9/21/25

(Houston, TX) Things could not have gone better for the Seattle Mariners over the weekend after taking the first two games from the Houston Astros. A sweep would put the Mariners in a different spot than they have been in entering the final week of the season. Normally, the M’s have been the hunter going into the last week in the past but with a sweep it would turn things around and make the Mariners the hunted. Sunday Night Baseball also put all eyes on these two teams battling it out for the AL West.

For the finale, Seattle had the favorable matchup in the pitching matchup. Logan Gilbert would get the ball for Seattle in the biggest start of the season for the Opening Day starter. For Houston, they would go with the young Jason Alexander who has been electric for the Astros since being sent over from the A’s at the deadline.

Mariners 7, Astros 3 (Game Three)

After giving up a double to Jose Altuve on his first pitch of the game, Logan Gilbert settled in and retired the next three Astros on seven pitches. In the top of the 2nd, Seattle’s offense exploded. Three consecutive singles by Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco, and Eugenio Suárez loaded the bases with nobody out and put Seattle in a great spot. Dominic Canzone slapped a line drive the other way, but Carlos Correa was able to knock it down and throw out Naylor at the plate for the first out. The bases were still loaded for Victor Robles who would work a walk to make it 1-0. J.P. Crawford would deliver the big blow on a 1-2 sweeper that hung right down the middle. Crawford crushed it to left for a grand slam and his 12th home run of the season. It was Crawford’ sixth grand slam of his career and made it 5-0 early.

Seattle wasn’t done in the 2nd as Randy Arozarena got his first hit of the road trip with a single to center to bring up the MVP candidate in Cal Raleigh. The MLB-leader in home runs extended his league lead on a changeup on the outside corner. Raleigh pulled it down the right field line and kept it fair for his 58th home run of the season. The two-run blast put Raleigh just four behind Aaron Judge’s single-season AL record of 62 and also extended the Mariners lead to 7-0.

Logan Gilbert had no pressure on him after that, pitching with a big lead. He would need just seven pitches in a 1-2-3 bottom of the 2nd but a hanging slider in the 3rd got Houston on the board. Zach Cole began the inning and the rookie jumped on the mistake, sending it over the bullpen for his third home run of the season to make it 7-1. Two men would reach on a walk and dropped third strike, but Gilbert dialed back in to end the inning with no more damage done.

Seattle struggled to add on after chasing Jason Alexander in the 2nd but Logan Gilbert was not allowing the Astros to get any closer. Gilbert dominated just like Woo and Kirby before him to put a stamp on a dominant series by Mariners starting pitching. Gilbert went six innings of one-run ball with three hits and one walk allowed while striking out four. The strikeout number wasn’t high but Gilbert got a lot of weak contact and let his defense to their part on Sunday night.

Caleb Ferguson was the first Mariners reliever in the game, pitching the bottom of the 7th. Back-to-back one-out singles by Zach Cole and Jake Meyers put two on as the lineup turned over. A wild pitch moved those runners to second and third and Jose Altuve slapped a base hit the other way. Cole scored while Meyers stopped at third, making it 7-2 with runners on the corners. Carlos Vargas would come in to try to end the inning and got Carlos Correa to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to extinguish the rally. Houston got one but Seattle maintained a 7-2 lead.

Seattle couldn’t get Josh Naylor home and stranded his double in the 8th. Isaac Paredes led off the home half of the inning and continued to cut into the Seattle lead. Paredes pulled his 20th home run of the season into the Crawford Boxes to make it 7-3. An error would not hurt the M’s later in the inning as Vargas managed to get the final out and send this one to the 9th.

7-3 would have to do for the M’s with Matt Brash coming in for the 9th. He would begin the inning by getting Zach Cole to groundout to Josh Naylor for the first out of the inning. Victor Caratini pinch hit for Jake Meyers but didn’t fare any better with a flyout to J-Rod. All that stood between the M’s and a sweep was Jose Altuve who would work a full count. On the payoff pitch, Brash froze him with a fastball over the middle of the plate for a called third strike. A 1-2-3 9th put the exclamation point on a dominant series sweep for the Mariners as they never trailed the Astros, winning the finale 7-3.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Astros

• Zach Cole- 2-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
• Jose Altuve- 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB
• Jason Alexander (L, 4-2)- 1.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO

What’s Next

With the biggest sweep in franchise history, the Seattle Mariners (87-69) now sit three games in front of the Houston Astros in the AL West while also owning the head-to-head tiebreaker, making it in essence a four-game division lead. Detroit is in a free fall and was swept by Atlanta so the M’s are also two games in front of the Tigers for the #2 seed and a first-round bye into the ALDS. As things stand now, Seattle would play the winner of a Wild Card series between Cleveland and Detroit while New York and Boston would play and the winner would play Toronto in the division series.

Seattle’s magic number to clinch the division is three, which means they need a combination of wins and Houston losses equal to three. That would give the M’s their first division title since 2001. A sweep of the MLB-worst Colorado Rockies (43-113) would seal the deal for the Mariners as they begin the final week of the season and final homestand on Tuesday. Colorado will not finish with the worst record in MLB history after taking two of three from the Angels over the weekend. Colorado is 5-10 against the AL West this season.

Colorado is a complete disaster but the Mariners still have to go out and take care of business. These are the exact series that the M’s have struggled with in past seasons. They put themselves in a good spot only to have a letdown right at the finish line. With the Dodgers on the horizon Seattle can’t look past the Rockies. The key player to look out for is Colorado’s own All-Star catcher in Hunter Goodman. This kid has been outstanding this season leading the Rockies in average (.279), home runs (30), RBI (88), and OPS (.848). With the buzz about Cal Raleigh and Will Smith putting together a phenomenal campaign, Goodman has a very strong argument at being the third best catcher in baseball in 2025. Seattle’s pitching should neutralize the Rockies, but keeping Goodman from hitting with guys on will be a key.

• Game 1, Tuesday 6:40pm- McCade Brown (0-4, 9.17 ERA) vs. Bryce Miller (4-5, 5.58 ERA)
• Game 2, Wednesday 6:40pm- Tanner Gordon (6-7, 6.00 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (10-8, 3.63 ERA)
• Game 3, Thursday 6:40pm- TBD vs. TBD

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