, 2.96 ERA) vs. TBD
• Game 3, Thursday 4:05pm- Bryan Woo (8-4, 2.77 ERA) vs. Marcus Stroman (1-1, 7.45 ERA)

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