5/26/26

(Sacramento, CA) The long awaited offensive breakout finally came for the Seattle Mariners after a dominant series opening win over the Athletics in West Sacramento. Now the issue for the M’s all season as been building upon those strong games as inconsistencies have completely plagued Seattle all season long. Now with wins in the next two games with the A’s, the Mariners would take over first place in the AL West but they still had to take it one game at a time against a dangerous lineup.

In game two of the three game series, Emerson Hancock would take the mound against one of just two teams this season to tag him up as he wanted revenge against the A’s. Hancock allowed three solo home runs in a loss to the Athletics in Seattle and pitching in the hitter friendly Suter Health Park would make that challenge even more difficult. For the A’s, they would call up #3 prospect Gage Jump to make his MLB debut as they would look to take advantage of Seattle’s struggles against lefties in 2026.

Mariners 4, Athletics 1 (Game Two, May 26th)

The rookie blew right through the 1st inning, recording the first two strikeouts of his big league career. Emerson Hancock also pitched a quick 1-2-3 inning in the 1st and then Seattle put pressure on the rookie. Singles by Josh Naylor and Rob Refsnyder put two on with nobody out and Mitch Garver kept his nice road trip going. Garver pulled a double into the left field corner that looked to score two, but the umpires rules the ball got stuck under the wall which forced Refsnyder to stay at third. He scored on batter later on a sacrifice fly Cole Young to make it 2-0 after all. Seattle then loaded the bases with a single by Victor Robles and walk by Colt Emerson. J.P. Crawford added one more with a sacrifice fly to right to give Seattle a 3-0 lead.

Hancock was perfect his first time through the A’s order as he was clearly on his game from the get-go. He was racking up the strikeouts, but he did generate a lot of weak contact and let his defense do the work. He would get another run in the 4th after Victor Robles doubled for the second time this season. A single by J.P. Crawford put runners on the corners with one out and Julio Rodríguez joined the hit parade with an RBI single to left. Seattle had their timing down against Gage Jump and opened the lead up to 4-0.

In the bottom of the 5th, Emerson Hancock lost the perfect game with a walk to Brent Rooker and then lost the no-hitter on a single by Tyler Soderstrom. With two on and nobody out, Hancock was in trouble for the first time but came out unscathed after retiring Jeff McNeil, Zack Gelof, and Lawrence Butler in order. He stranded another walk and a hit batter in the 6th to end his day and while it wasn’t the high strikeout total, Hancock pitched very well in six scoreless innings with just one hit and two walks allowed while striking out three as he did get some revenge against his AL West rivals.

Seattle could not get anything going against the A’s bullpen as they had just two baserunners reach after Jump left the game after five innings. The 4-0 lead would have to do and José A. Ferrer allowed just one infield hit before the returning Gabe Speier took the mound for the 8th. He looked solid in his return with only one batter reaching via a hit by pitch. Andrés Muñoz was on for the 9th and would lose the shutout with a one-out, solo home run by Tyler Soderstrom for his sixth of the year to make it 4-1. After striking out Alika Williams, Muñoz gave up a single to Zack Gelof but it would not matter. Lawrence Butler sent a harmless grounder to Josh Naylor at first for an easy final out to put this one away. Seattle secured the series and set themselves up with opportunity to take control of the division with a sweep as they took game two from the A’s, 4-1.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Athletics

• Tyler Soderstrom- 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• Zack Gelof- 2-4
• Gage Jump (L, 0-1)- 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

Roster Moves

• LHP Gabe Speier activated from 10-day IL
• RHP Nick Davila optioned to Triple-A Tacoma

What’s Next

Seattle (27-29) can take sole possession of first place in the AL West with a sweep of the Athletics on Wednesday as the mediocre AL West continues to hang up for grabs. Texas got revenge against Houston with a 10-7 shootout win while Los Angeles did the same to Detroit 10-6 on Tuesday. That puts everyone within six games of the top spot in the division as we head towards the end of May.

In the finale of the three-game series with the Athletics and six-game road trip, Seattle will try to build off of some success against a lefty as they take on another one when Jeffrey Springs (3-5, 4.11 ERA) gets the ball in the series finale for the A’s. Springs has not faced the Mariners this season and after starting the year 3-0 with a 1.46 ERA, has gone 0-5 with a 5.89 ERA in his last seven starts. Logan Gilbert (2-4, 4.04 ERA) will look for some consistency himself as he continues to work deeper into games. In his first meeting with the A’s this season, Gilbert only lasted four innings and allowed three runs after having a line drive get caught in his jersey in the top of the 1st. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05pm on Wednesday.

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