6/23/26

(Pittsburgh, PA) Right back on the road, the Seattle Mariners were trying to find the elusive consistency that has prevented this team from running away with a wide open AL West. With the bats silenced for the last week, the M’s would need their star studded pitching staff to carry the team while they worked out some offensive issues moving towards the All-Star Break. The team did get some great news before Tuesday’s series opener as Randy Arozarena was activated from the IL after missing a week with a hamstring strain. Now, the lineup was as healthy as it had been since the early days of the season, but they still needed to find a way to produce.

The road trip began in Pittsburgh as it was a sea battle between the Mariners and Pirates for three games. Seattle was fortunate enough to avoid Paul Skenes for this series but these aren’t the same Pirates that were shutout over 27 innings in Seattle last summer. Pittsburgh has improved offensively behind the acquisitions of Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn, and Marcell Ozuna. The pitching has regressed however for the Pirates as they were looking to get the Mariners consistency on the mound to try to end a 10-year playoff drought.

Mariners 3, Pirates 2 (Game One, June 23rd)

To open up the series, Seattle would have George Kirby on the mound to try to set the tone for the three-game set. Kirby would be looking for his third consecutive quality start but would also try to avoid the one bad inning that has cost him in the month of June. For Pittsburgh, veteran Mitch Keller would have the ball. After a solid first month of the season, Keller has progressively gotten worse each month and entered Tuesday night with a 7.71 ERA in three starts in June.

George Kirby and the Mariners were having to dodge trouble early. Pittsburgh put a man on in the 1st on a leadoff single by Spencer Horwitz but the next two were retired by Kirby. In stepped Nick Gonzales who would reach on an infield single and the throw to first by Colt Emerson got away from Josh Naylor. He tracked it down to throw out Gonzales trying to move to second to end the inning. In the 2nd, Seattle couldn’t get off the hook. A one-out double by Endy Rodríguez would be followed by an RBI single by Marcell Ozuna to put Pittsburgh in front, 1-0.

The defense for the Mariners was a consistent problem on Tuesday night. George Kirby dropped the ball in a rundown that would have ended the 2nd and while that didn’t hurt, the 3rd inning was a different story. George Kirby got Spencer Horwitz to fly out to deep center in the latest deep fly out of the game. Back-to-back singles by Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds set the table for Pittsburgh and Nick Gonzalez. He would hit a grounder to third but J.P. Crawford’s throw to first was off target. The error allowed Lowe to score and increase the Pirates lead to 2-0.

Both teams were hitting a ton of deep fly balls but PNC Park was holding all of them. That is until the top of the 4th. Cal Raleigh led off the inning and found himself in a quick 0-2 hole against Mitch Keller. Lacking a great strike three pitch, Keller gave Raleigh a slider but it just hung right over the plate. Raleigh drilled it out to right and it had just enough to get out for Cal’s eighth home run of the season. The solo blast was also his first since coming off the IL and got Seattle on the board, trailing 2-1.

With a lack of any offense, George Kirby really had to be careful to not allow the Pirates to open things up anymore. He found himself in some trouble in the 5th as Brandon Lowe doubled for the 19th time this season to begin the inning. A very close 3-2 pitch just missed to Bryan Reynolds as runners were on first and second with nobody out. Nick Gonzales hit the ball hard but a nice play by Colt Emerson at short turned into a 6-4-3 double play to take a lot of pressure off of Kirby. A line drive by Ryan O’Hearn was juggled but caught at first by Josh Naylor to get Kirby out of the inning with the score still 2-1.

George Kirby would make it three quality starts in a row as he bailed out J.P. Crawford in the 6th after an error. He would not take the mound again but he did get a nice departing gift from the bats. Luke Raley led off the top of the 7th with his seventh double of the season to put the tying run in scoring position. That brought Cole Young to the plate in what was already a special night for him playing in his home ballpark for the first time as a big leaguer. Going to high school just 12 miles away from PNC Park, Young had plenty of friends and family in the stands and he took advantage of the moment. Young took a hanging sweeper deep to right field and had more than just warning track power, leaving his childhood park for his seventh home run of the season. A special memory was made for Young and his family as Seattle took a 3-2 lead.

Seattle’s bullpen would take over after six quality innings from George Kirby. Jose A. Ferrer cruised through the top of the order in the 7th before handing the ball to Eduard Bazardo for the 8th. He would not have as smooth of an inning as after striking out Nick Gonzalez, Ryan O’Hearn singled to put the tying run on. Billy Cook pinch ran for O’Hearn and immediately stole second to put the tying run in scoring position. Bazardo would strikeout Endy Rodríguez before walking Marcell Ozuna on a challenge which was ruled a ball. That challenged extended the inning by only a pitch as Jake Mangum flew out to Julio Rodríguez in center to end the inning as Bazardo escaped the threat and stranded a pair.

It would still be a one-run lead as a Cole Young walk was stranded in the 9th. Andrés Muñoz inherited a 3-2 lead for the bottom of the 9th, facing 9-1-2 in the Pittsburgh order. Muñoz had terrific velocity as he blew away Tyler Callihan with a 100-mph fastball for out number one. It was the same fate for Spencer Horwitz as Muñoz earned another strikeout. Brandon Lowe as the last chance for Pittsburgh but he could not solve Muñoz either, going down on strikes as well. Andrés Muñoz threw 16 pitches in the 9th and 10 were 100-mph+ as he netted the M’s a series opening 3-2 win over Pittsburgh.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Pirates

• Brandon Lowe- 2-5, 2B, R
• Marcell Ozuna- 1-3, RBI, BB
• Mitch Keller (L, 5-5)- 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Roster Moves

• OF Randy Arozarena activated from 10-day IL
• OF Connor Joe optioned to Triple-A Tacoma

What’s Next

Road trips have not been too kind to the Seattle Mariners (41-39) this season, but the M’s start this six-game trip with a victory. Texas won on Monday in Miami but lost to the Marlins on Tuesday night. Houston flipped those results in Toronto with a loss on Monday and an extra innings win on Tuesday. The Angels lost 6-1 to Baltimore on Monday but them and the A’s have yet to play on Tuesday night. Those results will be input here Tuesday night.

Seattle gets to celebrate a second consecutive win and will look to secure the series with the Pittsburgh Pirates (39-40) early in game two of the three-game set on Wednesday. Seattle will send Bryan Woo (6-5, 3.94) to the mound in the middle game after he snapped his skid in his last outing. Against Baltimore on Thursday, Woo spun seven scoreless innings with just three hits and one walk allowed while striking out nine and pitching into the 8th. Pittsburgh will give the ball to Braxton Ashcraft (6-3, 3.18 ERA) in his 24th career start. Ashcraft was terrific last season, mostly pitching out of the bullpen but has been outstanding in the rotation this year, but has only pitched beyond the 5th inning once so far in June. First pitch is scheduled for 3:40pm.

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