4/13/26

(Seattle, WA) Disappointing would be an understatement to describe the Seattle Mariners six-game road trip that saw them go 1-5 against AL West rivals in the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers. The offense was non-existent the entire trip and while the pitching was strong, the defense let them down a few times as well. To add to that, they would continue a very AL West heavy stretch with a return trip home for just four games with the Houston Astros.

Fortunately for the M’s, who returned home on a five-game losing streak, things were just as bad for the Astros as they lost two pitchers within a week of coming to Seattle as ace Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier both landed on the IL. The bullpen was also overworked as they came into the series on a four-game skid of their own after being swept by the Colorado Rockies. It felt like a golden opportunity for both teams to turn it around against struggling foes but it also set things up for whoever lost the series to just continue their early season free fall.

Mariners 9, Astros 6 (Game One, April 10th)

Game 1 would feature the most intriguing pitching matchup of the four-game series between the top two teams in the AL West last season. Seattle would get their first look at new Astro, Tatsuya Imai who joined Houston from the NPB in Japan in the offseason. On the mound for the Mariners would be Emerson Hancock, who has been terrific so far this season filling in for an injured Bryce Miller.

Emerson Hancock began the game with a 1-2-3 top of the 1st and Tatsuya Imai never got out of the starting gate. Imai walked J.P. Crawford and Cal Raleigh to start the game before an infield single by Julio Rodríguez loaded the bases with nobody out. A wild pitch would bring in the first run to give Seattle a 1-0 lead. Imai gifted the M’s another run by walking Josh Naylor and hitting Randy Arozarena. Imai finally recorded an out as Luke Raley grounded out but another run scored. A walk to Cole Young then ended the Houston starter’s day after just recording one out and putting a ton of stress on the bullpen. Steven Okert would somehow get out of it with a strikeout and a pop up but the damage was done with Seattle striking early, 3-0.

Houston would not just roll over however and made Hancock work in the 2nd. A single by Isaac Paredes was followed by a walk to Christian Walker. Carlos Correa loaded the bases with a single with still nobody out as Houston looked to fight back. Cam Smith pulled a rocket but a diving catch by Leo Rivas, who was filling in for a sick Brendan Donovan at third, took away a hit and a couple of runs. Emerson Hancock then struck out Joey Loperfido and was an out away from getting out of danger. Christian Vázquez would not allow it as he smoked a double into the left field corner. It cleared the bases and the lead was erased quickly with the game tied at 3-3.

After the one blip, Emerson Hancock settled in and faced the minimum in the next three innings, thanks in part to a strike him out, throw him out double play in the 5th. The next time he took the mound, Seattle would have the lead. Josh Naylor singled off of Ryan Weiss to put a man on to begin the home half of the 5th. Randy Arozarena watched four pitches and headed down to first, but the fourth pitch was ruled a strike which Arozarena did not agree with. After slapping his helmet a few times, Arozarena decided to really make Houston pay and he demolished the next pitch 426-feet into the upper deck above the bullpens in left for his first home run of the season. Arozarena took his time circling the bases to thunderous cheers as Seattle recaptured the lead, 5-3.

Seattle left the bases loaded in the 5th but great defense and strong bullpen work kept them ahead by two. In the bottom of the 7th, they would break the game wide open. Luke Raley reached via a hit by pitch before a Cole Young single to put two on for Dominic Canzone. The DH launched a bullet to the gap for his second double of the season, scoring Raley and making it 6-3. A wild pitch made it 7-3 as Leo Rivas walked with still nobody out. J.P. Crawford kept it rolling with a dunk shot into center to score Canzone and push the lead to 8-3. Cal Raleigh couldn’t get a hit but did bring home another run with a groundout. Seattle pushed across four runs against J.P. France to open up a 9-3 lead.

Houston kept the pressure on thanks to a three-run home run by Yordan Alvarez off of Cole Wilcox in the 8th to make it 9-6. Matt Brash finished the inning for Cole Wilcox, getting a double play to end the inning. Dan Wilson was forced to use Andrés Muñoz in the 9th. He quickly struck out Carlos Correa before Cam Smith flew out to deep left for a second out. Muñoz then lost control and walked Joey Loperfido and former Mariner Taylor Trammell to bring the tying run to the plate in Jeremy Peña. Fortunately, Muñoz got him to roll over on a slider to Leo Rivas at third and he would tag his base to end it. Seattle would have to sweat it out a bit, but the five-game losing streak for the Mariners was over as they took the opener from Houston, 9-6.

