9/23/25

(Seattle, WA) Tuesday was the first opportunity for the Seattle Mariners to clinch their second playoff berth since 2001 but they needed a little help to do so. The M’s needed to take care of business against the Colorado Rockies and earn a win in the opening game of the three-game set. They would also need the New York Yankees to defeat the Chicago White Sox. Early in the M’s game, word got out that the Yankees did beat the White Sox thanks to a 9th inning comeback. It was win and your in on Tuesday for the Mariners with their destiny in their own hands.

Bryce Miller has struggled for most of 2025 with injuries and velocity issues as a result. However, entering his start Tuesday he had begun to turn things back around and look like the Bryce Miller of old. He would look to put Seattle’s offense in a position to win but would have to overcome the young McCade Brown for the Rockies. Brown, like many others in the Rockies rotation, have gotten an opportunity to showcase their potential in what has been a nightmare of a season for Colorado.

Mariners 4, Rockies 3 (Game One)

Bryce Miller would spin a clean 1-2-3 top of the 1st but in the 2nd, Colorado got to him. Jordan Beck began the inning with his 27th double of the season to put a man in scoring position for the Rockies. Ezequiel Tovar moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt and then Miller got a big strikeout of Brenton Doyle to keep Beck on third with two away. Kyle Karros sent a grounder up the middle where Jorge Polanco made a fantastic diving stop to keep the ball on the infield. His throw to first would just be late as Karros drove in Beck to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead.

Seattle couldn’t get anything going off of McCade Brown who was carving up the Mariners lineup in the early portion of the game. Seattle only had one hit off of Brown through four innings and it was a harmless single from Josh Naylor. Brown struck out seven in his first four innings and started the 5th with another one, getting Eugenio Suárez looking. Dominic Canzone came to the plate and worked a full count. Brown ran a sinker down and in in the zone but Canzone was ready for it. A screaming line drive would sail over the wall in right field for a solo shot and his 11th of the year. One swing brought Seattle to life with the game tied at 1-1.

It wouldn’t stay tied for long as Colorado charged back against Miller in the 6th. Mickey Moniak’s 19th double of the year started the inning and put the go-ahead run on. A one-out walk to Blaine Crim put another man on base before Jordan Beck moved them both up with a deep flyout to center. With runners on second and third and two outs, Dan Wilson went to his bullpen and brought in Eduard Bazardo to face Ezequiel Tovar. The former Gold Glover showed off his bat with a base hit into right field. Moniak and Crim scored to put Colorado back in front, 3-1.

Colorado also went to their bullpen in the 6th, but Jaden Hill and Jimmy Herget retired all six Mariners they faced. Carlos Vargas and Gabe Speier kept it 3-1 going into the bottom of the 8th when Juan Mejia took over. He would get off to a tough start, hitting Luke Raley and walking J.P. Crawford to put the tying run on with nobody out. Back-to-back strikeouts of Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh turned things around for Mejia as he was an out away from escaping the jam. He would get ahead of Julio Rodríguez 1-2, but hit him to load the bases. Josh Naylor then came to the plate to face new reliever Victor Vodnik. A 2-0 count put Naylor in a great spot and he delivered a memorable Mariner moment. Naylor went the other way into left center field for a two-out double. All three runs came in as T-Mobile Park exploded on Naylor’s 28th double of the year. Just like that, the big trade deadline deal came through as Seattle took a 4-3 lead into the 9th.

Andrés Muñoz looked for the final three outs to send the Mariners to the playoffs. He wasted no time with a strikeout of Ezequiel Tovar and then got Brenton Doyle to pop out to Cal Raleigh. One out away from the postseason, Muñoz went right after Kyle Karros. A slider at the bottom of the zone put away Karros on just three pitches to seal the deal. In the most Mariner way, Seattle stormed back late to steal the opener from Colorado 4-3 and clinch a spot in the 2025 postseason.

Notable Performances

Rockies

Mariners

• Josh Naylor- 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI
• Dominic Canzone- 1-3, HR, RBI, R
• Bryce Miller (ND)- 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

For the first time since 2022, the Seattle Mariners (88-69) are headed to the playoffs but there is still plenty to play for. Cleveland beat Detroit on Tuesday night while Toronto lost to Boston. That gives Seattle a three-game lead over Detroit and Cleveland for the #2 seed and a first round bye in the playoffs and they own the tiebreaker over both the Guardians and Tigers. The M’s also now trail Toronto for the #1 seed and homefield advantage by two games, but the Blue Jays own the tiebreaker over Seattle. Houston also lost to the A’s 5-1 bringing the Mariners magic number to 1 for their first AL West title since 2001.

A win or a Houston loss on Wednesday will secure the AL West crown for Seattle but they hope to take care of business themselves in game two on Wednesday at 6:40pm. In the middle game Seattle will face another young starter as Tanner Gordon (6-7, 6.00 ERA) starts for Colorado. Gordon is coming off back-to-back quality starts and five quality starts in his last six appearances. Seattle will counter with Luis Castillo (10-8, 3.63 ERA) who looks to secure the M’s division title. In his last three starts, Castillo has gone 18 innings with just two runs on 10 hits with two walks and 14 strikeouts in his best stretch of the season.

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