9/9/25

(Seattle, WA) Game two for the Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals took place on Tuesday night with Seattle looking to make it four wins in a row and really put the disaster of Cleveland and Tampa Bay behind them. The one big inning in the opener on Monday was enough but Seattle was still looking for more consistent offense and less reliance on the home run ball as they battle out for a playoff spot.

In game two, George Kirby would get the ball for the Mariners. Coming off of another really bad outing in Tampa Bay, the young right-hander looked to get back on track immediately, just like he did after his rough night in Williamsport. On the other side, St. Louis would send Matthew Liberatore to the hill to try to even the series. The lefty has not been going deep in games since a fatigue issue in June but would look to at least go five strong with the Red Birds playoff hopes on life support.

Mariners 5, Cardinals 3 (Game Two)

George Kirby once again did not have his best stuff and the Cardinals made him pay early. In the top of the 2nd, Willson Contreras began the inning with a single before scoring on Nolan Gorman’s 12th double of the season to make it 1-0. Thomas Saggese then followed with a flip shot to right center that got down to score Gorman and make it 2-0 Cardinals. Pedro Pagés looked like he would continue the hit parade, but a diving stop by Jogre Polanco turned it into a fielder’s choice. J.P. Crawford then made almost the exact same play to take a hit away from Victor Scott II before Kirby ended the inning with a flyout by José Fermín to minimize the damage thanks to strong defense up the middle.

Another double play turned by Polanco and Crawford kept the Cardinals from adding on in the top of the 3rd and in the home half Seattle would strike. Victor Robles singled before stealing his fifth bag of the year to put the leadoff man in scoring position. J.P. Crawford joined him on base with a walk to flip the lineup card over to Randy Arozarena. His career year continued as he annihilated a 2-0 fastball that was a no-doubter off the bat out to left field. It was Arozarena’s career-high 27th home run of the season and put Seattle out in front, 3-2.

Kirby tried to protect that lead in the 4th but he just didn’t have his A game and St. Louis capitalized. He would walk Thomas Saggese with one out and Pedro Pagés singled to move the tying run to third. Seattle caught a break as Victor Scott II struck out swinging on a ball that hit his foot which saved a wild pitch and kept the tying run at third. José Fermín would send a grounder off of the bag at third base but the ball kicked to Eugenio Suárez who fired immediately to first. Fermín was initially called out but St. Louis challenged and won which meant Saggese scored to tie the game at 3-3 and end Kirby’s night after he finished the inning.

It only took two batters into the bottom of the 4th for Seattle to take the lead back. While he wasn’t as flashy of an acquisition at the deadline as Geno, Josh Naylor has been one of the best players traded at the deadline since. His power numbers and base stealing numbers have taken off and this time around it would be the power. A sinker in the middle of the plate was crushed and Naylor knew it right away. T-Mobile Park erupted as Naylor showed his emotion circling the bases with his 19th home run of the year to give the M’s a 4-3 lead.

Seattle wasn’t done in the inning as they added on against Liberatore. A Mitch Garver walk was followed by singles for Victor Robles and J.P. Crawford to load the bases with one out. Randy Arozarena got the ball in the air with a fly ball to right that was deep enough to bring in Garver and extend the lead to 5-3. Cal Raleigh would then hit a bullet to center but Victor Scott II made the play to prevent Seattle from adding on to the two-run lead.

Caleb Ferguson was the first man out of the bullpen for Seattle and had an easy 1-2-3 top of the 5th. Eduard Bazardo followed with the exact same in the 6th and thanks to an incredible catch by Julio Rodríguez so did Gabe Speier in the 7th. Matt Brash would allow a single in the 8th, but then looked like his nasty self with a couple of strikeouts to protect the lead. That left Andrés Muñoz for the 9th and he got a great play by Josh Naylor at first to begin the inning with an out. After striking out Victor Scott II, Muñoz gave up a single to José Fermín to bring the tying run to the plate in the 9th for the second night in a row. Just like Monday, there was no comeback to be had. Lars Nootbaar sent a harmless grounder to Polanco at second to finish the game. The Mariners bullpen retired 15 of the 17 batters they faced to protect the lead and earn Seattle a 5-3 win.

Notable Performances

Cardinals

Mariners

• Josh Naylor- 3-4, HR, RBI, R
• Randy Arozarena- 1-4, HR, 4 RBI, R
• George Kirby (ND)- 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

What’s Next

Seattle (77-68) once again took advantage of other results as they try to not only make the playoffs, but win the AL West for the first time since 2001. Houston blew their game late, losing in extra innings in Toronto which puts the Mariners just one game behind the Astros for the division lead. Wild Card wise, it wasn’t the best night as Texas took down Milwaukee once again while Cleveland beat Kansas City and Tampa Bay downed Chicago. The M’s hold the final Wild Card spot, 3 1/2 behind both New York and Boston, and 1 1/2 games up on Texas and 2 1/2 over Cleveland.

On Wednesday night at 6:40pm, the Mariners will look to complete the sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals and continue to build momentum down the home stretch. For the finale, Seattle will go with Logan Gilbert (4-6, 3.61 ERA) on the mound. A fan-fiction trade target for the Cardinals all offseason, Gilbert will look for his fourth quality start in a row and has struck out 26 batters in his last 18 innings and has a 2.15 ERA at home. For St. Louis, it will be Michael McGreevy (6-3, 4.68 ERA) in the finale. McGreevy is in his rookie season and had a very nice August before getting rocked his last time out against San Francisco.

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