Notable Performances

Astros

Mariners

• Randy Arozarena- 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
• J.P. Crawford- 1-3, RBI, R, 2 BB
• Emerson Hancock (W, 2-1)- 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO

Mariners 8, Astros 7 (Game Two, April 11th)

This game would start fairly similar to the opener as Luis Castillo spun a 1-2-3 1st before the Mariners grabbed a quick lead in the home half of the inning. J.P. Crawford was once again at the top of the order with Brendan Donovan dealing with an illness and the longest tenured Mariner began the game with a walk. Cal Raleigh would then get the home crowd on their feet as he pulled a McCullers curveball out to right field for his second home run of the season and his first at T-Mobile Park. The two-run blast got the energy going as the Mariners took an early 2-0 lead.

The vibes didn’t stay high for long as Randy Arozarena hit a line drive that turned into a double play to end the inning. Houston would then start their hot hitting day at the plate in the 2nd on a single by Jose Altuve and a walk for Joey Loperfido. Cam Smith singled to load the bases with one out but a challenge by Cal Raleigh got Luis Castillo a strikeout of Yainer Diaz for out number two. It would be a familiar face hurting the M’s as Taylor Trammell drove a deep fly ball to left field that banged off the wall. All three runners would score on Trammell’s first double of the year as Houston grabbed a 3-2 lead.

Houston continued their hit parade in the 3rd and it started with a big blast. Yordan Alvarez homered for the second time in the series, sending his sixth of the season out to right center to leadoff the inning, making it 4-2. After retiring the next two, Castillo got in some two-out trouble as Carlos Correa singled and Joey Loperfido doubled to put men on second and third. Cam Smith clutched up with a single to center to drive in both of those runners to extend the Astros lead to 6-2.

Isaac Paredes added another run with an RBI single in the 4th, making it 7-2 and ending Luis Castillo’s night early. La Piedra was tagged for seven runs and allowed 10 hits with one walk and three strikeouts. It was a second consecutive short outing for the veteran after his spectacular season debut against the Yankees. However, Houston’s aggressive approach got to him but Casey Legumina would get a double play ball to end the inning and keep the deficit at 7-2.

Legumina got out of more trouble in the 5th and Seattle then began to chip away at their five-run deficit. A one-out single by Cole Young was followed by Dominic Canzone’s third double of the year to put two in scoring position in the 5th. After Leo Rivas walked to load the bases, J.P. Crawford singled back up the middle. Taylor Trammell couldn’t field it cleanly which allowed Young and Canzone to both score without a play at the plate to make it 7-4 with the tying run coming to the plate. Cal Raleigh couldn’t tie the game, but did drive in another run with a sacrifice fly to left off of new pitcher Steven Okert to make it 7-5. Julio Rodríguez then came to the plate and really fired the crowd back up. J-Rod got a slider at the bottom of the zone and smoked it out to center for his first home run of the season. The big names were getting it done for the Mariner lineup as they stormed back to tie the game at 7-7.

All of a sudden it was a battle of the bullpens and Seattle’s got in some trouble in the 7th. Eduard Bazardo took over for Jose A. Ferrer and allowed a leadoff double to Carlos Correa before Joey Loperfido reached on a single to right. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Bazardo settled in and got Cam Smith looking and got Yainer Diaz to pop out to J.P. Crawford on the infield. With two big outs keeping the runners where they were at, Bazardo clutched up one more time, painting a sinker on the outside corner at the top of the zone which was challenged by Taylor Trammell. The call would stand as Bazardo got Houston to burn both of their challenges in the inning while keeping the game tied.

Matt Brash and Andres Muñoz both allowed doubles in the 8th and 9th innings but neither allowed a run to score as the Seattle closer got Yordan Alvarez to fly out to left with the bases loaded to keep the game even heading into the bottom of the 9th. Outside of the 5th inning, Seattle could do nothing against the Astros bullpen but in the bottom of the 9th, they would bring in struggling closer Bryan Abreu who had allowed a run in every game he pitched so far in the season. After striking out Luke Raley, Abreu lost feel and walked the next three batters in Cole Young, Brendan Donovan, and Leo Rivas to load the bases for J.P. Crawford. A walk-off master himself, Crawford fell behind 0-2 but their was no panic from the Mariners captain. Crawford shortened up his swing and slapped a fastball past the drawn in infield and into left field to walk it off for the Mariners. He was swarmed at first base as Seattle had overcome a 7-2 deficit to walk off the Astros 8-7 and take the first two games of the series.

