4/5/26

(Anaheim, CA) After opening up their season in the friendly confines of T-Mobile Park, the Seattle Mariners hit the road for the first time this season and started a stretch of 16 out of their next 19 games against AL West foes. A six-game road trip began in southern California with the M’s visiting the Los Angeles Angels for their first division and road series of the season.

The Halos got off to a nice start in 2026, winning the first two games of the season in Houston before dropping four of the next five after that to conclude their season opening road trip. Los Angeles would begin their home slate with all of the Opening Day festivities on Friday but the key thing for both teams entering the series is that one would get their first series win of the season. Seattle split their four-game set with Cleveland before dropping two out of three to the New York Yankees while the Angels split four with the Houston Astros before dropping two out of three against the Chicago Cubs. Both teams coming into the series with identical 3-4 records put a little more added weight on this one as they would both look to make a statement in the AL West.

Last season, Seattle dominated the Los Angeles Angels in the season series as the M’s went 9-4 against the Halos on their way to the AL West crown. However, this Angels team looks quite a bit different, especially lineup wise with health being a non-issue to start the year. Pitching is still a question mark for them which gives the Mariners an obvious advantage entering the weekend.

Mariners 3, Angels 1 (10 Innings) (Game One, April 3rd)

Los Angeles held their Opening Day festivities as they took the field at Angel Stadium for the first time in 2026. Seattle hoped to spoil the festivities with Bryan Woo on the mound for his second start of the season. opposite of him would be Reid Detmers, who entered Friday with a ton of struggles in the big leagues, spending time in both the rotation and bullpen throughout his young career.

Neither pitcher really struggled in their entire outings. Bryan Woo allowed just three total baserunners with one hit, one walk, and one hit batter but they were spread out around three different innings. Reid Detmers did have some troubles with walks which allowed the M’s to have a couple of opportunities, but they couldn’t cash in on any of them as Randy Arozarena really struggled hitting with runners on in this one.

The bullpens also dominated in this one as Chase Silseth, Drew Pomeranz, and Jordan Romano kept the game scoreless in their 2 1/3 innings of relief. Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz retired all six batters they faced with five strikeouts as the Angels struggled to even get anyone on base. With such a lack of offense this game headed to extra innings still scoreless.

Seattle’s automatic runner in the 10th was Luke Raley and he didn’t have to use too much energy to score the game’s first run. That was because of Cole Young as he tripled to right to leadoff the inning and give the M’s a 1-0 lead. Brent Suter then retired Rob Refsnyder and Cal Raleigh without allowing Young to score to keep it 1-0. After intentionally walking Julio Rodríguez, Suter would try to take advantage of a left on left matchup with Josh Naylor, but the Mariners first baseman won this battle. After J-Rod stole second, Naylor sent a line drive over the glove of Oswald Peraza at second. Young and Julio scored to give Seattle some breathing room with a 3-0 lead.

Gabe Speier didn’t have to worry about the automatic runner for the Angels in Mike Trout for the bottom of the 10th as that run didn’t really matter. Small ball would get the Halos on the board as Nolan Schanuel grounded out to second while Jorge Soler drove in Trout with a sacrifice fly to Raley in right. With two outs though, Seattle was ok with the trade and Speier then finished the game off as he struck out Yoán Moncada looking for the final out. Extra innings were needed but Seattle still came out with the win despite the offensive struggles, 3-1.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Angels

• Reid Detmers (ND)- 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO
• Oswald Peraza- 1-3
• Jorge Soler- 0-3, RBI

Angels 1, Mariners 0 (Game Two, April 4th)

With not much offense to speak of in the opener, both Emerson Hancock and Jack Kochanowicz would hope for more of the same as the starting pitchers for game two. Seattle needed to win just one of the final two games to take the series but the Angels were not looking to drop their first home series of the year.

