5/20/26

(Seattle, WA) The series was on the line Wednesday afternoon as the Seattle Mariners wrapped up their six-game homestand with the rubber game of the three-game series with the Chicago White Sox. A somber loss the night before, Seattle would try to make that defeat hurt much less if they could down Chicago and still nab the series. With the season series 3-2 in favor of Chicago, a win for Seattle would also force a potential tiebreaker with the Sox way down the road to go to divisional records with the season series split.

We would get a rematch from the opening game of the season series between the two teams on the mound. Emerson Hancock would be looking to get some payback against the Sox who handed him his worst start of the season. The same could be said for Sean Burke who took the ball for Chicago in the finale and got beat by Hancock thanks in part to Luke Raley’s seven RBI game that night.

Mariners 5, White Sox 4 (Game Three, May 20th)

Both Hancock and Burke got off to a strong start with facing the minimum in the 1st. In the 2nd, Emerson Hancock had another bad inning against the White Sox in terms of control. He would walk the bases loaded with nobody out to give Chicago a golden opportunity to strike. He would get Tristan Peters to strikeout to get him a double play away from escaping the jam. That is exactly what he got as Drew Romo sent a grounder to second for a 4-6-3 double play to escape the bases loaded, nobody out jam with no damage done.

Seattle took some of that momentum into the home half of the 2nd. Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch to give them a baserunner and stole second for his 13th stolen base of the season. He remained there after Luke Raley flew out, but Dominic Canzone would bring him home. A hot grounder down the right field line turned into Canzone’s eighth double of the year and scored Arozarena to make it 1-0.

Chicago would find a way to erase that deficit very quickly. In the 3rd, Sam Antonacci singled to left with one out to put the tying run aboard. After Munetaka Murakami flew out for the second out, Antonacci stole second for his fourth stolen base of the season. Both teams would cash in on those stolen bases as Andrew Benintendi sent a single to center, scoring Antonacci with two outs and tying the game at 1-1.

The Mariners wasted a Cole Young double in the bottom of the 3rd, but a leadoff walk by Randy Arozarena in the 4th would lead to another threat. He would steal second again with two lefties coming up in Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone. Neither could move him up to third as Raley struck out and Canzone grounded out right back to Burke on the mound. There were quickly two outs but Patrick Wisdom would come through with his first big hit as a Mariner. He jumped on a first pitch hanging slider and sent it down into the left field corner for extra bases. Arozarena scored again as Wisdom recorded his first double of the season and put Seattle in front 2-1.

Once again, Chicago had a response ready against Emerson Hancock. Luisangel Acuña singled with one out and Sam Antonacci followed with a single of his own to put two on for the power part of the order. Munetaka Murakami would do it himself with a single to right to bring home Acuña, making it 2-2 with runners on the corners. Andrew Benintendi smoked a line drive to Colt Emerson at short for the second out. Colson Montgomery couldn’t come through with two outs as he flew out to Julio in center to end the inning, keeping the game tied.

Seattle would put together their own golden opportunity in the bottom of the 5th as they chased Sean Burke before the inning was over. Jhonny Pereda began the inning with a walk before Cole Young was hit by a pitch after a Mariners challenge. Julio Rodríguez then singled to center, but Pereda was stopped at third because he had to make sure the ball wouldn’t be caught. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Seattle would have the middle of their order coming to the plate. Josh Naylor broke his bat with a shallow pop up to left that was caught by a sliding Sam Antonacci. Randy Arozarena would have an infield fly for the second out. Sean Newcomb came in out of the bullpen and would face Rob Refsnyder who pinch hit for Luke Raley. A hard grounder up the middle was gloved by Chase Meidroth at second and he stepped on the bag for the final out. Both teams squandered bases loaded, no out opportunities as the game remained tied.

It was up to the bullpens from the 6th inning on and Chicago would threaten with runners on second and third with one out in the 6th against Cooper Criswell. Jhonny Pereda picked off Chase Meidroth at third for a huge second out to minimize the threat. Drew Romo’s grounder to Josh Naylor at first but a close to the inning as Criswell got out of trouble.

