5/6/26

(Seattle, WA) Following being swept by the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Mariners would have absolutely no time to hit the reset button as the team with the best record in the sport rolled into town for a three-game series. The Atlanta Braves have been terrific so far in 2026, putting a disappointing 2025 season behind them with a stacked lineup and a pitching staff that will only get better as they recover from injuries throughout the season. Their offense is the big threat however as they led all of baseball in runs scored coming into Seattle and had not lost a series all season either.

Both teams entered the series with question marks surrounding their stars. For Atlanta, it really wasn’t a question as they put Ronald Acuña Jr. on the IL over the weekend, meaning he would not take part in the series in Seattle. For the Mariners, Cal Raleigh missed the final two games of the series with Kansas City with some side issues but had not been placed on the IL as the teams began the series on Monday.

Mariners 5, Braves 4 (Game One, May 4th)

Opening up the series would be a homecoming for the Atlanta Braves starting pitcher. Bainbridge High School alum JR Ritchie would make his third start in his childhood ballpark. There would be a good turnout in support of the rookie but he wouldn’t have an easy draw as Logan Gilbert would have the start for Seattle after a nice outing in Minnesota his last time out.

For the first time in his career, reigning NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin would leadoff for the Braves and it worked incredibly well right out of the gate. The third pitch of the game was a slider at the bottom of the zone and Baldwin went down and got it, depositing it 426-feet into the right field seats. The ninth home run of the season for Baldwin put Atlanta in front immediately at 1-0.

Sean Murphy made his season debut for Atlanta and got the start behind the plate. He lost both of the Braves challenges on the first two batters of the game which put them in a bad spot early. JR Ritchie wasn’t really affected by it as he and Gilbert both got tremendous defensive support as some well hit balls turned into regular outs. Both pitchers also got in trouble with walks but both escaped as Gilbert got out of dodge in the 3rd while Ritchie left the bases loaded in the 5th.

Atlanta has as dangerous and powerful of a lineup as any team in the sport and they definitely showed it in the 6th. Ozzie Albies led off the inning and extended his hitting streak to 16 games and did so in a big way. His eighth home run of the season began the inning and made it 2-0 but the score didn’t stay there for long. Matt Olson drove a slider 110-mph off of the bat for his 12th home run of the season and 300th home run of his career. Two batters later, Austin Riley obliterated his fifth home run over the Mariners bullpen. Atlanta had three solo shots in the 6th inning and four for the game to take a 4-0 lead.

After struggling with walks in the 5th, Atlanta kept JR Ritchie out for the 6th as well. Walks continued to pop up as he gave free passes to Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone to put the first two men on. Luke Raley then stepped to the plate and completely changed the feeling of the game. A curveball from Ritchie hung right over the heart of the plate and Raley hit a rocket out to the right field seats for a three-run shot and his sixth home run of the season. All of a sudden it was just a one-run game as Ritchie left with the score 4-3.

Tyler Kinley would be the first reliever used by the Braves in this one. While he would strikeout both Cole Young and Leo Rivas, Mitch Garver drew a four-pitch walk. The lineup card turned over as J.P. Crawford came to the plate and fell behind 1-2. A close take and a foul ball saw J.P. stay alive before getting a slider down and in. Crawford hit a towering fly ball that stayed fair in right field for a two-run shot and his third home run of the season. Three walks and two home runs changed this game around as Seattle had comeback to take a 5-4 lead.

Jose A. Ferrer gave up a leadoff single in the 7th but retired the next three in order. He also came out for the 8th and got Matt Olson to fly out before turning the ball over to Eduard Bazardo. He handled an Austin Riley single and put up a zero as well. While Seattle wasted a bases loaded opportunity in the 7th, they would still turn the ball over to Andrés Muñoz for the 9th with a one-run lead. He quickly got Michael Harris II and Eli White to strikeout for two quick outs. Dominic Smith reached on a pinch hit single but only extended the game by one batter. Drake Baldwin sent a grounder to Cole Young to end the opening game. Seattle capitalized on eight walks allowed by Atlanta pitching to take game one 5-4.

Notable Performances

Braves

Mariners

• Luke Raley- 1-2, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB
• J.P. Crawford- 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB
• Logan Gilbert (W, 2-3)- 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Braves 3, Mariners 2 (Game Two, May 5th)

Seattle had two opportunities to win one game to hand the Atlanta Braves their first series loss of 2026. Game two featured the best pitching matchup at a surface level as Bryce Elder has been terrific as the #2 guy behind Chris Sale while others work back from injury. For Seattle, George Kirby would take the ball in search of his fifth quality start in his eighth start of the season. In even bigger news for the Mariners, Cal Raleigh returned to the lineup in the middle game and while he was just the DH, it was still big to see him avoid the IL.

