9/17/25

(Kansas City, MO) Ten consecutive wins were in the rearview mirror but the Seattle Mariners had their sights set on the 11th win in a row as they took the field for game two with the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. The perfect combination of offense, defense, and pitching had come together to take the M’s to the AL West lead but now it was about protecting that lead. The Mariners did just that in the opener but game two would bring a much tougher challenge.

In the middle game of the three-game series, Seattle would send Bryce Miller to the mound. After setting a career-high with 11 strikeouts his last time out, Miller would look to build on that into another dominant performance this time around. For Kansas City, their Opening Day starter Cole Ragans would be back on the mound for the first time since the beginning of June. Injuries have plagued the Royals rotation but their ace of the future was looking to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Royals 7, Mariners 5 (Game Two)

Cole Ragans didn’t look like he lost a step as he struck out the side in order to begin the game. Bryce Miller looked like he would also have a nice and tidy 1st by retiring Mike Yastrzemski and Bobby Witt Jr. on five pitches. A single by Vinnie Pasquantino seemed harmless enough but then a grounder by Maikel Garcia couldn’t end the inning as J.P. Crawford couldn’t make the play. The extra life for the Royals hurt the Mariners as Salvador Perez once again delivered a big blow to Seattle. A three-run shot to center would be the 29th of the season for Perez and put the Royals in front early, 3-0.

Seattle would then get their first baserunner of the game to lead off the 2nd. Jorge Polanco worked a walk to bring Eugenio Suárez to the plate. While the reunion has not gone as good as some had hoped, a hot streak to end the season would completely change that narrative and Geno might have got one going here. Geno drove a fastball deep to center and just got it out for a two-run blast. It was the 46th of the season for Suárez and got the M’s on the board, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Both starting pitchers settled in after that outside of Bryce Miller loading the bases in the bottom of the 3rd, although he did escape without allowing a run. In the 4th, Cole Ragans day came to an end as he reached his pitch count and Kansas City went to the bullpen and brought in Jonathan Bowlan. He would not receive a warm welcome as Geno singled before Josh Naylor followed suit for back-to-back two-out singles. In stepped Mitch Garver but he could not come through in the clutch as he went down swinging to end the inning and the threat.

Miller stranded two more in the 4th but got in some hot water again in the 5th. A leadoff single by Vinnie Pasquantino would remain at first until Salvador Perez grounded out to move him to second with two outs. Former Mariner, Adam Frazier would look to hurt his former club and singled the other way into left field. Pasquantino would look to score from second but a strong throw by Randy Arozarena got to Garver in plenty of time to cut down the Royals first baseman at the plate. Once again, the defense shined as the score remained 3-2 thanks to the Arozarena throw.

Caleb Ferguson kept it a one-run game into the 7th and Angel Zerpa took over for the Royals. He would not be able to figure out Eugenio Suárez as he doubled to left to begin the inning. Seattle would look to capitalize on Geno’s 26th double of the year and Josh Naylor did his part by hitting a grounder on the right side of the infield to move Suárez to third with one out. Mitch Garver would then get the ball in the air to center where it was caught by Tyler Tolbert, who took over for Kyle Isbel early in the game. Tolbert’s throw would not get to the plate in time to get Suárez and Seattle tied the game up at 3-3.

After Gabe Speier spun a 1-2-3 bottom of the 7th, Seattle would try to keep building momentum in the 8th. Lucas Erceg was on for the Royals but one mistake is all Seattle needed. With J.P. Crawford leading off the inning, Erceg hung a slider right in the middle of the plate and Crawford got enough of it to get it out to right field for a go-ahead solo home run. It would be the 11th home run of the season for Crawford and gave the M’s their first lead of the game at 4-3.

Matt Brash would be tasked with the 8th for Seattle but immediately walked Salvador Perez to put the tying run on. Adam Frazier once again came to the plate and flipped a sinker on the outer black down the left field line. It would barely stay fair while also barely clearing the left field fence for a 338-foot home run. The two-run blast knocked the wind out of the M’s as the Royals took a 5-4 lead on Frazier’s seventh homer of the year.

Things would only get worse for the Mariners as Brash seemed to fall apart after the home run. Jac Caglianone would immediately double to center for his sixth two-bagger of the season as Kansas City looked to add on. Carter Jensen continued his fantastic series with a base hit to center to drive in the rookie Caglianone and make it 6-4. Tyler Tolbert laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Jensen into scoring position with just one out. Brash would get a big strikeout of Mike Yastrzemski for the second out but couldn’t get by Bobby Witt Jr. A double to left would be Witt’s 42nd double of the season while bringing home Jensen to add on one more. A four-run inning had brought the Royals all the way back as they took a 7-4 lead into the 9th.

The dangerous closer Carlos Estévez entered for the 9th but did not spin a clean or tidy inning. Eugenio Suárez stayed hot with his fourth hit of the game, a single to begin the frame. Josh Naylor would also single back up the middle, moving Geno to third and bringing the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Dominic Canzone pinch hit for Mitch Garver after his three-homer game the night before. This game wouldn’t be as good for Canzone as he hit into a 4-6-3 double play to dim the Mariners comeback bid. Geno would score to make it 7-5 but the M’s were down to their final out. Luke Raley pinch hit for Victor Robles and kept the game alive with a single to left, bringing the tying run to the plate once again. J.P. Crawford would not be able to keep the game going with a groundout to third to end the game. Seattle’s 10-game winning streak had come to an end thanks to a blown 8th inning lead as Seattle dropped game two to Kansas City, 7-5.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Royals

• Adam Frazier- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Salvador Perez- 1-2, HR, 3 RBI, R, 2 BB
• Cole Ragans (ND)- 3.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

The loss snaps the Seattle Mariners (83-69) ten-game losing streak and also sends them out of the top spot in the AL West. Houston completed a sweep of Texas 5-2 to take a half game lead over Seattle in the AL West. New York took care of Minnesota while Boston walked off the Athletics and Cleveland beat Detroit 4-0. That means the Yankees hold the top Wild Card spot, two games ahead of both the Mariners and Red Sox who are tied for the second and third spots. Cleveland sits just 2 1/2 back while Texas and Kansas City sit on the edge of elimination, 4 1/2 and seven games back respectively.

A win in the finale for Seattle would give them a series victory over Kansas City and make Seattle and Houston tied atop the AL West going into their massive three-game series this weekend. In the finale, Seattle will have veteran Luis Castillo (9-8, 3.76 ERA) on the mound in a big spot. La Piedra has come up big in big games in the past but on the road this season he has struggled with a 5.09 ERA but is coming off of a quality start in Atlanta in his last road start. For the Royals, Stephen Kolek (5-5, 3.71 ERA) will take the ball and try to keep their hopes for a playoff spot alive. Kolek was traded from San Diego to Kansas City at the deadline and has posted a quality start in his first three starts with his new club. When he faced Seattle with the Padres back in May, Kolek had a really rough outing, giving up five runs on eight hits in five innings. First pitch is scheduled for Thursday at 11:10am.

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