6/21/26

(Seattle, WA) After a really rough road trip, the Seattle Mariners righted the ship with a series win at home over the Baltimore Orioles. While they were still missing some key pieces, they got reinforcements in the form of Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford that gave them just enough of a spark to take the series. Now, they would look to really build momentum and secure a successful homestand with another AL East foe.

Disappointing would not even begin to describe the first two months of the season for the Boston Red Sox. A playoff team in 2025 with a very young core, the Red Sox were expected to take a step forward but have regressed and not by just a little bit. The young core of a lineup has been one of the worst in the sport despite their rotation taking major strides forward. Injuries haven’t derailed the pitching but the lineup issues have turned the Red Sox into an afterthought in the American League. That created an opportunity for the Mariners to beat a bottom-tier team and build their small division lead.

Red Sox 6, Mariners 2 (Game One, June 19th)

Game one on Friday night took place on Juneteenth so the Mariners wore their Steelheads uniforms from the 1946 Negro League team in the PNW. The pitching matchup was a good one as Boston threw one of their offseason acquisitions in left-hander Ranger Suarez. For Seattle, they went back to the piggyback method with Bryce Miller getting the start and he would be followed by Luis Castillo out of the bullpen.

Both teams went 1-2-3 in the 1st inning as fans barely had a chance to make it to their seats before the inning ended. Bryce Miller got off to another strong start with two quick outs in the 2nd before hitting a speed bump. Caleb Durbin came to the plate and Miller tried to sneak in a fastball at the top of the zone to get ahead. Durbin was in swing mode however and sent that heater to the Boston bullpen for his fifth home run of the season. The first mistake had Boston getting the 1-0 lead.

Ranger Suarez was dicing up the Mariners on Friday night and did not allow a baserunner until the 4th when he walked Cal Raleigh. With the Mariner bats silenced, it did not matter much as he stranded that walk but Boston couldn’t get much going either against Bryce Miller. In the first five innings of the game, there were a combined three hits and just one walk. The lone Durbin homer was the only mark on the scoreboard as Miller held up his end of the deal while Suarez was dominating in this pitchers duel.

Luis Castillo got off to a nice start in the 6th with a 1-2-3 inning before running into trouble in the 7th. Ceddanne Rafaela began the inning with his 17th double of the season to get an insurance run into scoring position. He would move up to third on a sacrifice fly before scoring on a wild pitch, making it 2-0. Things fell apart for the Mariners after that. Four consecutive singles and a sacrifice fly along with an error allowed Boston to open this one up in the blink of an eye. That added three more runs to the Red Sox lead as it went from a low-scoring affair to a 5-0 Boston lead rapidly.

Ranger Suarez lost it a bit in the 7th after walking Cal Raleigh and losing the no-hitter on Josh Naylor’s ninth double of the year. It gave the M’s the opening to get right back in the game and not allow Boston to bury them early. With runners on second and third with one out, Suarez would get Dominic Canzone to groundout right back to him. The lefty would leave the game after walking Cole Young to load the bases and J.P. Crawford stepped to the plate pinch hitting for Victor Robles with the bases loaded and two outs. The reliever out of the bullpen would be Justin Slaten and he shut down the Mariners threat by striking out Crawford with a well-located cutter. The bases loaded threat escaped through the Mariners grasp as they remained scoreless into the 8th.

Boston added one more in the 9th on back-to-back doubles by Caleb Durbin and Michael Mayer to make it 6-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. Tommy Kahnle came on for Boston in his first appearance in Seattle since the M’s walked him and the Tigers off in the 15th inning of Game 5 of last year’s ALDS. The M’s got to him again as Raleigh walked again before Julio Rodríguez got Seattle on the board with his 14th home run of the season to give them a little life at 6-2. Kahnle had no problems after that as he retired the next three to send the crowd home unhappy. A lack of offense and a bad inning by Castillo cost the Mariners in the opener as they fell to the Red Sox, 6-2.

Notable Performances

Red Sox

Mariners

• Julio Rodríguez- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Bryce Miller (L, 3-1)- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO
• Josh Naylor- 1-4

Red Sox 5, Mariners 1 (Game Two, June 20th)

After slipping up in the opener, the Seattle Mariners would look to win the final two games against the Boston Red Sox for back-to-back series victories but would need the bats to wake up to do so. In the middle game of the set, Boston would have one of their brightest young pitchers on the mound in another left in Connelly Early. With Seattle’s struggles against left-handers this season, the pressure would be on Emerson Hancock to try to keep the Red Sox off the board on Saturday.

Emerson Hancock was off to a nice start with a 1-2-3 top of the 1st and got some early offense to boot. In the bottom of the 1st, J.P. Crawford worked a walk to begin the game for Seattle and Cal Raleigh followed with a single to left to put the first two men on. Julio Rodríguez was up next and grounded out to third but while Boston cut down Raleigh at second, Julio beat out the double play attempt at first. With runners on the corners and one out, Josh Naylor put Seattle in front with an RBI single to center to bring in Crawford and make it 1-0. That would be all Seattle could muster early as Early got some help when J-Rod was caught stealing third and then Rob Refsnyder grounded out to short to end the inning.

