4/19/26

(Seattle, WA) An up-and-down (mostly down) first month of the season has put the hype surrounding the 2026 Seattle Mariners on hold in the Pacific Northwest. Without much offense to speak of and superstars like Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez off to slow starts, fans and the team were in search of answers and improvement. While the pitching has been pretty strong, the beginning month of the season felt more like 2024 than 2025.

Seattle would continue their AL West heavy opening month with a second series already with the Texas Rangers, this one taking place at T-Mobile Park. After being swept in Arlington by the AL West leading Rangers, the Mariners would get the exact same pitching matchups this weekend with a chance to cut into their still small AL West deficit with the American League as a whole off to a mediocre start.

Rangers 5, Mariners 0 (Game One, April 17th)

Taking the ball in the opener and trying to get the Seattle Mariners off to a strong start on the homestand would be Logan Gilbert against a dangerous Texas Rangers lineup. The future Hall of Famer Jacob deGrom would get the ball for the Rangers in the opener after having a strong but short start against the Mariners just the week prior.

Things didn’t get off to a good start for Gilbert and the Mariners as the homestand got off to about as bad of a start as possible. Gilbert fell behind Brandon Nimmo 2-0 to begin the game before serving a fastball in the middle of the plate. The veteran Nimmo was not going to let him get away with that and deposited the third pitch of the game into the right field seats for his fourth long ball of the year. Just like that Seattle was behind 1-0 before fans even got to their seats.

Gilbert settled in and struck out a couple of Rangers to strand two in the 1st and Seattle would come out and get deGrom on the ropes early. Cal Raleigh walked with one out and Julio Rodríguez followed with a double to right field for his third double of the season. Runners were on second and third with just one out. Josh Naylor worked a great AB with a 3-2 count and fouled off three pitches to get to the 10th pitch of the AB and drew a walk to load the bases. deGrom would then take advantage of the Mariners swing and miss issues by getting Randy Arozarena and Luke Raley swinging to somehow escape a very tight jam. It turned into just a massive missed opportunity for the Mariners as they let deGrom off the hook after a bases loaded jam with one out.

Logan Gilbert had a better 2nd inning while Seattle continued to make deGrom work with nothing to show for it. In the 3rd, Texas got to Gilbert yet again. Corey Seager began the inning with a double to right for his second double of the season. Wyatt Langford took advantage of 1 -2 changeup staying at the knees and pulled it into left for a base hit. Seager would come home and score and a quick one-two punch extended the Rangers lead to 2-0. Texas would load the bases in the inning but Josh Jung hit a grounder to third for a 5-4-3 double play to help Seattle minimize the damage.

Seattle would make deGrom work so much that he was done after four innings in which he threw 88 pitches. The Texas bullpen has been dominant this season so it wasn’t too nice of a prize for the Mariners. They couldn’t do anything against the debuting Gavin Collyer in his two innings in large part due to Josh Naylor being thrown out at the plate by Wyatt Langford to end the 6th.

Eduard Bazardo escaped a jam in the 6th to keep it 2-0 before giving way to Jose A. Ferrer in the 7th. He would quickly strikeout Brandon Nimmo before Texas landed some big punches. Corey Seager doubled again before a Wyatt Langford single put runners on the corners with just one out. A double play ball would have been great, but Jake Burger instead sent a liner back up the middle to bring home Seager and make it 3-0.

Jalen Beeks and Cole Wynn each walked a batter in the 7th and 8th but Seattle still couldn’t string anything together. Texas added two in the 9th on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen and an RBI double for Josh Jung to make it 5-0 with the M’s down to their final three outs. Jacob Latz came on for the final three outs and wasted no time, retiring Crawford, Garver, and Young in order on 11 pitches to finish the opener. Seattle’s offense was lifeless again as they dropped game one to Texas, 5-0.

Notable Performances

Rangers

Mariners

• Josh Naylor- 2-2, 2 BB
• Julio Rodríguez- 1-4, 2B
• Logan Gilbert (L, 1-3)- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Mariners 7, Rangers 3 (Game Two, April 18th)

Game two would be on National TV as FOX showcased the AL West showdown. George Kirby would be looking to get some payback on the Rangers after suffering his first career defeat against the AL West foe. Nathan Eovaldi would counter him as the veteran tried to move the Rangers to 5-0 against the reigning AL West champs.

It was a clean start for Kirby and Seattle once again put some pressure on Texas in the 1st. J.P. Crawford hit a leadoff double into the right field corner for his second of the season. Cal Raleigh put together a fantastic AB and while he was retired, his grounder moved J.P. to third with one out. Julio Rodríguez was in swing mode early and fought an inside fastball into right field for a base hit. Crawford scored easily since he was on third and the M’s cashed in early for a 1-0 lead.

