9/20/25

(Houston, TX) After a monumental win in game one of the Seattle Mariners biggest regular season series in over two decades, there was not much time to celebrate as the M’s turned around to try to do it again against the Houston Astros on Sunday night. With two games left in the series, Seattle would need to win just one to secure the season series over Houston and put themselves in the driver’s seat for the AL West entering the final week of the season. However, a win in game two would give the Mariners a chance for a sweep and an opportunity to knock Houston out of the playoff picture for now.

With playoff caliber pitching matchups locked and loaded, game two featured another one between two of the best in the game. George Kirby would take the hill for Seattle in the middle of his best stretch of the 2025 season and looking to do what he did against Houston in the 2022 playoffs. A familiar foe would oppose him as Framber Valdez got the start for Houston. The lefty is notorious for melting down when things get tough so Seattle would look to get to him early.

Mariners 6, Astros 4 (Game Two)

Needing to start fast against Framber Valdez, the Mariners did just that. In the top of the 1st, Julio Rodríguez kept the inning alive and became the game’s first baserunner with a two-out walk. J-Rod took advantage of Framber’s issues with holding runners on and stole second for his 28th stolen base of the year. It wouldn’t really matter as Eugenio Suárez drove a screaming line drive over the head of Jake Meyers in center. Julio scored easily on Geno’s 27th double of the year and the Mariners had a 1-0 in the 1st yet again.

George Kirby didn’t have as clean of a start as Bryan Woo, but did strand two singles to put up a zero in the 1st. In the 2nd, Seattle would once again use their aggressiveness on base to manufacture a run. Josh Naylor began the inning with a base hit before stealing second for his 28th stolen base of the year. Mitch Garver would move him over with a fly ball to center to get him to third with one out. Victor Robles would then drive a ball to the warning track in left where it was caught by Jesús Sánchez. It was plenty deep enough to bring in Naylor and make it 2-0 Mariners.

A double play helped Kirby face the minimum in the bottom of the 2nd and in the 3rd the M’s continued to add on. With the bases empty and one out, Cal Raleigh came to the plate and continued to etch his name into the history books. A sinker towards the top of the zone on the outer half was driven out to right center field for a solo shot. Cal’s 57th home run put him at the top of the list for the most home runs by a Mariner in a single season in franchise history. It was also his first opposite field home run from the right side of the plate during his historic season. More importantly to Cal, it continued to add on to the Mariners lead, making it 3-0.

George Kirby was really settled in and went three up, three down in the 3rd and 4th to protect the lead. In the top of the 5th, Seattle continued to play add on. A one-out walk for Cal Raleigh set the table and Julio went the other way for a nice and easy single to put two on with one out. Geno would strikeout swinging but Jorge Polanco extended the inning with a base hit to load the bases for Josh Naylor. A long battle was won by Naylor as he drew a walk to bring in another run and bring Mitch Garver to the plate. However, Houston went to the bullpen and brought in Jayden Murray so the M’s used Dominic Canzone as a pinch hitter. After falling behind 0-2, Canzone clutched up with a base hit to right to bring in another run. Seattle seemed to be in cruise control as they had opened up a 5-0 lead.

Houston manager Joe Espada was ejected in the 5th and a leaping catch by Cam Smith saved a run for the Astros in the 6th and things felt like they were changing. In the bottom of the 6th, Kirby got in some hot water as Smith and Jeremy Peña hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out. It felt like Kirby wouldn’t get to the end of the 6th but struck out Carlos Correa for an important first out. Looking for the double play, Kirby had to battle with Isaac Paredes but won on the ninth pitch of the at bat with a fastball that was blown by Paredes for another strikeout. He would stay in to face Jose Altuve who hit a grounder up the middle. Jorge Polanco made a fantastic pick to get Altuve and end the inning. Kirby showed his heart with a gutsy six scoreless innings, allowing five hits without a walk and seven strikeouts in a fantastic outing.