Hancock continued to deal early and was perfect the first time through the order against a struggling Red Sox lineup. The bad news was Seattle’s offense quieted down after the 1st while Boston’s began to heat up in the middle innings. In the 4th was when the Sox got into the hit column on a leadoff single by the freshly called up Anthony Seigler. Two batters later, the Seattle lead was gone with Wilyer Abreu as the culprit. Hancock fell behind 2-0 and against a good hitter in Abreu, that is a bad spot to be. A cutter down the heart of the plate turned into Abreu’s ninth home run of the season and the two-run blast gave Boston a 2-1 lead.

A fantastic double play started by J.P. Crawford erased a leadoff single in the 5th for the Red Sox and helped Hancock keep the deficit at 2-1. That was until the 6th when Boston once again put together a strong inning to open things up. A single by Masataka Yoshida and a walk to Wilyer Abreu turned into so much more as a wild pitch put runners on second and third with one out. After walking Willson Contreras to load the bases, Hancock was pulled from the game as Dan Wilson brought in Jose A. Ferrer but his struggles continued. He got a big second out on a grounded to Josh Naylor who would cut down a run at the plate. A wild pitch would gift Boston a run while they added on with RBI singles by Caleb Durbin and Marcelo Mayer. Once again it took one hiccup inning to put the M’s in a bad spot, trailing 5-1.

Seattle put two on in the 6th but that was pretty much it for the rest of the game. The bats were quiet as can be for most of the game and completely silent against the Boston bullpen. The trio of Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock, and Danny Coulombe retired all nine batters that they faced as the M’s didn’t have another hit after the 1st inning. Another poor performance from the lineup kept Seattle’s struggles continue as they dropped the series and the middle game 5-1.

Notable Performances

Red Sox

Mariners

• Josh Naylor- 1-4, RBI
• Cal Raleigh- 1-3, BB
• Emerson Hancock (L, 5-4)- 5.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

Mariners 3, Red Sox 1 (Game Three, June 21st)

With just four total hits in the first two games of the series, the Seattle Mariners would need to figure things out to avoid a sweep on Father’s Day to finish the homestand and the series with the Boston Red Sox. It would have to happen against a lefty as Boston had their third consecutive southpaw on the mound as Payton Tolle tried to earn Boston a sweep. Riding his best stretch of the season, Logan Gilbert would hope to continue to trend upwards in his first Father’s Day as a father himself.

Logan Gilbert would not have a 1-2-3 1st, but did put up a zero to start the game before Payton Tolle did the same. Two strikeouts in a quick and quiet 2nd for Gilbert showed he was on his game and Tolle would blink first in the bottom of the 2nd. With the bases empty and two outs, Dominic Canzone came to the plate for a rare opportunity against a lefty. He fell behind 0-2 and but battled back to even the count before getting a fastball on the outer third. He showed off his opposite field power as he drove the heater out to left for his 12th home run of the year. Canzone continued what looks to be the best season of his young career as the M’s grabbed a 1-0 lead.

Like most of the leads in this series for the M’s, it did not last for long. While Gilbert was very sharp early on, a challenge heater would just see Boston get a good swing on it in the 3rd. A 1-1 fastball at the top of the zone was caught up to by Nate Eaton and he had enough power to change the game. A solo shot to left was the first home run of the season for Eaton and evened this one up at 1-1.

Neither team had many opportunities to score as a double play hit into by Rob Refsnyder killed Seattle’s threat in the 4th. A successful pick-off by Gilbert in the 5th erased a leadoff single and in the bottom of the 5th, Seattle threatened again. With nobody on and two outs, Weston Wilson recorded his first hit as a Mariner with a single to left to extend the inning. He would then give himself his first stolen base as a Mariner to get himself into scoring position where Cole Young would do the rest. He would slap a grounder the other way into left field for a two-out RBI single to score Wilson and put Seattle back in front, 2-1.

Boston put the tying run on second with nobody out in the 6th on a walk and wild pitch. Logan Gilbert would get some defensive help after striking out Anthony Seigler. Ceddanne Rafaela lined one to right field where Dominic Canzone made a wonderful diving catch to take away a hit. Even better, Canzone popped right back up and doubled up Eaton at second to put an end to the inning. Strong defense prevented the Red Sox from having a two-out RBI opportunity and kept the M’s in the lead 2-1.

It just seemed to be Dominic Canzone’s day. With a home run already, he would have an insurance opportunity in the bottom of the 6th after making that terrific play in right. Singles by Julio Rodríguez and Rob Refsnyder put runners on the corners with one out and Canzone coming to the plate. A grounder to short looked like it could have been trouble, but Marcelo Mayer’s only play was to get Canzone at first, which allowed Julio to score to extend the Seattle lead to 3-1.

