6/28/26

(Cleveland, OH) Back and forth between six-game homestands and six-game road trips had seen the Seattle Mariners also go back-and-forth between series wins and series losses. However, the M’s headed to Cleveland for three games with the Guardians coming off back-to-back series losses to Boston at home and in Pittsburgh. Furthermore, the M’s entered the opener on Friday night with the Guardians on a negative streak with 11 consecutive games scoring three runs or fewer.

The series in Cleveland would also decide the season series between the two teams as they opened up the season with four games in Seattle. They split those four which meant if the two end up tied for a Wild Card spot, which is possible in a middling American League, the tiebreaker would go to whoever could win at least two at Progressive Field.

Mariners 3, Guardians 1 (Game One, June 26th)

Opening up the series would be a non-piggyback situation for Luis Castillo as the veteran did not have the looming presence of another starter on his mind. For Cleveland, it would be a similar sounding pitcher as Joey Cantillo would have the ball as the lefty looked to cash-in on Seattle issues against southpaws.

It would be Cleveland getting off to the strong start as Joey Cantillo threw a 1-2-3 1st and their lineup would gift him a run as well. Kyle Manzardo had the first hit of the game as the former Washington State Cougar singled with one out but remained there after Brayan Rocchio flew out to Randy Arozarena in left. With two outs, one of the multiple rookies on the Guardians roster would come up with the clutch knock. Kahlil Watson sent a double off the wall in left for his first career double. Manzardo scored easily as he was running on contact with two outs and Cleveland was on the board with a 1-0 lead.

Seattle put a baserunner on in the 2nd but a double play erased Dominic Canzone’s walk. In the 3rd, they would record their first hit of the night. With the bases empty and two outs, Ohio native Colt Emerson came to the plate and he took a page out of Cole Young’s book. Young homered in his first game at his childhood ballpark earlier in the week and Emerson did the same here. A solo shot to right would be the rookie’s seventh of the season in a special moment for him as well as the game was even 1-1.

That was pretty much it for the offenses against the starting pitchers. Cleveland put a couple on in the 4th but Cal Raleigh picked off a runner to minimize that threat. Randy Arozarena double in the 6th but was left stranded in Cantillo’s last inning. It was a really nice outing for Luis Castillo who is in the middle of his worst season as a pro. Castillo went six innings of one-run ball with four hits and one walk allowed while striking out four. Castillo was locating all of his pitches very well so while his stuff isn’t what it once was, the locations led to a lot of weak contact from Cleveland.

The first reliever into the game was Tim Herrin for the Guardians and he was wild early with back-to-back walks to Cal Raleigh and Dominic Canzone to put two on immediately. Josh Naylor would unfortunately hit into a double play to erase Canzone again while Raleigh moved up to third with two outs. With a lefty starter on the mound, J.P. Crawford was dropped down in the lineup but it paid off. A grounder up the middle would be backhanded by Travis Bazzana but the ball was dropped by the former #1 overall pick ad he tried to get a throw off. It likely would not have mattered as Crawford was given a hit which brought home Raleigh and gave the M’s a 2-1 lead.

Jose A. Ferrer rolled through the 7th with a 1-2-3 frame before Seattle netted an insurance run in the 8th. With Daniel Espino on the mound, two one-out walks to Colt Emerson and Randy Arozarena put two on for Julio Rodríguez. J-Rod came through with a base hit into left field and with plenty of speed from Emerson, earned him an RBI to make it 3-1. Hunter Gaddis was then called in from the bullpen and struck out both Raleigh and Canzone to help minimize the damage done by the M’s.

Seattle went to another lefty for the 8th as Gabe Speier also pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Seattle couldn’t cash in on a couple of two-out singles by Luke Raley and Cole Young so the two-run lead would have to do for Andrés Muñoz in the 9th. Seattle’s closer continued his recent dominance with a couple of strikeouts of Kyle Manzardo and Brayan Rocchio. He wouldn’t strike out the side, but Kahlil Watson hit a harmless grounder to Colt Emerson at short to finish it. The Mariners bullpen retired all nine Guardians they faced and three runs was enough as they took the opener over Cleveland, 3-1.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Guardians

• Joey Cantillo (ND)- 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO
• Kahlil Watson- 1-4, 2B, RBI
• Kyle Manzardo- 1-4, R

Guardians 4, Mariners 3 (Game Two, June 27th)

A win in the opener had the Seattle Mariners back on track after a couple of losses in Pittsburgh. There was also a change in gameplan as the M’s decided to not use the piggyback strategy this weekend which meant it would be Logan Gilbert and he alone on Saturday as the reigning AL Player of the Week would have the ball against the same team he faced on Opening Day. For Cleveland, they would put Slade Cecconi on the bump with him hoping to erase his disaster against the M’s back in March.

