5/25/26
(Sacramento, CA) Another letdown of a series had the Seattle Mariners licking their wounds as they traveled to West Sacramento for a tough rebound series against the AL West leading Athletics. With nobody in the AL West playing necessarily well this season, division games are having a huge impact on the division race that is shaping up to be more of a trot than a spring in 2026. With the A’s having the division lead and the head-to-head advantage after taking two of three from the M’s in Seattle, this was a chance for the Mariners to reassert their dominance against the rest of the AL West.
In the opener on Monday night on Memorial Day, Seattle would have their second go at the piggyback method with Luis Castillo this time getting the start before Bryce Miller would take over after that. It was OK in the first implementation although Seattle would lose that game in the 9th to Chicago 2-1 so more offense would be needed. Aaron Civale would be on the mound for the Athletics as the veteran entered this start on the struggle bus a bit, allowing five home runs in his last two starts after allowing just four in his first eight starts of the year.
Mariners 9, Athletics 2 (Game One, May 25th)
Each team would put on a couple of baserunners in the first two innings but neither Luis Castillo or Aaron Civale had any issue stranding them. In the 3rd, the offensive breakout that Mariner fans were waiting for finally happened. It started with a Colt Emerson leadoff walk and after J.P. Crawford flew out, Julio Rodríguez singled to put runners at the corners with one out. Josh Naylor sent a grounder to short that looked like an inning ending double play, but the throw to first was off and the error allowed a run to score, giving Seattle the 1-0 lead.
Seattle would make that error really hurt as what could have been a scoreless inning turned into a power surge. With a man on first and two outs, Randy Arozarena went into right center field for his 15th double of the season, scoring Naylor to make it 2-0. Luke Raley would also go to right center field but with a bit more power as he sent his 11th home run of the season into the bullpen to make it 4-0. A double by Cole Young was followed by Dominic Canzone’s fifth home run of the year. That one error snowballed into a six-run inning as the Mariners grabbed the 6-0 lead.
Luis Castillo looked very sharp on Monday and pitched around a leadoff double by Darell Hernaiz in the bottom of the 3rd and put up another zero. J.P. Crawford would leadoff 4th and kept the power surge going for the Mariners. Crawford jumped on a first pitch sinker at the bottom of the zone and got just enough to get it over the center field wall for his seventh home run of the season. The solo shot also gave the M’s their seventh run of the game as they took a 7-0 lead into the 5th.
Drama and emotions started to boil over after the 4th as Luis Castillo and manager Dan Wilson had an animated discussion in the dugout after Castillo was told that his day was done and Bryce Miller would be taking over. Castillo was clearly frustrated as he had pitched a very strong game with just two hits and two walks allowed in four scoreless innings while striking out six. La Piedra was seen throwing his jacket and hat as he would get a no-decision after watching Bryce Miller throw into the 6th of his piggyback start. Castillo said after the game, “As a competitor, you want to go out there and just continue, but at the same time we knew that was part of the plan.” Bryce Miller has also voiced his displeasure with the situation which raises questions on how long the M’s use the piggyback method.
Another look at Luis Castillo after learning that his night was done.
Can’t recall ever seeing this kind of frustration in his nearly four years with the Mariners.
“We knew that was part of the plan, and you’ve got to respect what his decision was.” pic.twitter.com/goDRAmc262
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 26, 2026
Both teams would go to their bullpen in the 5th as Jack Perkins took over for the A’s while Bryce Miller took the mound for the M’s. Both were off and running with scoreless innings in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings. While Perkins kept his scoreless run going through the 8th, Bryce Miller would not be as fortunate but it was just one bad pitch that did him in. A hanging slider with the bases empty and two outs to Shea Langeliers would be the mistake he couldn’t get back as the catcher sent his 13th home run of the season out to center to end the shutout and make it 7-1.
Seattle got that run back plus one as Randy Arozarena hit his sixth home run of the season in the top of the 9th to make it 9-1 going into the bottom of the 9th. Miller stayed on for the final three outs but did get in some trouble on a double by Tyler Soderstrom and single by Henry Bolte to put runners on the corners with nobody out. The M’s traded a run for two outs as a grounder by Jeff McNeil was gloved by Josh Naylor at first and he would quickly tag out Bolte before stepping on the bag for an unassisted double play. A strikeout of Zack Gelof would end it as Miller put the finishing touches on a dominant 9-2 win for the Mariners over the A’s.
Notable Performances
Mariners
- Randy Arozarena- 3-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
- Luke Raley- 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Luis Castillo (ND)- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
- Bryce Miller (W, 1-0)- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO
Athletics
- Shea Langeliers- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
- Darell Hernaiz- 2-3, 2B
- Aaron Civale (L, 5-2)- 4 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
What’s Next
It was a lot of weight off the Mariners shoulders after taking the opening game of the series against the first-place A’s to cut their deficit in the division down to just a game and a half with still two to go in the series. In other AL West news on Monday, the Astros threw a combined no-hitter against the Rangers while the Angels had the day off.
Game two will take place on Tuesday at 6:40pm and the A’s placed Aaron Civale on the IL after Monday’s game and called up their #3 prospect in Gage Jump. He will make his MLB debut in game two as the #41 ranked prospect in the game will bring his upper 90s fastball and slider and curve as his swing and miss pitches. On top of that, it just creates another opportunity for the M’s to try to figure out how to hit lefties this season. Seattle will throw Emerson Hancock (3-2, 3.07 ERA) as they look to take the series and set themselves up for an opportunity for the sweep and to leapfrog the A’s atop the AL West. Hancock had a shaky outing against the A’s when he faced them in April, allowing three solo home runs in five innings in a 6-4 loss.
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