Seattle was seeing the ball out of the hand of Jack Kochanowicz pretty well in the top of the 1st. Cal Raleigh sent a blast out to right field that looked to be his long awaited first home run of the year. Jo Adell had something to say about that as he robbed Raleigh of the home run and turned it into out number two. Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor both singled after that, but Randy Arozarena took a called third strike to keep the M’s off the board.

Emerson Hancock looked to extend his hitless streak to start 2026 but it ended rather quickly in his second start. A 2-1 fastball to the Angels leadoff man in Zach Neto caught the middle of the plate and Neto did not miss it. The dangerous leadoff man sent his third home run of the season already out to left field and gave the Angels an immediate 1-0 lead.

Both Kochanowicz and Hancock settled in after that as the bats were quieted down. Seattle missed out on another scoring opportunity in the 3rd as they left runners stranded on the corners. They also squandered J.P. Crawford’s first hit of the season in the 4th as he was stranded at second after a ground-rule double. The Angels defense took away quite a few hits from Seattle as well as they seemed locked in defensively to make this another pitchers duel.

Seattle finally chased Kochanowicz in the 6th but the Angels bullpen got out of jams to keep Seattle scoreless. Sam Bachman was on for the 8th and it looked like Josh Naylor got him with a deep drive to right, but once again Jo Adell brought it back for his second robbed home run of the game to keep it 1-0 into the 9th. It was Jordan Romano’s turn then and it looked like he blew the save immediately as J.P. Crawford drove a fly ball deep down the line in right. Once more, Adell was not having it. The Angels right fielder made a leaping grab and fell into the seats for his third robbed home run of the game to put a cap on one of the best single game defensive performances we have ever seen. Cole Young and Leo Rivas were the final two outs as it was just the Angels day as they evened up the series, 1-0.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Angels

• Jo Adell- 1-3, 3 Robbed Home Runs
• Jack Kochanowicz (W, 1-0)- 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
• Zach Neto- 2-4, HR, RBI, R

Angels 8, Mariners 7 (11 Innings) (Game Three, April 5th)

With the series even at one a piece, the finale would determine whether it was the Mariners or Angels earning their first series win of the season on Sunday afternoon. While Seattle would send a veteran to the hill in Luis Castillo, a sick pitcher forced the Angels to call up George Klassen to make his MLB debut on short notice with the pressure of a series win on the line.

Seattle couldn’t cash in on a leadoff double by Luke Raley but the Angels were able to in the home half of the 1st. Zach Neto doubled to begin the inning before he moved up to third on a lineout by Mike Trout to center. Nolan Schanuel couldn’t bring him home as a flyout to left was to shallow, but Jorge Soler got the job done with a two-out, RBI single to left to give the Angels a 1-0 lead.

Seattle would then grab their first lead of the day in the 2nd. The bases were loaded on three walks by George Klassen with Leo Rivas stepping up to the plate with just one out. The utility infielder sent a base hit to center field and the speed of Randy Arozarena and Cole Young made it a two-run single to put Seattle in front 2-1.

The bases were left loaded in the 2nd and a great catch by Mike Trout against the wall prevented the M’s from adding on in the 3rd. Luis Castillo did not have his best stuff on Sunday and he really fell apart in the 3rd. A double from Mike Trout put the tying run in scoring position and two batters later, Jorge Soler drove in his second run of the game with an RBI single to right to tie it at 2-2. Things got even worse in the 4th as Leo Rivas made an error to bring in a run that reached on a hit by pitch earlier in the inning. Jose A. Ferrer took over after a short outing by Castillo but couldn’t completely escape the jam as Nolan Schanuel brought home one more with an RBI single to make it 4-2 Angels.

A hit batter would then help the Mariners as Randy Arozarena reached with two outs in the 5th. Brent Suter took over for an injured Ryan Zeferjahn on the mound and walked J.P. Crawford to put two on with two outs for Cole Young. The most consistent hitter so far in 2026 for the M’s came through again in a big way. Young drove a slider at the bottom of the zone out to right field and Jo Adell had no play on this one as it got out for Young’s second home run of the season. The three-run blast changed the tone of the game again as Seattle took a 5-4 lead.