Notable Performances

Astros

Mariners

• J.P. Crawford- 2-3, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
• Julio Rodríguez- 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Luis Castillo (ND)- 3.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

Mariners 6, Astros 1 (Game Three, April 12th)

Seattle Mariner fans were already ecstatic after taking the first two games of their four-game series with the Houston Astros as they still had two of their top three pitchers starting in the final two games. Logan Gilbert would try to keep momentum rolling for Seattle on Sunday afternoon as he took the mound. With Hunter Brown out, Houston had to go with Cody Bolton for the finale as he would be making just his second career start with both coming this season.

A leadoff single by Jose Altuve resulted in one of the best highlights in baseball of the week. Josh Naylor bluffed a pick off move from Gilbert which had Altuve head back and as he extended his lead back out, Cal Raleigh flipped his glove, signaling Gilbert to spin and throw as they had Altuve dead to rights. You can see the video below as it helped set the tone for Sunday.

Logan Gilbert, holding runners.

And Josh Naylor with the deke.

That leaves Jose Altuve just standing there for the easy pickoff. pic.twitter.com/nAUgdJQAwO

— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) April 12, 2026

For the third game in a row Seattle would grab the first run of the game in their first trip to the plate. Brendan Donovan returned to the starting lineup and was hit by Cody Bolton to begin the inning. Bolton would retire Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez but couldn’t finish off the inning as Josh Naylor worked a walk to put two on. Randy Arozarena has been one of Seattle’s best hitters to start the year and continued that trend with a two-out base hit to center, driving in Donovan and grabbing the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

Gilbert came out and sat the Astros down in order in the 2nd and Houston got more bad news in the bottom half. Cody Bolton walked J.P. Crawford, Dominic Canzone, and Cole Young to load the bases with nobody out. After he got ahead of Brendan Donovan, Bolton was pulled from the game with back tightness as Houston had to go to their bullpen very early again. Jayden Murray would finish off a strikeout of Brendan Donovan and got Cal Raleigh swinging as well as he looked like he would escape the jam. Julio Rodríguez would change that as he drew a walk to score a run and make it 2-0. That is all the M’s could muster as they left them loaded after being gifted a golden opportunity.

Seattle’s defense helped out Gilbert in the 3rd thanks to a diving play by Donovan at third and the lineup put pressure on Houston for a third consecutive inning. Randy Arozarena singled and Luke Raley hit his third double to put two on right out of the gate. J.P. Crawford drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out for the second straight inning. After Dominic Canzone flew out, another bases loaded walk brought in a free run as Cole Young recorded an RBI. Brendan Donovan added on with a sacrifice fly to right as Seattle put up a crooked number to make it 4-0.

After a scoreless 4th for both teams, Houston finally drew blood in the 5th off of Logan Gilbert. With the bases empty and two down, Gilbert looked poised for another quick and easy inning, but Yainer Diaz had other plans. The Houston catcher jumped on a fastball at the top of the zone and pulled it into the bullpen in left for his first home run of the year. It was just a solo shot but Houston was on the board, trailing 4-1.

A double play killed Houston’s threat in the 6th and Seattle responded by adding on some insurance. A single by J-Rod was followed by Josh Naylor being hit by a pitch. Randy Arozarena would single to right, but a great throw from Cam Smith to the plate cut down Julio for a second out, preventing a run from scoring. Luke Raley would then come through for Seattle with a triple to right, allowing Naylor and Arozarena to score to push the lead up to 6-1 and getting the insurance after all.

Logan Gilbert was terrific in his first Sunday start of the season as he breezed through seven innings for his second quality start in a row. Gilbert threw a total of 85 pitches and 56 were strikes in his seven innings of work and allowed just one run on four hits with a single walk and seven strikeouts. It was his best start of the year and continued to get him going in the right direction after a nice start in Texas his last time out.

