7/28/25

(Sacramento, CA) Deadline week is always a very intriguing time across baseball both with buyers and sellers in the market. The Seattle Mariners entered their three-game series in Sacramento with the Athletics as a buyer after acquiring Josh Naylor late last week. However, while moves are being made and fans are waiting for trades, their are still valuable games being played on the field.

Seattle has found themselves right back in the race for the AL West with the banged up Houston Astros on a bad stretch and the Texas Rangers also on fire and tracking down the Mariners. A three-game set with the A’s didn’t look as easy as it once did after the A’s swept Houston in a four-game series over the weekend.

Mariners 3, Athletics 1 (Game One)

Game one featured a pitching matchup between two guys that have faced off a few times in the last few seasons. Seattle would look to get a bounce back outing out of Luis Castillo who got hit around by Milwaukee in his previous start. The Athletics turned to lefty JP Sears would try to salvage what has been a difficult season for the southpaw.

Both starters faced the minimum in the 1st despite the A’s getting a leadoff single by Lawrence Butler. The Platinum Glove catcher in Cal Raleigh helped out his starter by throwing out Butler in an attempt to steal second thanks to a nice tag by Jorge Polanco at second. In the top of the 2nd, Seattle found their first hit and run on the first pitch of the inning. JP Sears left a slider up and out over the plate and the newest Mariner did not miss it. Josh Naylor sent a no-doubter out to right center for his first home run as a Mariner and his 12th of the season. Naylor’s first time holding the trident came with the Mariners grabbing a 1-0 lead.

Seattle wasted a bases loaded opportunity as Ben Williamson hit into a double play, but the A’s could not get anything going at all early against La Piedra. In the top of the 4th, the M’s would add on to their small lead. Josh Naylor once again led off the inning with a base hit but it looked like he was picked off on a nice move from Sears. However, Nick Kurtz would throw the ball away, allowing Naylor to move all the way to third on what should have been an out. A deep sacrifice fly by Mitch Garver would get the job done and brought home Naylor to make it 2-0.

While Ben Williamson hit into a costly double play, he more than made up for it with spectacular defense on Monday night. A diving catch on a line drive took a hit away from Brent Rooker in a clean bottom of the 4th and then the Mariners rookie third baseman got things going at the plate. Williamson began the 5th with his 15th double of the season to put himself in scoring position. Cal Raleigh would take advantage as he continued to build upon his case for MVP with a base hit into left field. Williamson came home to score with ease and the Mariners added on another to take a 3-0 lead.

Luis Castillo pitched around a two-out triple by Carlos Cortes thanks to Ben Williamson, but the Athletics finally got to the veteran in the bottom of the 6th. Luis Urías was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and moved to third on a one-out single by Nick Kurtz. Brent Rooker would send a grounder to third where Ben Williamson made a great stop and despite slipping as he got up, still got the ball to second to at least get Kurtz. Despite a run scoring, the Williamson play was spectacular and allowed Luis Castillo to end the inning with a strikeout of Shea Langeliers to keep it 3-1 Seattle.

La Piedra would finish his day up with a scoreless 7th to end a very strong day for the Mariners veteran. Luis Castillo flushed is rough outing against Milwaukee with a quality start, allowing just one run over seven innings on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks. As consistent as any starter on the team this season, Castillo once again showed off his leadership and experience to right the ship and start off the series on a high note for the Mariner rotation.

In the bottom of the 8th, things got very intense as the A’s found success against the Mariners bullpen. Gabe Speier retired two of the three batters he faced but a walk for Colby Thomas put some traffic on. Dan Wilson brought in Matt Brash to try to finish the inning but he continued to struggle and gave up a single to Brent Rooker and a walk to Shea Langeliers to load the bases with two outs for Tyler Soderstrom. A Mariner killer this season, Soderstrom would smoke a grounder down to third but once again Ben Williamson was up to the task. The rookie made a diving stop and then tagged third to end the threat with no damage done. Seattle would carry the 3-1 lead into the 9th.

Andrés Muñoz did not get off to a great start in the bottom of the 9th after a leadoff single by Miguel Andujar started the inning. Carlos Cortes would do the one thing the A’s couldn’t do and that is hit the ball to Ben Williamson. A routine 5-4-3 double play erased the leadoff hit and put the M’s an out away from the win. Muñoz went right after Max Schuemann with three fastballs for a quick end to the night. With a strikeout, Muñoz had slammed the door on his 24th save of the season, giving the Mariners a 3-1 series opening win over the Athletics.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Athletics

• Brent Rooker- 1-4, RBI
• Carlos Cortes- 1-4, 3B
• JP Sears (L, 7-9)- 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO

What’s Next

Monday could not have gone better for the Seattle Mariners (57-50) after their series opening win over the A’s. Houston’s losing streak ran up to five after a 2-1 loss to Washington while Texas’ winning streak came to an end in a 6-4 loss to the Angels. Both New York and Boston also lost so Seattle gained a game everywhere and are back in sole possession of second place in the AL West, just three games behind Houston. The M’s also took back sole possession of the second Wild Card with a half game lead over Boston and just a half game deficit behind the Yankees.

Seattle will now look to earn the series win early in game two on Tuesday at 7:05pm at Sutter Health Park. Logan Evans (4-3, 3.64 ERA) will face off with the A’s for the first time in his rookie season. Seattle has won his last two starts in which he has allowed a total of three runs in nine innings but has walked three in each of those starts. Luis Severino (4-11, 4.95 ERA) will take the ball for the Athletics in his third start against Seattle this season. Severino pitched very well against Seattle on Opening Day but is coming off back-to-back strong starts against Cleveland and Houston, earning the win in each outing.

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