6/16/26

(Seattle, WA) It was anything but good for the Seattle Mariners on their season-long 10-game road trip. Between bad play on the field along with a number of injuries popping up, the M’s were more than ready to return home for six games beginning on Tuesday night with a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. The two just met last week when they split a four-game series in Baltimore where Seattle took the first two before the Orioles won the back half.

The M’s would receive some good news and bad news before first pitch on Tuesday. Both Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford would return from the IL and would be in the starting lineup. They also found out that Andrés Muñoz would not need an IL stint and would be good to go for the opener. It did come with a bit of bad news as Randy Arozarena was placed on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain. That would allow High-A player Curtis Washington Jr. to get called up for a day while Connor Joe made the trip from Salt Lake City to the PNW on Wednesday.

Mariners 3, Orioles 1 (Game One, June 16th)

Both teams would send starters to the mound who pitched in that four-game series last week. Brandon Young would take the ball for the Orioles in the opener and he was terrific against Seattle last week. Young went seven scoreless innings with just two hits and two walks allowed while striking out five. Seattle would go with Logan Gilbert, who settled in against the O’s last week to end up with six innings of one-run, three-hit ball with two walks and five strikeouts.

Taylor Ward looked to start the game with a bang as he drove the first pitch way out to left field. The wind knocked it down and held Ward to just a double but his 17th double of the season set the tone for Baltimore. Logan Gilbert got a strikeout of Gunnar Henderson and got Adley Rutschman to groundout which put Ward on third with two outs. After walking Pete Alonso, Gilbert would not be able to completely escape the inning as Samuel Basallo singled to right to bring in the first run of the game and give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

Brandon Young was terrific out of the gate again for Baltimore as he did not allow a hit in the first two innings. Walks would hurt the young right-hander a bit as he walked Miles Mastrobuoni and J.P. Crawford with one out in the bottom of the 3rd. A check swing by Cal Raleigh would turn into a lineout to Blaze Alexander at third for a big second out. Julio Rodríguez would come to the plate with two outs and clutched up. A line drive sat down in right field and brought home Mastrobuoni. J-Rod’s two-out knock had the game tied up at 1-1.

After a bumpy start to his outing, Logan Gilbert once again settled in very well. After the RBI single by Basallo, Gilbert retired the next 16 batters he faced into the 7th. There he would hit Pete Alonso, but followed by getting an infield pop-up and two strikeouts. That would be the last inning for Gilbert but he was outstanding in seven innings, allowing just a run on two hits. Logan only walked one while striking out a season-high 10 batters for another outstanding start against the Orioles.

While Gilbert was shutting down the Orioles, Brandon Young was doing the same to the Mariners until the bottom of the 7th. Back-to-back singles by Victor Robles and Colt Emerson started the inning and chased Young before he could record an out in the 7th. Grant Wolfram came in to pitch and would face Miles Mastrobuoni, who got down a perfect sacrifice bunt to put men on second and third with one out. J.P. Crawford worked a walk to load the bases for Cal Raleigh. In his return to the lineup, it was only fitting that the Big Dumper would come through and he dumped a single into center field. Emerson read it perfectly at second so he scored right behind Robles. T-Mobile Park erupted on Raleigh’s two-run single as the Mariners had a 3-1 lead.

Seattle couldn’t get any insurance in the 8th, but Eduard Bazardo needed just nine pitches to sit the Orioles down in order in the top half. That would mean that Andrés Muñoz would enter to try to close out a 3-1 win in the 9th for the Mariners coming off some back issues on Sunday. He would get off to a nice start as Gunnar Henderson started the inning with a groundout to first. Muñoz got more weak contact off the bat of Adley Rutschman but newly minted third baseman J.P. Crawford had no play as he reached to bring the tying run to the plate in Pete Alonso. While Baltimore had Jeremiah Jackson run for Rutschman at first, Muñoz was focused on Alonso and struck him out on a slider out of the zone for a massive second out. A chopper by Samuel Basallo was handled by Emerson behind second base and his throw to first would put this one away. No signs of a lingering back issue were present for Andrés Muñoz as he and Bazardo put the finishing touches on Gilbert’s gem to give the Mariners the opener over the Orioles, 3-1.

Notable Performances

Orioles

Mariners

• Logan Gilbert (W, 5-4)- 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO
• Cal Raleigh- 1-3, 2 RBI, BB
• Julio Rodríguez- 1-4, RBI

What’s Next

It was a nice reset for the Seattle Mariners (38-36) after a really tough road trip. A win to set the tone for the six-game homestand and having a returning Cal Raleigh be the hero along with dominant pitching can let fans take a deep breath. Elsewhere in the AL West, Texas dropped the first two with Minnesota while the A’s, Houston, and Los Angeles all split the first two games of their respective series. The M’s sit atop the AL West with a 1 1/2 game lead over the A’s, 2 1/2 over the Rangers, 4 1/2 ahead of the Astros, and 8 ahead of the Angels.

Seattle will continue their three-game series on Wednesday night with the Baltimore Orioles in a fresh pitching matchup that we did not see last week. Both starters pitched in that series as George Kirby (5-6, 4.07 ERA) gets the ball for Seattle in game two. Much like Logan Gilbert last week, Kirby also got off to a shaky start before settling in to put up his sixth quality start of the season despite taking the loss. For Baltimore, Kyle Bradish (3-7, 4.30 ERA) will look to bounce back from his tough outing against the M’s. Bradish matched up with Bryan Woo in the finale in a highly anticipated pitching matchup but he ended up only going four innings in one of his worst starts of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm.

Roster Moves

• C Cal Raleigh activated from 10-day IL
• SS J.P. Crawford activated from 10-day IL
• C Jhonny Pereda optioned to Triple-A Tacoma
• 3B Patrick Wisdom optioned to Triple-A Tacoma
• OF Randy Arozarena placed on 10-day IL (Left Hamstring Strain)
• Seattle Mariners select contract of OF Curtis Washington Jr. from High-A Everett

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