Seattle missed out on a chance to add on in the 8th but would avoid using their closer as Cooper Criswell came on for the 9th looking to give Seattle their first series win 0f 2026. A single by Jose Altuve wasn’t how Criswell wanted things to start but he then caught a break. Yordan Alvarez hit a bullet right at Josh Naylor at first which turned into an easy unassisted double play. That killed Houston right there as Criswell got Isaac Paredes to go down swinging to put a bow on this one. For the first time this season, Seattle had earned a series win and set themselves up for a sweep opportunity as they took game three, 6-1.

Notable Performances

Astros

Mariners

• Logan Gilbert (W, 1-2)- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
• Luke Raley- 3-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, R
• Randy Arozarena- 3-4, RBI, 2 R, BB, SB

Mariners 6, Astros 2 (Game Four, April 13th)

It is not too often that a series in baseball wraps around Sunday and ends on Monday. That was exactly what this series was as Houston and Seattle concluded the four-game set on Monday afternoon with the Mariners looking to sweep the Astros and hand them their eighth loss in a row. George Kirby would be the man for the job for Seattle as he looked to continue his dominance of the AL West foe. Houston would just want their starter to eat some innings as Mike Burrows took the mound for the finale.

Just as they did in the first three games of the series, Seattle struck first in the 1st to take an early lead. Cal Raleigh singled and Julio Rodríguez doubled to put runners on second and third with one out for Josh Naylor. As the other bats in the lineup begin to wake up, so to would Josh Naylor’s as he broke out of his long skid with his first extra base hit of the season and it was a big one. Naylor launched home run number one of 2026 out to right field for a three-run shot. The weight lifted off of the first baseman’s shoulders as he finally got to hold the trident with Seattle leading 3-0.

George Kirby coasted thru the first three innings and Seattle would give him a little bit more breathing room in the bottom of the 3rd. A miscommunication at first base turned Cal Raleigh’s soft grounder into an infield single but he stayed at first after J-Rod popped out to second. Josh Naylor came to the plate again and was ready for Burrows first pitch fastball. Naylor crushed the heater way out to center for his second home run in as many pitches. If the first one didn’t ease his frustration, the second definitely did as Seattle had a 5-0 lead thanks to Naylor.

Houston would finally get to Kirby in the 5th as they fought back into the game. Back-to-back singles by Cam Smith and Taylor Trammell put two on with nobody out for Yainer Diaz. He drove in the only run for the Astros on Sunday and drove in the first run on Monday with a single to center, scoring the speedy Smith to make it 5-1. Seattle would trade a run for two outs as Nick Allen hit into a 4-6-3 double play to quiet the threat but Houston was back in it trailing 5-2.

It took no time for the Mariners to get one of those runs back. In the bottom of the 5th, J-Rod singled and moved up to second on a groundout by Randy Arozarena. With two outs, Luke Raley came to the plate and his sneaky great start to the season continued. The lefty pulled a grounder through the hole into right field for a base hit. J-Rod would not be thrown out by Smith this time as he scored from second to make it 6-2 Mariners.

Outside of the 5th inning, George Kirby was lights out on Monday afternoon. With his third quality start in his first four outings, Kirby looks like he is back to the dominant form he had in 2024 and is pitching like a Cy Young contender. For the second consecutive outing, Kirby would make it into the 8th but after talking Dan Wilson into letting him pitch to Yordan Alvarez, walked the slugger and ended his day. Kirby would go 7 2/3 innings of two run ball with seven hits allowed, just one walk and six strikeouts. Matt Brash got out of the inning as Kirby built off of Logan Gilbert’s start as the rotation heats up.

Dan Wilson would try to get Andres Muñoz another night off and went with Cole Wilcox for the 9th. A walk to Christian Walked got Muñoz up and moving but Wilcox bounced back by getting Carlos Correa to fly out to Raley in right for the first out. The next fly ball would not be as easy for Raley as Cam Smith drove one to deep right, but Raley made a leaping grab on what could have been a homer for the second out. Taylor Trammell would not stress the Mariners too much as he rolled a grounder out to Naylor at first and a flip to Wilcox would put this one away. A four-game sweep was complete as the Mariners changed the narrative quickly with a 6-2 win over Houston in the finale.

