9/1/25

(Tampa, FL) As we get into crunch time in the 2025 MLB season, the Seattle Mariners have begun to feel the pressure and have so far folded like an origami crane. With their last series win on the road coming before the All-Star break, Seattle quickly dropped two out of three in Cleveland to allow the Guardians to stay alive in the postseason hunt. On Monday, Seattle began a series with the Tampa Bay Rays who just like Cleveland, entered the series with their playoff hopes on life support. The Mariners would look to do what they couldn’t against the Guardians and that is bury the Rays and take one team out of their rearview mirror.

In the opener of the three-game series at the temporary home of the Rays, Steinbrenner Field, Seattle would look to get a good road performance out of veteran Luis Castillo who has struggled away from T-Mobile Park this season. For the Rays, it would be Shane Baz getting the ball amidst the worst stretch of his entire career.

Rays 10, Mariners 2 (Game One)

Seattle continued to have baserunning issues in the 1st as Randy Arozarena was picked off at second after a single and stolen base. Eugenio Suárez was left stranded at second in the top of the 2nd after his one-out double. In the home half of the second, Tampa Bay would land the first shot. Luis Castillo retired the first five batters he faced before a two-out infield single by Jake Mangum started the unraveling. He would steal second for his 21st stolen base of the season, but a walk to Richie Palacios made that irrelevant. In stepped Nick Fortes who was acquired at the deadline by the Rays in a very small move but he had a large impact on this one. Fortes would chase a fastball above the zone and sent it out to right center for a three-run bomb that was reviewed and upheld. It was the fourth of the season for Fortes and gave Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 3rd the deficit continued to grow for the Mariners. Yandy Díaz singled to center with one out before Brandon Lowe brought him home with his 14th double of the year, making it 4-0. Junior Caminero immediately brought in Lowe with a single to center, but was thrown out trying to advance to second on the throw home. Castillo would only make it one more inning as his day was done after just four innings with the M’s down 5-0.

Shane Baz was torching the Mariners all game long as he snapped his skid with a dominant performance. The fourth-year pro came up with just his second quality start since the All-Star break with his six scoreless innings. Baz allowed just five hits and two walks while punching out six as well. In just another poor performance against starting pitching, the M’s couldn’t hit the Baz fastball even when he missed his spot as they looked hopeless at the plate.

This one turned into a laugher in the later innings as Emerson Hancock’s bullpen debut did not go as planned. A costly error by J.P. Crawford hurt him to start the 7th and things snowballed from there. Yandy Díaz hit his 26th double to bring home two before scoring on a Junior Caminero single. Tristan Gray’s two-run homer in the 8th off of Taylor Saucedo gave the Rays double digits with a 10-0 lead. Seattle avoided the shutout as Leo Rivas hit his first career home run with a two-run shot in the 9th. It was way too little too late for the M’s however as they were blown out in the opener, 10-2.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Rays

• Nick Fortes- 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R
• Yandy Díaz- 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Shane Baz (W, 9-11)- 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

What’s Next

The free fall continues for the Seattle Mariners (73-65) as they continue to cling on to their playoff spot. Houston took their finale with the Angels on Monday while Texas beat Arizona in extra innings and Boston defeated Cleveland 6-4. The M’s are now three back of the Astros in the AL West but the Wild Card picture is where things aren’t looking as good as they were a few week ago for Seattle. New York and Boston are tied for the first and second Wild Card spots and have pulled to 3 1/2 games ahead of the struggling Mariners. Seattle still holds the final spot but Texas’ six-game winning streak have moved the Rangers to within 1 1/2 games of Seattle. Kansas City sits 2 1/2 back, Cleveland at four back, and Tampa Bay at 4 1/2 games out.

The series will continue on Tuesday as the Mariners try to erase the disaster that was game one. Runs should be at a premium in the middle game as Bryan Woo (12-7, 2.95 ERA) will take the ball for Seattle and try to give the bullpen a bit of a breather. This will be Woo’s first start since seeing his streak of 25 starts of six innings or more come to an end. On the other side, Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.64 ERA) will look to keep the Mariners lineup as quiet as a mouse in game two. Rasmussen was good against the Mariners in Seattle when he went six scoreless innings before the bullpen lost it on Cal Raleigh’s 8th inning home run. First pitch is scheduled for 4:35pm.

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