Eugenio Suárez kept the good vibes rolling with his second double of the game and 28th of the season to begin the 7th. Jorge Polanco brought him home with his 30th double of the year, making it 6-0. In the home half, Carlos Vargas came in and gave up a one-out single to Yainer Díaz. After Jesús Sánchez singled, Vargas got Jake Meyers to groundout for the second out but the runners moved up to second and third. He would then hit Cam Smith and the game changed drastically. Normally a routine fly ball, Jeremy Peña’s drive would land in the Crawford Boxes for a 340-foot grand slam. It was his 17th of the season and just like that Houston was back in the game trailing 6-4.

Eduard Bazardo had the 8th and quickly sat down Isaac Paredes. Jose Altuve reached with a single and a chopper would get over Josh Naylor’s head, just staying fair for Victor Caratini’s 14th double of the season. With the tying run on second and the go-ahead run at the plate, things got very intense. Bazardo sat down Yainer Díaz quickly for a big second out. Dan Wilson would bring in Gabe Speier to try to get the final out of the inning, but Houston countered by pinch hitting Christian Walker who hit a walk-off home run against the M’s back in May. This time it was a different result as Speier struck him out on three pitches to shutdown the rally. We headed to the 9th with Seattle still leading 6-4.

For the first time since 2023, Andrés Muñoz had to pitch for a third consecutive day. He did not have his best stuff and hit Jake Meyers with the second pitch of the inning to bring the tying run to the plate. Zach Cole entered as a pinch hitter, but once again Muñoz sat the rookie down on strikes. Jeremy Peña put together a phenomenal AB to draw a walk, putting the tying run on and the winning run came to the plate in Carlos Correa. After being acquired by Houston at the deadline, Correa had a chance for quite the moment with the team that he has spent most of his career with. It looked like Correa would come through with a blooper to right center. From out of nowhere, Victor Robles came flying in to make a diving catch to take the hit away from Correa. Meyers was trying to score and had no idea the ball was caught and Robles flipped it to second for a double play to dramatically end the game. Things got very intense down the stretch, but the Mariners would hold on to clinch the season series over the Astros with a 6-4 win.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Astros

• Jeremy Peña- 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, R, BB
• Yainer Díaz – 2-4, R
• Framber Valdez (L, 12-11)- 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

Just like that, the Seattle Mariners (86-69) secure the series and season series over Houston and take a two-game lead over the Astros in the AL West. Detroit lost their fifth straight in a late loss to Atlanta, which puts the Mariners a game ahead of the Tigers for the #2 seed and first round bye. It is like a two-game lead since Seattle holds the tiebreaker. Toronto also lost to Kansas City 2-1 which puts Seattle just three games behind the Blue Jays for the #1 seed in the American League and homefield advantage.

Although the Wild Card is kind of an afterthought now, Cleveland swept their doubleheader with Minnesota while New York and Boston both won and Texas lost. For now, New York holds the top Wild Card while Boston is two games behind them and Cleveland and Houston are tied for the final spot while Texas and Kansas City are on the chopping block. Cleveland holds the head-to-head advantage over Houston so for now the Wild Card series matchups would be Boston @ New York and Cleveland @ Detroit with Houston watching from home.

While Seattle can’t lock up the AL West in the finale on Sunday, they can really damage the Astros chances with a sweep. To complete that sweep, Seattle will go with Opening Day starter Logan Gilbert (5-6, 3.53 ERA) in Prime Time. Gilbert has only pitched six innings once in three starts in September but has only given up a total of four runs in those three starts. Jason Alexander (4-1, 4.04 ERA) will have the pressure on him to try to help the Astros avoid the sweep. Since being acquired by the Astros from the A’s, Alexander has an ERA of just 2.76. It will be the first time he has ever faced the Mariners. First pitch is scheduled for 4pm on Sunday and will be nationally televised on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, which will be the final Sunday Night Baseball game on the network as it will shift to NBC next season.

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