Matt Brash returned to the mound for Seattle in the 7th and while he allowed an infield single, he pitched very well and effectively to put up a zero. In the home half of the 7th, Chicago kept Newcomb on the mound to face Jhonny Pereda and it turned out to be a mistake. Pereda got a slurve just above the knees and barreled it up to left field for a solo shot and his first career home run. That gave the M’s a 3-2 lead but they weren’t done yet. J-Rod doubled with one out and moved to third on a Josh Naylor ground out. With two away, Randy Arozarena came through as he added to his big day with a 396-foot home run out to left center for his fifth of the year. The two home runs in the inning gave the Mariners the lead and breathing room with a 5-2 advantage.

Chicago got a run back in the 8th after a couple of singles by Chase Meidroth and Jarred Kelenic and then an error by Colt Emerson on a double play opportunity. With a 5-3 lead in the 9th, Jose A. Ferrer would be on for the save with Andrés Muñoz unavailable. His first pitch wasn’t a good one as Randal Grichuk pinch hit for Sam Antonacci and got a fastball up above the zone and sent it out to right field for his fourth home run of the season. With the lead down to one, Ferrer locked in and rolled the rest of the way. He would strikeout Munetaka Murakami, Derek Hill, and Colson Montgomery to put an end to the game and the series. It got tight at the end, but the two 7th inning home runs were enough to give the Mariners a 5-4 win and series win over the White Sox.

Notable Performances

White Sox

Mariners

• Randy Arozarena- 1-2, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB, HBP, 2 SB
• Jhonny Pereda- 1-2, HR, RBI, R, BB
• Emerson Hancock (ND)- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

Seattle (24-27) gets back on track with the series victory but still need to find more consistency if they want to be the frontrunner in the AL West. The A’s and Angels will wrap up their four-game series on Thursday where the A’s have a chance to take three of four with a win. Texas bounced back to take two of three from Colorado while Houston dropped two of three to Minnesota. That puts the A’s at the top of the division, one game ahead of the Rangers and two ahead of the Mariners but can gain half of a game with a win on Thursday. Houston sits in fourth at six games back with the Angels falling all the way to the bottom of the West at 8 1/2 games out.

A lot of AL West and AL Central games have occurred over the first couple of months and Seattle will see more of the same on their upcoming six-game road trip. First up, the M’s will finish up the season series with another AL Central foe as they visit the Kansas City Royals for a three-game set after finally getting a day off on Thursday. The Royals swept the Mariners over Randy Johnson Weekend in Seattle but have struggled mightily since then. The Royals have lost 9 of their last 10 games entering the series, including being swept by the Sox, both Boston and Chicago. They are averaging just 2.8 runs per game during that stretch and are now missing two starters, Kris Bubic and Cole Ragans, as well as reliever Matt Strahm and closer Carlos Estévez who are all on the IL.

After a slow start to the season in terms of his high standards, Bobby Witt Jr. has started to really heat up in the month of May for Kansas City as they look to try to make a move and gain some momentum. Witt did not have a home run in 2026 until April 26th but has now hit seven on the season with five of them coming in May. He only has four runs batted in during the last 10 games for the Royals but is 10-35 over that stretch. That shows the obvious key is to make sure the bases are empty when he gets to the plate. His speed is always an issue and as long as Seattle can hold him to singles and keep the bases clear in front of him, they shouldn’t need too many runs in this series.

• Game 1, Friday 4:40pm- Logan Gilbert (2-4, 4.45 ERA) vs. Noah Cameron (2-3, 5.40 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 1:10pm- George Kirby (5-3, 3.45 ERA) vs. Stephen Kolek (2-0, 4.24 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 11:10am- Bryan Woo (4-2, 3.51 ERA) vs. Seth Lugo (1-4, 3.68 ERA)

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