Notable Performances

Astros

Mariners

• Josh Naylor- 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R
• George Kirby (W, 2-2)- 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
• Luke Raley- 3-4, RBI, Robbed Home Run

Roster Moves

• OF Rob Refsnyder placed on Paternity List
• Mariners select contract of 1B Patrick Wisdom from Triple A Tacoma
• RHP Blas Castaño designated for assignment

What’s Next

Everyone would have been happy with a series win, but Seattle’s (8-9) sweep of the always dangerous Houston Astros really changed the energy around T-Mobile Park. The M’s are still just in fourth in the AL West but sit 1 1/2 games begin Texas for the lead with the A’s in second at just a game back and the Angels with an identical record as the Mariners. Texas avoided the sweep against the Dodgers but dropped two out of three while the Athletics swept the Mets on the road in Queens. Los Angeles scored 22 runs in three games in a series win in Cincinnati as well over the weekend.

The schedule only gets tougher for the Mariners this week as they hit the road for a quick three-game series before returning home. It will be a short break from AL West play as well as the M’s will begin the 2026 Vedder Cup with a trip down to play the San Diego Padres. Owners of the second-best record in baseball at 10-6, San Diego struggled out of the gates, going 2-5 to begin the season. They have turned things around with a great balance of offense and pitching to become just an all-around great team. While they are always overlooked because of the Dodgers, San Diego is always a thorn to the back-to-back champs and will be looking to take that next step, as are the Mariners, from out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

This will be the second official Vedder Cup with the M’s taking home the trophy designed by the Pearl Jam frontman himself last season, taking the series 5-1. Seattle has actually dominated the head-to-head against San Diego in the last four seasons, going 14-4 against their NL rival. Seattle leads the all-time series with the Padres 73-64 dating back to the first meeting in 1997.

Seattle will see a familiar face in former Mariner Ty France in the series, but there is no overlooking the complete dominance of closer Mason Miller in 2026 for the Padres. So far this season, Miller has faced 24 batters. He has struck out 19 of those hitters. Only two have reached base, one via a hit (Luis Arraez) and one via a walk. That means only four batters have even put the ball in play against the flamethrower. With a fastball that stays in the triple digits and a wipeout slider, Miller has established himself as without a doubt the best closer in the game. The good news for the M’s is that they could just avoid him all week by having the lead late. Seattle has gotten to Miller before via walks as hit eight walks against the M’s are the most he has allowed against any team in his career.

• Game 1, Tuesday 6:40pm- Bryan Woo (0-1, 1.50 ERA) vs. Michael King (1-1, 3.24 ERA)
• Game 2, Wednesday 6:40pm- Emerson Hancock (2-1, 2.04 ERA) vs. Randy Vasquez (1-0, 1.02 ERA)
• Game 3, Thursday 5:40pm- Luis Castillo (0-0, 6.92 ERA) vs. Walker Buehler (0-1, 4.97 ERA)

Mariners Minor League Update

This will be a new segment each week to update what is going on in the Seattle minor league system. We will continuously give scores for each team but will also highlight some of the key players that have had strong series. The Double A and Single A seasons both got going so we will have updates on all the teams below.

Tacoma Rainiers (Lost Series @ Sugar Land Space Cowboys, W 1-0, W 3-1, L 3-2, L 5-2, L 3-2, L 2-1)

Hitter of the Series

Colt Emerson, SS- 6-23, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SB

Pitcher of the Series

Gabe Mosser, RHP- 13 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO

Arkansas Travelers (Split Series vs. Wichita Wind Surge, W 4-2, L 2-1, W 5-2, W 5-0, L 12-5, L 5-3)

Hitter of the Series

Michael Arroyo, 2B- 6-24, 2 2B, HR, 6 RBI, R, 3 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Kade Anderson, SP- 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO, Win

Everett AquaSox (Won Series vs. Tri City Dust Devils, L 17-2, W 4-2, W 8-4, W 14-5, W 3-1, L 5-2)

Hitter of the Series

Carlos Jimenez, CF- 5-20, 2B, 2 3B, 4 RBI, 4 R, 4 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Brock Moore, RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 2 Saves

Inland Empire 66ers (Lost Series vs. Ontario Tower Buzzers, L 4-1, W 11-10, L 8-3, W 6-5, L 2-0, (Final Game Rained Out)

Hitter of the Series

Aiden Taurek, OF- 5-19, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB

Pitcher of the Series

Mason Peters, LHP- 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

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