9/24/25

(Seattle, WA) Looking to secure their first AL West title since 2001, the Seattle Mariners took the field with a packed house at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday night. Wanting to finish the job themselves rather than win the division with a Houston loss, the M’s were locked in and the vibes were high during warm-ups with a perfect opponent in the Colorado Rockies. 27 outs stood between the Mariners and the AL West crown a night after securing a playoff spot.

Luis Castillo would fittingly be on the mound for the Mariners as La Piedra started the M’s first playoff game in 2022 after ending the 20-year drought. Castillo entered Wednesday on a nice stretch and looked to finish his regular season on a high note. For Colorado, it would be Tanner Gordon taking the mound looking to continue his stretch of quality starts with four in his last seven.

Mariners 9, Rockies 2 (Game Two)

Luis Castillo rolled right through the top of the 1st and the Mariner lineup set the tone for the entire game in the home half. Cal Raleigh stepped to the plate with nobody on and one out and continued his quest for the MVP award. A 1-1 fastball over the plate was annihilated all the way to the third deck for a 438-foot blast and Raleigh’s MLB-leading 59th home run of the season. The score didn’t stay 1-0 for long as Julio Rodríguez followed that up with his own career-high tying blast to left. Home run #32 for Julio made it 2-0, but again the scoreboard wouldn’t stay the same for long. Two batters later, Jorge Polanco hit a low line drive that just had enough height to get out for his 25th homer of the year. Three solo blasts in the 1st had T-Mobile Park rocking as the Mariners shot out to a 3-0 lead.

The offense continued to put up numbers in the bottom of the 2nd against Gordon. Dominic Canzone sent a shot to the gap for his 11th double of the season to begin the inning. Victor Robles joined him on base as he was hit by a pitch to put two on with nobody out. Tanner Gordon would then get a couple of outs, retiring J.P. Crawford and Randy Arozarena while the runners stayed at first and second. Cal Raleigh came to the plate and while the ball stayed in the yard, damage was still done. Raleigh chased a pitch below the zone but pulled it down the right field line and towards the corner. Canzone and Robles both scored easily on Raleigh’s 23rd double of the year, giving the M’s a 5-0 lead.

La Piedra rolled the first time through the Rockies order, retiring all nine batters he faced. Colorado’s lineup consists mostly of guys trying to secure roster spots for next season and Blaine Crim has stood out in the final month for the Rockies. He continued to stand out in the top of the 4th with nobody on and two outs. Castillo challenged Crim with a 2-2 fastball at the top of the zone and Crim drove it out to center for his fifth home run of the season. He was the first man to reach base for the Rockies and got them on the board with a 5-1 score.

Seattle responded immediately and didn’t let Colorado build any momentum. In the bottom of the 4th, Victor Robles reached on an error to put the leadoff man on for J.P. Crawford. The Mariner shortstop pulled a base hit to right, sending Robles to third and turning the lineup card over. Randy Arozarena brought a run in with a sacrifice fly to right to get that run back and make it 6-1. Antonio Senzatela then came in for the Rockies and struck out Cal Raleigh before walking J-Rod to extend the inning. Josh Naylor shot a base hit back up the middle to add on as Crawford scored making it 7-1 Seattle.

Seattle would have a runner thrown out at the plate as Arozarena was cut down on a fantastic throw by Yanquiel Fernández from right field. However, the M’s weren’t done scoring for the night. Eugenio Suárez added on by himself in the bottom of the 7th. With Angel Chivilli in the game as the Rockies third pitcher, he quickly retired the first two batters he faced before Geno got him. Suárez drove a slider on the outer half out to right for a little opposite field home run and his 48th of the season to make it 8-1.

Dan Wilson allowed Luis Castillo to get one out in the 8th before the Mariners manager went out and got his veteran to allow him to get a standing ovation from the packer Mariner crowd. Castillo was incredible in his best start of the season to put the Mariners in a very good spot to win their first AL West title since 2001. La Piedra went 7 1/3 innings and just allowed one run on a single hit with no walks and 10 strikeouts. It was an absolutely brilliant outing and puts Castillo on the right track as the M’s head to the postseason.

In the bottom of the 8th, Seattle got their exclamation point. Cal Raleigh came to the plate with nobody on and two outs. “MVP” chants rained down on Raleigh as he slowly walked to the plate as the Seattle fans showed their appreciation for the heart of the franchise. Raleigh wasn’t going to miss his chance to make this a special moment for the franchise and his MVP case. With the chants continuing, Cal Raleigh jumped on the first pitch from Chivilli and sent a rocket into the right field seats for his second home run of the game. Raleigh joined Aaron Judge, Roger Maris, and Babe Ruth as the only American League players to hit 60 home runs in a single season as he circled the bases in his MVP moment.

With just three outs left to get, Luke Jackson came on for the 9th with the game out of hand. Seattle fans would have to wait a little longer but it was all worth it. A walk to Orlando Arcia was followed by Mickey Moniak’s 20th double of the season. Seattle traded a run for an out as Hunter Goodman grounded out to Harry Ford behind the plate while Arcia score to make it 9-2. Four pitches later and the wait was over. Jackson sat down Blaine Crim on strikes to put the stamp on it. A 9-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies ended the drought for the Mariners as they locked up their first AL West title since 2001 and the party was on in Seattle.

Notable Performances

Rockies

Mariners

• Cal Raleigh- 3-5, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
• Luis Castillo (W, 11-8)- 7.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO
• Julio Rodríguez- 2-4, HR, RBI, R, BB

What’s Next

At long last the division drought is over for the Seattle Mariners (89-69) who secure their first AL West title since 2001. Houston also lost but Seattle took care of business to secure it with their own win rather than an Astros loss. Toronto lost to Boston again while Cleveland handed Detroit their eighth consecutive defeat. New York did beat Chicago so the Yankees and Blue Jays are tied atop the AL East and for the #1 seed in the American League, just one game ahead of the Mariners. The Jays and Yankees both hold the tiebreaker over the M’s for that top spot but Seattle can clinch a first round bye with either a win on Thursday or a Detroit victory over Cleveland.

Seattle will look to keep things rolling but could have to use a very different lineup with the M’s partying hard on Wednesday night celebrating the division title. Seattle has yet to announce who will start in the finale on Thursday at 6:40pm, but Emerson Hancock (4-5, 5.13 ERA) would be the likely replacement for Bryan Woo who will skip his start. It would be Hancock’s first start since July 1st. Colorado will start Bradley Blalock (2-5, 9.16 ERA) in the finale. Blalock got the win against the Angels his last time out despite allowing six runs in five innings.

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