It took just two batters into the bottom of the 5th for that lead to disappear. A double by Jeimer Candelario and an RBI single by Jo Adell evened the score back up in a battle of the bullpens. A bunt and a groundout moved Adell to third with two outs and another clutch base hit for the Angels came off the bat of former Mariner Adam Frazier to break the tie and put the Halos ahead 6-5.

That remained the score into the 9th with Sam Bachman pitching for the second straight day with Jordan Romano getting a day off for Los Angeles. Down to their final out with nobody on base, the M’s saw their stars finally come through and spark a rally. Cal Raleigh doubled to left to put the tying run in scoring position for J-Rod. Julio came through with another two-out RBI single with a base hit to left to score Raleigh and tie the game back up. Andrés Muñoz cruised through the 9th and we headed to extra innings tied at 6-6.

Seattle cashed in with Julio as the automatic runner on an RBI single by Randy Arozarena to make it 7-6 in the 10th. Matt Brash couldn’t avoid the Angels small ball method as a sacrifice bunt by Bryce Teodosio and a sacrifice fly by Logan O’Hoppe brought home Jo Adell to make it 7-7 and get the game to the 11th. A couple of infield pop-ups and a bases loaded Cal Raleigh strikeout kept the M’s off the board in their half of the inning. Gabe Speier pitched the bottom of the 11th and intentionally walked Zach Neto to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Oswald Peraza laid down a sacrifice bunt to put the winning run on third with one out. Nolan Schanuel would get the job done for the Angels with a fly ball to Randy Arozarena in left. Arozarena’s throw was off line which allowed Frazier to score to walk it off for the Angels. Missed opportunities was the story of the series for Seattle as they dropped the rubber game 7-6 in 11 innings.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Angels

• Adam Frazier- 3-4, 2B, RBI, R
• Jorge Soler- 2-4, 2 RBI, BB
• George Klassen (ND)- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

Things are not off to a great start for the Seattle Mariners (4-6) as they have yet to win a series this season and have now dropped a series to a division rival in the Los Angeles Angels. While still very early in the season, the Mariners are in fourth in the AL West after the Athletics took two out of three with Houston and Texas was swept by Cincinnati in their first home series of the year. Houston leads the division by a game over the Angels, 1 1/2 ahead of Texas, two ahead of Seattle, and 2 1/2 ahead of the A’s.

Seattle will continue their AL West heavy stretch with a three-game series in Arlington with the Texas Rangers. Texas enters the series on a four-game losing streak after winning four of their first five games against Philadelphia and Baltimore who are both playoff contenders this season. Texas made some changes in the offseason to try to fix their hitting woes after missing the playoffs despite having the best rotation ERA wise in baseball last season. Marcus Semien is gone but they did add MacKenzie Gore to their staff to make that pitching even better in 2026 as they look to get to the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 2023.

This players spotlight will be a little bit different as we will look at the three new faces for the Rangers. At the plate, Brandon Nimmo and Andrew McCutchen have been better than Rangers fans could have hoped for as the two veterans are off to tremendous starts. Nimmo is batting .389 to start the season with an OPS of 1.019 while McCutchen has a 1.036 OPS and .647 slugging percentage. Nimmo is seeing playing time every day and McCutchen is starting to force his way into the lineup as well. Add in MacKenzie Gore to a stacked rotation also helped as he has struck out 16 batters in just 11 1/3 innings. A couple of home runs allowed make his numbers look a bit worse but he dominated Seattle last season with the Nationals and the Mariners have already shown to be weak against lefties in 2026.

• Game 1, Monday 5:05pm- Logan Gilbert (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Jacob deGrom (0-0, 5.79 ERA)
• Game 2, Tuesday 5:05pm- George Kirby (1-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (0-2, 11.42 ERA)
• Game 3, Wednesday 11:35am-Bryan Woo (0-0, 1.38 ERA) vs. MacKenzie Gore (1-0, 3.97 ERA)

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