5/27/26

(Sacramento, CA) With a series win already wrapped up, the Seattle Mariners had the opportunity to do something that they had not done so far in 2026, take sole possession of first place in the AL West. A sweep of the first-place Athletics was up for grabs as the M’s dominance in the first two games of the series created the opportunity for Seattle to put themselves in control of the wide-open division.

Logan Gilbert would have the ball for Seattle in the finale on Wednesday afternoon with a chance to grab the division lead and some revenge against the A’s who chased him after just four innings when he faced them in Seattle in April. The Athletics would go with a second consecutive lefty when Jeffrey Springs got the ball looking to do what Gage Jump couldn’t and that is take advantage of Seattle’s struggles against left-handers this season.

Mariners 9, Athletics 1 (Game Three, May 27th)

Rare errors really affected the A’s in this series but credit was due to the Mariners for capitalizing on those errors. J.P. Crawford’s leadoff single to start the game seemed harmless enough after Josh Naylor’s routine grounder to second was handled by Jeff McNeil. The throw to first was not good as Naylor moved to second on the error and Crawford to third. Rob Refsnyder seemed to work a walk when he took a 3-1 fastball off the plate, but it was called a strike and Refsnyder did not challenge. That was the right decision as Refsnyder sent the next pitch over the wall in left field for a three-run shot and his third home run of the season. Three unearned runs came in as the Mariners grabbed a 3-0 lead before Gilbert even took the mound.

Logan Gilbert looked good in his first three innings as the only A’s to reach were just a couple of harmless singles. He wasn’t piling up strikeouts, but much like Emerson Hancock the night before, got a lot of weak contact. He also got plenty of run support as Seattle added on in the 4th. Again with nobody on and two outs, Cole Young reached on a single to right and Jhonny Pereda followed with a walk. Colt Emerson turned it into a two-out rally as he tripled for the first time in his career to right field to plate two. Seattle had a 5-0 lead with all five runs coming with two outs.

A double play helped Gilbert escape the 4th and he also stranded a Zack Gelof double in the 5th. After Seattle added another run on an error in the 6th, Gilbert finished up his outing and quality start by stranding a Tyler Soderstrom double as well. It was a nice outing for Seattle’s Opening Day starter who continues to search for more consistency. Gilbert went six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out six. Pitching with a lead from the get-go, Gilbert was aggressive and pitched more freely as he recorded his third scoreless outing of May.

With a 6-0 lead, Seattle would try to add on against an A’s bullpen that they had not had much success against in this series. In the 8th facing Luis Medina, that would change. A walk to Cole Young and a single by Colt Emerson had two on with one out, but J.P. Crawford’s strikeout took some pressure off of Medina. In stepped Julio Rodríguez who put the exclamation point on his strong road trip. J-Rod destroyed a top rail heater and sent it 418-feet out to left center for his 10th home run of the season and eighth of the month. That ties Julio’s career high for home runs in a month and put Seattle way out in front with a 9-0 lead.

Cooper Criswell would be tasked with getting the final six outs and did so without too much issue. Seattle did have to trade a run for a double play in the 9th, but it was well worth it. Darell Hernaiz sent a grounder to J.P. Crawford to end this one as the sweep was complete. Seattle put together a dominant series, outscoring the Athletics 22-4 in the three games. For the first time in 2026, the Seattle Mariners sat in sole possession of first place in the AL West as they defeated the A’s 9-1 in the finale.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Athletics

• Zack Gelof- 2-4, 2B
• Darell Hernaiz- 2-4
• Jeffrey Springs (L, 3-6)- 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

What’s Next

A 4-2 road trip goes down as a success despite the Seattle Mariners (28-29) dropping their series in Kansas City with the Royals to start the trip. The sweep of the A’s does put Seattle atop the division as Houston looks to take three of four from Texas in their series finals on Thursday while the Rangers look to force a split. Los Angeles battles Detroit on Thursday in the rubber game of their three-game set in the Motor City. Seattle sits half of a game ahead of the A’s, two ahead of the Rangers, three ahead of the Astros, and six and a half ahead of the Angels.

The M’s will now return home for six games against National League opponents, starting with their final series of May. Seattle will welcome the red hot Arizona Diamondbacks (31-24) to the PNW for a three-game series beginning on Friday. Arizona has the longest winning streak in baseball heading into the weekend with five wins in a row and 11 of their last 13. The D-Backs have moved into a tie with San Diego for second place in the NL West behind the Dodgers and have been doing it with their offense, averaging 5.8 runs per game over that stretch. The pitching is also starting to round into form as the Snakes have won four in a row against the M’s including a sweep last season where Josh Naylor did a ton of damage against his current team.

There are a trio of players that could be featured in the spotlight going into this series but Corbin Carroll and Ildemaro Vargas will be set aside and we will focus on former Mariner, Ketel Marte. The utility player is on fire over the course of his last 11 games where he is batting .511 during his 11-game hitting streak. In that stretch, Marte has driven in 17 runs and hit four homers along with six doubles. He is out of his mind right now and adding that third bat into the mix with Vargas who is competing for a batting title and Carroll who will be in the MVP mix, has really been the big factor in Arizona taking off. Both of these teams are contenders and come in hot but one team will cool down a little bit after this weekend which is something Seattle has to avoid with their inconsistency issues.

• Game 1, Friday 7:10pm- Zac Gallen (3-4, 4.80 ERA) vs. George Kirby (5-4, 3.54 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 7:10pm- Ryne Nelson (2-3, 4.65 ERA) vs. Bryan Woo (4-3, 3.82 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 1:10pm- Merrill Kelly (5-3, 5.25 ERA) vs. Bryce Miller (1-0, 2.25 ERA)

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