Both Kirby and Elder rolled through the first two innings with each allowing just a harmless single in the 2nd. George Kirby responded with a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd and Bryce Elder would be the first to blink in the home half of the 3rd. A leadoff walk to Mitch Garver seemed harmless enough until J.P. Crawford came to the plate with one out. Elder sent a fastball right down the pipe and Crawford wasn’t going to miss it. For the second game in a row, the Mariner shortstop hit a two-run home run to right field. This one would be his fourth of the year and gave the M’s a 2-0 lead.

Atlanta had a response ready as they put together their best threat against Kirby in the 4th. Ozzie Albies singled and Matt Olson followed with one of his own but moved up to second as the throw went into third. With runners on second and third with one out, Kirby would get a groundout of Michael Harris II to Josh Naylor at first and kept the runners put with two outs. Unfortunately, he couldn’t escape the trouble completely as Mauricio Dubón just snuck a soft hit grounder inside the bag at first. Both Albies and Olson would score on Dubón’s ninth double of the year and the game was tied at 2-2.

Seattle got absolutely nothing going after J.P. Crawford’s home run in the 3rd. They did work a couple of walks in the 4th from Josh Naylor and Cole Young but couldn’t bring either home as the game remained tied. Fortunately for the Mariners, Atlanta’s only baserunner was erased on a terrific play by J.P. Crawford as both starting pitchers really dialed it in and put up quality starts. Neither would exit the game in line for the win, but both gave their team a chance at a late inning victory.

Dylan Lee and Robert Suarez both retired the side in order for the Braves in the 7th and 8th with five strikeouts combined. Jose A. Ferrer pitched a 1-2-3 8th as well as the game went to the 9th tied at 2-2. Andrés Muñoz would face the meat of the order for the Braves starting with Matt Olson and he fell behind 2-1. A backdoor slider came back too far over the plate and Olson would drive it way out to center for his 13th home run and second long ball of the series. The solo shot gave Atlanta the late lead at 3-2.

While Muñoz struggled with his slider, he would only allow the one run to make it 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th. Fresh off the IL, Raisel Iglesias would look to earn the save in his return and got off to a good start, striking out Julio Rodríguez. Josh Naylor then got his second hit of the day to put the tying run on first and bring the winning run to the plate. Naylor would steal second for his sixth stolen base of the season, but in the same AB, Randy Arozarena struck out for the second out. It was all down to Dominic Canzone but his first time up in the game would not be an easy one and it ended with a groundout to Ozzie Albies at second. The late home run by Matt Olson was the difference as the Mariners recorded just one hit in the final six innings to drop game two, 3-2.

Notable Performances

Braves

Mariners

• J.P. Crawford- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• George Kirby (ND)- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
• Josh Naylor- 2-3, BB

Mariners 3, Braves 1 (Game Three, May 6th)

It was all down to the finale to decide the series as the Seattle Mariners looked to hand the Atlanta Braves their first series loss of the season. It was an emotional day for the Braves after the passing of longtime owner Ted Turner who changed the sport by putting the Braves on national TV. They would send Martín Pérez to the mound for the finale while Seattle would hope for Bryan Woo to rebound from back-to-back bad starts.

Bryan Woo allowed one walk in the 1st and that was the only baserunner for Atlanta in the first two innings. Seattle’s lone baserunner in that span was a two-out single by Cole Young in the 2nd, but didn’t amount to anything. In the bottom of the 3rd, Seattle had a big threat that started with a leadoff single by Jhonny Pereda. Leo Rivas then double for the second time this season before J.P. Crawford worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Cal Raleigh came to the plate and while he didn’t deal a big blow, he did bring home a run as he hit into a 6-4-3 double play to make it 1-0. That’s all Seattle would get as J-Rod grounded out to end the inning, but the M’s were out in front.

Atlanta put together a threat in the 4th off of a walk by Ozzie Albies and a two-out single by Mauricio Dubón. Woo would get Austin Riley to groundout to escape the jam and that was pretty much it for the Braves against Woo. After two tough starts in a row, Woo was back to his normal self and even better. He would get through six scoreless innings and gave up just one hit and two walks while striking out nine. To do that is impressive in itself but even better was that he did that against the best lineup in the sport. Woo shutdown the Braves from the get go and never faltered as he put Seattle in a golden spot for a massive series win.

With Woo done after the top of the 6th, Seattle would chase Pérez before the end of the inning. With nobody on and one out, Julio Rodríguez came to the plate and faced Pérez for the 13th time in his career. J-Rod was 1-12 coming into this matchup against the lefty but emphatically won this battle. Julio crushed a changeup and knew it was leaving immediately. The ball sailed 436-feet for his fourth home run of the season. The solo shot extended the Mariner lead to 2-0.