George Kirby struck out Kyle Higashioka to strand two in the 2nd. He got in even bigger trouble in the 4th as Texas threatened to erase the Seattle lead. After retiring Jake Burger to start the frame, Kirby allowed back-to-back singles to Joc Pederson and Josh Jung to put runners on first and second. Evan Carter worked a nine-pitch walk to load the bases for Ezequiel Durán. Kirby would get Durán to fly out to shallow center which kept the runners where they were at. Once again, Kirby got Higashioka, this time via a fly out to center to escape the inning. He was a master escape artist on Saturday as he protected a 1-0 lead.

The bats rewarded George Kirby for escaping the trouble. In the bottom of the 4th, Randy Arozarena singled with one out to put some traffic on the base paths. Luke Raley seemed to erase that with a grounder to second where Ezequiel Durán was there to glove it. His throw to second was way off line and the ball got into left field to allow Arozarena to move up to third and Raley to second. Dominic Canzone beat the drawn in infield with a bullet back up the middle to score both runners and extend the Seattle lead to 3-0 thanks to the error.

Kirby was managing to strand every single baserunner to keep the shutout alive into the 6th. It would end there but not because a string of hits. Instead, it was Josh Jung sending a solo shot to center for his second home run of the season to make it 3-1. A single by Durán would end Kirby’s day after 5 2/3 but he only allowed the one run as Matt Brash got Higashioka to ground out to end the inning. While it doesn’t go down statistically as a quality start, it was still a nice outing for Kirby managing to just allow the single run on seven hits while walking two and striking out five. He gave the M’s a chance to win which is all a team can ask for from a starter.

It took almost no time at all for the Mariners to get the Josh Jung home run back. Leading off the bottom of the 6th, Luke Raley sent a very high fly ball out to right field and it carried out for his fifth home run of the year. A single by Dominic Canzone chased Nathan Eovaldi after 5+ innings before Cal Quantrill took over. The blast from Raley killed any momentum that Texas got from the Jung homer as the game went to the 7th with Seattle leading 4-1.

Gabe Speier walked a couple and Eduard Bazardo walked one to load the bases in the 7th before Bazardo got Josh Jung to fly out to end the inning. Seattle got some insurance in the 8th as they finally wore down Quantrill. A walk to Luke Raley was followed by Dominic Canzone’s fifth double of the season to put runners on second and third. Cole Young brought them both home with a two-run single to make it 6-1. He stole second and moved to third on an bad throw by Kyle Higashioka. Leo Rivas brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 7-1.

Cole Wilcox came in for the 9th as Dan Wilson tried to save his closer but things fell apart. The bases were loaded with one out when Evan Carter hit a sacrifice fly to Cole Young in foul territory in right field, bringing home a run but putting the M’s one out away from the win. Ezequiel Durán kept the game alive with a double to make it 7-3 and put two on with two away. A walk to Kyle Higashioka loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate in Brandon Nimmo. Dan Wilson was forced to bring in struggling closer Andrés Muñoz and the good thing was he just needed one out. He got back on track with a strikeout of Nimmo to slam the door on this one. For the first time this season, the Mariners had defeated the Rangers, evening up the series with a 7-3 win.

Notable Performances

Rangers

Mariners

• Dominic Canzone- 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R
• Luke Raley- 1-3, HR, RBI, 3 R, BB
• George Kirby (W, 3-2)- 5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO

Mariners 5, Rangers 2 (Game Three, April 19th)

Sunday brought a chance to win a series for both the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers as the teams battled in the rubber-game of the three-game series. It would be another tremendous pitching matchup as Bryan Woo would look for his first win of the season against talented young lefty MacKenzie Gore.

Bryan Woo gave up a single on the first pitch of the game to Brandom Nimmo but got a double play ball of the bat of Wyatt Langford to face the minimum. The first pitch from MacKenzie Gore would be even worse than Woo’s first pitch. Gore faced Rob Refsnyder who was in search of his first hit as a Mariner and he found it. He caught up to a fastball at the top of the zone and crushed it out to left for a solo shot. His first Mariner hit was a long ball and put the Mariners up 1-0.

Woo sat the Rangers down in order as well in the top of the 2nd. Mitch Garver worked for a walk to begin the bottom of the 2nd before Gore got Connor Joe looking for the first out. In stepped J.P. Crawford who despite being on the wrong side of a lefty-lefty matchup, had nice stats against Gore. He would improve the stats as he blasted a curve that hung at the bottom of the zone just over the wall in right for a two-run shot and his first home run of the year. After getting shutout by Gore the last time they faced him, Seattle got three early against the southpaw to take a 3-0 lead.

Texas continued to have no offense to speak of against Bryan Woo as he faced the minimum through five innings with the only hit coming on his first pitch. MacKenzie Gore settled in a bit and was in a nice place into the 5th. He retired Refsnyder and Raleigh before Julio Rodríguez singled to left to extend the inning for Randy Arozarena. Cal had pulled a home run just foul earlier in the inning but Randy would be able to keep his fair. A line drive down the left field line hit the foul pole for a two-run blast and his second of the year. A third home run off of Gore had the M’s rolling, leading 5-0.