Dominic Canzone’s double in the 1st was left stranded while Logan Gilbert retired the first six Guardians he faced. Gabriel Arias was the first Guardian to reach with a leadoff single in the bottom of the 3rd. He would turn it into a double with his first stolen base of the year and remained at second as Gilbert was able to retire the next three batters to keep it scoreless early on.

Cleveland would break through in the bottom of the 4th as the Guardians got to Gilbert. Singles by Travis Bazzana and Kyle Manzardo put runners on the corners with one out after Julio Rodríguez made a terrific sliding catch in center. It would again be Kahlil Watson to strike first and it would be on his second double of the season and the series as he brought home Bazzana and set up two in scoring position. Cooper Ingle cashed in on that opportunity with a two-run single to right to push Cleveland out in front, 3-0.

In the 5th, Cleveland gave Seattle an opportunity to strike back a bit. With one out, Luke Raley drew a walk and Cole Young reached on an error to put two on. Slade Cecconi would bail out his defense with back-to-back strikeouts of Colt Emerson and J.P. Crawford to escape the trouble. The offense rewarded him in the bottom of the 5th with some two out noise. A single by Travis Bazzana turned into more when Brayan Rocchio hit his 13th double of the season. Somehow in the 5th the deficit grew on the M’s as they were in a 4-0 hole.

Seattle was in a bad spot as they couldn’t string hits together against Slade Cecconi or the Cleveland bullpen. Logan Gilbert would fight his way through seven innings with the deficit still at 4-0. In the 8th, Shawn Armstrong came into pitch but was not sharp. He hit J-Rod to begin the inning before giving up a single to Dominic Canzone. With two on and nobody out, Seattle did more than just get on the board. They got back in the game thanks to Randy Arozarena. The All-Star candidate crushed a fastball right down the middle out to center for his eighth home run of the season. The three-run shot brought the Mariners to life as they trailed 4-3.

Jose A. Ferrer did his job in the 8th which meant Seattle needed to get to Cade Smith to extend the game. J.P. Crawford struck out but Julio Rodríguez came through with a single to put the tying run on with one out. Dominic Canzone squared one up but it was caught in center by Daniel Schneemann for the second out. Randy Arozarena came to the plate and kept the game alive with a hit by pitch to put the tying run in scoring position. The comeback fell just short as former Guardian in Josh Naylor couldn’t beat his former team. A groundout to short ended the Mariners comeback as the series was evened with Cleveland winning game two, 4-3.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Guardians

• Slade Cecconi (W, 4-6)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
• Cooper Ingle- 1-3, 2 RBI
• Travis Bazzana- 2-4, 2 R

Guardians 6, Mariners 5 (Game Three, June 28th)

Another rubber game on the road was up next for the Seattle Mariners on Sunday as the season series between Seattle and Cleveland came to a close with the series even 3-3. Emerson Hancock began his breakout season back in March against Cleveland and he would look to continue that against the Guardians on Sunday. Gavin Williams would be the starter for the Guardians and he would have his second outing against the M’s this season.

Two catchers were in the lineup on Sunday as Mitch Garver was behind the plate as Cal Raleigh was in the lineup as the DH. They would get the scoring started in the 2nd inning. Cal Raleigh singled to leadoff the 2nd and moved into scoring position on a groundout by Colt Emerson. With two outs, Mitch Garver came through with a slap single the other way into right field. Raleigh was able to beat the throw home and the Mariner backstops combined to give them a 1-0 lead.

Emerson Hancock got in some trouble in the 2nd after giving up a single to Kahlil Watson and a walk to Brayan Rocchio. A double steal put runners on second and third with nobody out as it looked like the lead would disappear. He would strikeout Cooper Ingle for the first out before a grounder by Gabriel Arias to Josh Naylor at first turned into a rundown, erasing Brayan Rocchio as Watson retreated back to third. Emerson Hancock officially escaped the inning as a flyout to left off the bat of Austin Hedges ended the inning with the 1-0 lead still intact.

A little breathing room came for Seattle in the 3rd as the bats came to life. It started with a one-out walk for Julio Rodríguez with Josh Naylor coming to the plate. Naylor finally hurt his former team as he hooked his 11th double of the season into the right field corner. J-Rod scored to make it 2-0 as the M’s looked to open things up. A grounder by Randy Arozarena turned into another run as Brayan Rocchio’s throw was wild and Naylor scored on the error as the Mariners capitalized on some defensive woes to take a 3-0 lead.

