8/22/25

(Seattle, WA) We are back with more Seattle Mariners coverage. A vacation was much needed but unfortunately for the M’s they seemed to go on vacation as well with a rough 2-7 road trip but never lost too much ground in the AL West race. However, they did fall back to the third and final Wild Card spot which put some pressure on them to have a nice six-game homestand against a couple of California teams.

First up would be the final series with the Athletics in 2025. A three-game set would decide the season series after the teams had split the first 10 meetings with eight of those games being decided by two runs or fewer. The A’s look different since the deadline with Mason Miller gone to San Diego and Miguel Andujar in Cincinnati. A familiar face would return for the A’s as Jacob Wilson was activated from the IL before the opener.

We would get an intriguing pitching matchup in game one as Seattle would get their most consistent starter on the mound in Bryan Woo who looked to make it 25 consecutive starts going at least six innings. For the Athletics, Luis Morales would make just his third career start but has shown very promising stuff in his first two.

Mariners 3, Athletics 2 (Game One)

Bryan Woo wouldn’t get off to too hot of a start as the Athletics would strike in the top of the 1st. After retiring the first two men he faced, Woo squared off with slugger Brent Rooker who chased a 2-2 pitch but fouled it off to stay alive. The following pitch would end up in Rooker’s wheelhouse and he hammered it way out to left center for his 26th home run of the year. The solo shot was just the start that the A’s wanted as they took a 1-0 lead early.

A couple of walks were all that the A’s could get off of Bryan Woo for the rest of his day. Woo is known for having tremendous success against the California teams and after a tricky outing his last time facing the A’s, Woo was back to his usual self this time. For the 25th consecutive outing, Woo went at least six innings, going seven this time with just one run on one hit with two walks and seven strikeouts. With Woo’s All-Star season, if the Mariners get into the playoffs then it will lead to some serious discussion on who will be Seattle’s game one starter.

Not to be lost in the shuffle was rookie Luis Morales who was nearly perfect in his third career start. The flamethrower was dotting up the edges of the zone and retired the first 13 Mariners that he faced. However, the 14th Mariners to come to the plate was Eugenio Suárez who turned the game around with one swing. After making a terrific barehanded play in the top of the 5th, Geno would do it with his bat this time and hit a laser down the left field that stayed fair while almost going through some padding behind the fans. It was the 40th home run of the season for Geno and tied the game up at 1-1.

After Woo finished the top of the 7th, the A’s went to their bullpen first with Elvis Alvarado as the first man up. He would get Julio Rodríguez to groundout but his first pitch to Josh Naylor was better for the M’s. Naylor sent a no-doubter out to right field for a solo bomb and his 16th of the season and his 100th career home run. If that wasn’t enough, two batters later Jorge Polanco put together quite the battle. Polo had to foul off triple digits above the zone but did so successfully. On the sixth pitch of the AB, Polanco hit a towering fly ball that just carried enough to get out over JJ Bleday in right. It was Polanco’s 19th homer of the year and made it 3-1 Seattle.

Matt Brash spun a scoreless 8th but did need Gabe Speier to get the last out against Nick Kurtz. In came Andrés Muñoz for the 9th and he got off to a great start with a quick strikeout of Shea Langeliers. Then trouble started to brew. Singles by Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom put the tying run on and brought the go-ahead run to the plate. Jacob Wilson would send a single back up the middle to score Rooker and make it 3-2. Muñoz then walked Lawrence Butler to load the bases with still one out. He would get a weak fly ball off the bat of Darell Hernaiz that would be caught in right center by J-Rod. Soderstrom went halfway home before returning to third on a strong throw by Julio. A quick meeting on the mound did wonders for Muñoz and he got JJ Bleday swinging on three pitches to survive the threat. Three solo homers and a nail biting finish was worth it for the Mariners as they snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the A’s.

Notable Performances

Athletics

Mariners

• Bryan Woo (W, 11-7)- 7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
• Jorge Polanco- 2-3, HR, RBI, R
• Eugenio Suárez- 1-3, HR, RBI, R

What’s Next

Seattle (69-60) snaps their five-game losing streak and rights the ship with just over a month left in the regular season. Friday night wasn’t perfect for the Mariners as Houston took down Baltimore while Boston beat New York again. Both Cleveland and Kansas City lost to Texas and Detroit respectively so the Wild Card situation did improve a bit for the Mariners. Seattle trails Houston by two games in the AL West and still hold the final Wild Card spot in the American League, one game behind Boston and 1/2 a game behind New York. Kansas City sits three games back of the M’s and Cleveland is four back. Texas is probably the last team in the hunt but they are now 5 1/2 behind the M’s who also own the tiebreaker over the Rangers.

Seattle will now look to earn a series win and take the season series from the Athletics in game two on Saturday in Seattle at 6:40pm. Jeffrey Springs (10-8, 4.24 ERA) will get the start in the middle game and will look to put together another strong outing against the Mariners. So far this season in three starts against the M’s, Springs has allowed just three runs on just ten hits in 17 innings with four walks and 20 strikeouts. For the Mariners, George Kirby (8-6, 4.22 ERA) will look to get back on track after a tough outing in Williamsport. After four consecutive quality starts, Kirby was roughed up by the Mets in the Little League Classic, allowing 12 hits and 7 runs in just 4 2/3 innings.

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