15 straight Rangers were retired before Josh Smith singled in the 6th. While he was left stranded, Texas would finally get Woo in the 7th. A walk to Corey Seager and single by Wyatt Langford put the first two on before Woo struck out Jake Burger. He hit Joc Pederson to load the bases for Josh Jung who brought a run in with a sacrifice fly. Texas got another run on a double by Evan Carter before Woo got Josh Smith to groundout to end the inning. Woo wasn’t happy but he had a terrific performance with seven innings of two run ball with four hits and one run with six strikeouts. The ace of the staff had another performance to make himself a Cy Young contender as he left in line for his first win of the season.

Gabe Speier stranded a double in the 8th and passed the baton to Andrés Muñoz for the 9th with Seattle leading 5-2. Despite striking out Jake Burger, a wild pitch allowed Burger to reach to put a man on. Muñoz bounced back with strikeouts of Joc Pederson and Josh Jung to record three strikeouts but still needed one more out. A grounder by Evan Carter would be handled by Connor Joe at first to put this one away. Seattle had completed a second series win on the season as they took the rubber game finale from the Texas Rangers, 5-2.

Notable Performances

Rangers

Mariners

• Bryan Woo (W, 1-2)- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
• Randy Arozarena- 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R
• J.P. Crawford- 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB

Roster Moves

• 1B Patrick Wisdom placed on 15-day IL (Left oblique strain)
• Mariners activate OF Rob Refsnyder from Paternity List
• INF Brendan Donovan placed on 10-day IL (Left groin strain)
• Mariners select contract of 3B Will Wilson from Triple-A Tacoma
• UTI Miles Mastrobuoni transferred to 60-day IL (Right calf strain)

What’s Next

A strong end to the weekend for the Seattle Mariners (10-13) give them a little momentum back after suffering a four-game losing streak to follow up their four-game sweep of Houston. Now the M’s are 1 1/2 games back of the Rangers and Athletics while the Angels are just half of a game back and Houston at 3 1/2 back. Houston was swept by St. Louis over the weekend and now go to Cleveland for three while the Angels dropped two of three to San Diego and now host Toronto for three games. Texas returns home for three with the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates.

The other two AL West teams will square off in Seattle for three games as the Mariners and the Athletics meet for the first time this season. The A’s (11-11) are off to a nice start led by their offense which has a ton of youth and depth. Even without Brent Rooker who is on the IL with an oblique injury, the bats have stayed hot and done enough to keep the A’s in the mix in the early part of the season. They just dropped a series at home to the Chicago White Sox, so we can expect the A’s to come to Seattle with extra motivation to get back on track after their five-game winning streak was snapped early last week.

Seattle’s star catcher is off to a slow start but one of the very best catchers in 2026 will be wearing green and gold this week. Shea Langeliers has been an underrated catcher for a few years because of guys like Cal Raleigh, Will Smith, and Alejandro Kirk. Anyone that has paid attention will recognize the danger and talent that Langeliers possesses. No catcher has more home runs that the A’s backstop (6) and he is tied for fourth in runs batted in with 12. His .310 average is eye popping because he is very much an all or nothing kind of hitter but this season he is taking his singles as well. The lineup looks different without Rooker, but Langeliers always has a man in scoring position when he is at the plate. Keeping him to just solo home run opportunities would greatly benefit Seattle.

• Game 1, Monday 6:40pm- J.T. Ginn (0-0, 3.31 ERA) vs. Emerson Hancock (2-1, 2.28 ERA)
• Game 2, Tuesday 6:40pm- Jacob Lopez (1-1, 6.38 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (0-1, 5.40 ERA)
• Game 3, Wednesday 1:10pm-Aaron Civale (2-1, 3.54 ERA) vs. Logan Gilbert (1-3, 4.03 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.

Tacoma Rainiers (Won Series vs. Sacramento River Cats, L 7-6, W 3-1, W 8-1, W 7-6, W 6-4, L 1-0)

Hitter of the Series

Brock Rodden, INF- 8-20, 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB

Pitcher of the Series

Michael Rucker, RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

Arkansas Travelers (Lost series @ Tulsa Drillers, L 4-3, W 13-3, L 5-4, W 12-5, L 2-1, L 11-3)

Hitter of the Series

Blake Rambusch, 3B- 8-23, 4 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, 6 SB

Pitcher of the Series

Ryan Hawks, RHP- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

Everett AquaSox (Lost series @ Eugene Emeralds, L 7-1, L 6-5, L 3-0, W 7-4, L 9-3, W 10-4)

Hitter of the Series

Axel Sanchez, SS- 5-11, 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Lucas Kelly, RHP- 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO

Inland Empire 66ers (Split series @ Visalia Rawhide, W 5-1, L 14-2, L 5-4, W 5-1, L 8-0, W 2-0)

Hitter of the Series

Ricardo Cova, SS- 7-27, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, BB, 2 SB

Pitcher of the Series

Jack Bowery, LHP- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 12 SO

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