While most of the day was a success for Logan Gilbert, the 7th would get scary for him. An error at first by Josh Naylor put Mickey Gasper on but Logan bounced back with a strikeout of Willson Contreras for the first out. That would be the end of his day as Gabe Speier came on in relief to strikeout Jarren Duran. That is when things got a little shaky. Caleb Durbin continued his hot series with his 15th double of the season to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. It turned into nothing as Speier struck out pinch hitter Andruw Monasterio to slam the door on that threat. Gilbert went 6 1/3 innings with three hits and one run allowed while walking two and striking out eight in his first display as a dad on Father’s Day.

Eduard Bazardo had no issues in the 8th but the 3-1 lead would have to do as Andrés Muñoz came on for the 9th to try to close out the series finale. Ceddanne Rafaela would fly out to Luke Raley in left but a single by Mickey Gasper brought the tying run to the plate with one out. It was no issue as Muñoz was dialed in on Sunday and bounced back with a strikeout of the dangerous Willson Contreras for out number two. Boston’s last chance was Jarren Duran but he fell behind 0-2 on a couple of triple digit fastballs before chasing a slider to go down on strikes. Save number 13 was in the books for Andrés Muñoz as Seattle avoided the sweep on Father’s Day, beating Boston 3-1.

Notable Performances

Red Sox

Mariners

• Logan Gilbert (W, 6-4)- 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO
• Dominic Canzone- 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Cole Young- 1-3, RBI

What’s Next

A 3-3 homestand was not exactly what the Seattle Mariners (40-39) were hoping for as they continue to just tread water along with the rest of the AL West. Every month so far this season the M’s have been within two games record wise of .500 and have not really slumped or surged too much at all. The good news for the Mariners is that they didn’t lose much in the AL West as the A’s and Angels split four games. More teams are entering the mix as Houston took two of three from Cleveland and Texas took two of three from San Diego. All that together gives Seattle a 1 1/2 game lead over the A’s, two ahead of the Rangers, three ahead of Houston and eight ahead of Los Angeles. The A’s make the short trip to San Francisco for three this week while Texas goes to Miami for three. Houston will be north of the border for three in Toronto while Los Angeles will host Baltimore for three.

Meanwhile, the AL West leaders in the Mariners will be back on the road for a six-game road trip starting with an interleague foe during the week. Seattle will head to Pittsburgh for three games with the Pirates (39-39) who have had an up and down season so far. In a strong NL Central with just one team below .500, the Pirates were a trendy dark horse pick before the season started and have looked at times like that sleeper team. However, Pittsburgh’s young pitching has just been middle of the road while the offense has surprisingly been the strength of the team. They strikeout at a very high rate (second most in baseball) but are fourth in OPS and fifth in batting average.

Fortunately the Mariners will avoid Paul Skenes so we will go to that lineup for our player spotlight. Brandon Lowe was not the flashiest acquisition this offseason but he has provided quite a spark for the Pittsburgh lineup. His average is just .244 but 18 homers and 49 runs batted in, Lowe has become almost a shoe-in to be at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia next month. In Tampa Bay, Lowe was always a reliable bat and an underappreciated player but he is as consistent as can be.

• Game 1, Tuesday 3:40pm- George Kirby (5-7, 4.10 ERA) vs. Mitch Keller (5-4, 4.92 ERA)
• Game 2, Wednesday 3:40pm- Bryan Woo (6-5, 3.94 ERA) vs. Braxton Ashcraft (6-3, 3.18 ERA)
• Game 3, Thursday 9:35am- Bryce Miller (3-1, 1.58 ERA) vs. Bubba Chandler (2-7, 4.62 ERA)

Mariners Minor League Update

This will be a new segment each week to update what is going on in the Seattle minor league system. We will continuously give scores for each team but will also highlight some of the key players that have had strong series.

Tacoma Rainiers (Split Series @ Salt Lake City Bees, L 10-6, W 12-6, W 8-0, L 3-2, L 8-7, W 7-1)

Hitter of the Series

Ryan Bliss, 2B- 11-24, 4 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, 11 R, 3 BB, 4 SB

Pitcher of the Series

Robinson Ortiz, LHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

Arkansas Travelers (Lost Series @ Friso RoughRiders, L 7-6, W 9-4, L 13-3, L 13-4, W 4-0, L 4-2, L 3-1)

Hitter of the Series

Hunter Fitz-Gerald, 3B- 7-21, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Kade Anderson, LHP- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Everett AquaSox (Lost Series vs. Hillsboro Hops, L 12-5, W 5-3, L 11-4, L 11-3, W 5-4, L 4-3)

Hitter of the Series

Anthony Donorfio, OF- 8-18, 3 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 R, BB, 2 SB

Pitcher of the Series

Lucas Kelly, RHP- 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO

Inland Empire 66ers (Lost Series @ Fresno Grizzlies, L 4-3, L 6-5, L 8-2, W 16-4, W 6-4, L 2-1)

Hitter of the Series

Estevan Moreno, 3B- 12-26, 3 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, BB

Pitcher of the Series

Gleiner Diaz, RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO

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