Cooper Criswell continued to shine with a clean 1-2-3 7th inning before giving the ball to Eduard Bazardo for the 8th. Bazardo was not on his A-game and things got dicey for the M’s. Singles by Mike Yastrzemski and Sean Murphy put runners on the corners with nobody out. Dominic Smith got Atlanta on the board with a sacrifice fly to right center to make it 2-1 while Jorge Mateo remained at first base. Bazardo would keep Mateo close and Seattle challenged one pickoff attempt and it paid off as it was ruled that Josh Naylor did tag out Mateo for the second out. A single by Drake Baldwin was left stranded as Bazardo struck out Ozzie Albies to keep the lead at 2-1.

Didier Fuentes entered to pitch for the Braves in the bottom of the 8th as they dropped their DH for the final inning. He struck out J-Rod and Randy Arozarena but a single and a stolen base for Josh Naylor put a man in scoring position with two away. That brought Cole Young to the plate and while he already had two hits in the game, he finally was able to do some damage with his third. A double to the wall in right would score Naylor and be Young’s sixth double of the season and the second of the game. The clutch two-out knock gave the M’s some insurance with a 3-1 lead.

With Andrés Muñoz down after pitching back-to-back days, Jose A. Ferrer would pitch for a third consecutive day to try to close out the series. He would be facing 3-4-5 in the Braves order but had no fear against his former division rival from his time with the Washington Nationals. The lefty got Matt Olson to fly out to Arozarena in left before Michael Harris II grounded out to Crawford at short. Ferrer then landed a 3-2 sinker on the inner black that was confirmed as a strike for the final out of the game. For the first time this season, the Atlanta Braves had lose a series and it was the Mariners to do it, winning the rubber games 3-1.

Notable Performances

Braves

Mariners

• Bryan Woo (W, 2-2)- 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO
• Cole Young- 3-4, 2 2B, RBI
• Julio Rodríguez- 1-4, HR, RBI, R

Roster Moves

• RHP Cole Wilcox optioned to Triple-A Tacoma
• LHP Josh Simpson recalled from Triple-A Tacoma
• LHP Gabe Speier placed on 15-day IL (Left shoulder inflammation)
• Seattle Mariners activate LHP José Suarez

What’s Next

While Seattle (18-20) didn’t have a great homestand, they do go 2-4 and the series win over Atlanta really limits the damage of the Kansas City sweep. The M’s are fortunate to have Cal Raleigh back and should also see the return of Brendan Donovan during this upcoming seven-game road trip. Seattle will play 13 games in 13 days starting on Friday which will really test this banged up bullpen.

Nobody else in the AL West is playing well as the Athletics are trying to avoid the sweep in Philadelphia on Thursday while Texas plays the New York Yankees in the rubber game of that three-game set. Houston dropped two of three to the Dodgers while Los Angeles won their home series over the Chicago White Sox. The A’s go to Baltimore this weekend to play the struggling Orioles while the Rangers host the red hot Cubs. Houston visits Cincinnati who have been on a big losing streak and the Angels will go to Toronto who was just swept by Tampa Bay.

The Mariners go back on the road for seven and will start with a three-game series visiting the Chicago White Sox. A pleasant start to the season for Chicago (17-20) has been in large part due to just being average. The White Sox don’t do anything spectacular but aren’t doing anything horribly either which is a big improvement from what we have seen in the last few seasons. Chicago’s rotation has been solid as the 12th best rotation ERA in the game and the bullpen is top 10 as well. Where Chicago has struggled is hitting at home, where they are batting .221 and have scored just 56 runs in 15 games. So the bats are worse at home while the pitching is better which means we could see some more close, tight games late into the series.

If you haven’t been locked in on baseball then you might not be aware of one of the best stories in the sport in Munetaka Murakami. Coming over from Japan in the offseason, Murakami was not as highly sought-after as others before him. This stemmed from concerns on how he would handle MLB velocity and make consistent contact rather than striking out. This saw him have to settle for a two-year, $34 million deal with a non-contender in Chicago. He has responded by being one of the best power hitters so far this season with 14 home runs and 28 runs batted in. He is handling heaters at the top of the zone and while he is striking out as much as the league leaders, he is hitting more home runs than other guys like Kyle Schwarber, Gunnar Henderson, and James Wood. If this keeps on then he will be a big target at this year’s deadline and next year’s before getting paid before is age 28 season.

• Game 1, Friday 4:40pm- Emerson Hancock (2-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. Sean Burke (2-2, 2.72 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 4:10pm- Luis Castillo (0-3, 6.29 ERA) vs. Anthony Kay (1-1, 5.70 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 11:10am- Logan Gilbert (2-3, 4.30 ERA) vs. Davis Martin (5-1, 1.64 ERA)

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