Emerson Hancock continued to work wonders as he escaped quite a few baserunners on Sunday. Cleveland would get him in the 5th on three singles in a row by Gabriel Arias, Austin Hedges, and Steven Kwan as the bases were loaded. A Travis Bazzana sacrifice fly brought home Arias to make it 3-1. He would strand the other two before being pulled with two outs in the 6th. Eduard Bazardo stranded the runners in the 6th giving Hancock just one run allowed despite not having his A-game.

The streak finally ended on Sunday. Victor Robles singled and stole second and third before scoring on an infield single by Julio Rodríguez. That snapped a streak of 13 consecutive games where the Mariners scored three runs or fewer which had tied a franchise record. Four runs had never felt so good as the M’s enjoyed a 4-1 lead.

Gabe Speier had a nice 7th but a lack of bullpen depth with injuries and Jose A. Ferrer unavailable, Dan Wilson had to roll the dice on some young guys. Michael Rucker started the 8th and things got immediately dicey. A single by Brayan Rocchio and a walk to Cooper Ingle put a couple on with nobody out. Daniel Schneemann singled home a run to make it 4-2 with the tying run on. Patrick Bailey was the first out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt before Steven Kwan walked to load the bases. Josh Simpson would come in to get Travis Bazzana to pop out to J.P. Crawford for the second out. Chase DeLauter would make an impact freshly off the IL. A two-run single would bring home two and tie the game at 4-4. Rhys Hoskins added two more with his 13th double of the season as the throw to the plate was dropped by Mitch Garver on the tag. A five-run inning turned a feel good win into a heartbreaker as the game went to the 9th with the M’s trailing 6-4.

Once again Seattle would have to try to comeback against Cade Smith in the 9th. One out singles by Cole Young and Colt Emerson put the tying run on and brought the go-ahead run to the plate. Dominic Canzone pinch hit for Mitch Garver, but struck out for the second out. The game seemed over as Victor Robles hit a grounder to Bazzana at second, but an error on the throw allowed Young to score and moved runners to second and third with a 6-5 score. J.P. Crawford would not be able to come through as he grounded out to short to end it. A bullpen disaster erased a series win and instead gave the Mariners one of their worst losses of the season, falling to Cleveland 6-5.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Guardians

• Chase DeLauter- 2-5, 2 RBI, R
• Rhys Hoskins- 2-2, 2B, 2 RBI
• Gavin Williams (ND)- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO

What’s Next

For the first time since May 27th, the Seattle Mariners (42-43) are no longer in first place in the AL West. That is because the Texas Rangers swept the Toronto Blue Jays to move Texas half of a game ahead of the Mariners. Houston also had a good weekend, taking three of four in Detroit while the Angels won two of three over the Athletics. It is still a traffic jam as Houston is just a game back of Texas while the A’s are two back and the Angels at 6 1/2 back. Texas will be in Cleveland for three this week while Houston hosts Minnesota for three and the A’s host the Dodgers for three.

Seattle will take on the Los Angeles Angels for the first time since they played in Anaheim back on April 3rd, 4th, and 5th as the Halos make their way to Seattle for three games starting on Monday. The M’s begin another six-game homestand with their last series against an AL West foe until after the All-Star Break. The Angels took two of three from the Mariners in April and are actually playing some good baseball, winning six of their last eight entering the series. Mike Trout was place on the IL on June 18th and will likely miss this series. The Angels also just made waves as GM Perry Minasian was fired over the weekend five and a half seasons in Anaheim. Minasian drew heavy criticism for letting Shohei Ohtani walk for free instead of trading him as well as dancing between being buyers and sellers for years.

With Mike Trout out we can focus on a different player for this spotlight and that will be José Soriano. After missing him in the first series with the Angels, Seattle will have to face the breakout starter this time around in game two on Tuesday. Soriano got off to an absurd start to the season as he had a 0.84 ERA in his first seven starts of the season. Soriano has come back down to earth since but still has a 3.32 ERA, which is the 11th best in the AL among qualified starters. His 102 strikeouts is the 8th most in the AL but going deep into games can be a problem for him. He has pitched six innings just three times in ten starts since the beginning of May. Patience and getting his pitch count up will be crucial for the Mariners to get the Angels bullpen in the game who have the seventh highest bullpen ERA in the sport.

• Game 1, Monday 6:40pm- Ryan Johnson (1-2, 8.84 ERA) vs. George Kirby (6-7, 3.94 ERA)
• Game 2, Tuesday 6:40pm- José Soriano (8-4, 3.32 ERA) vs. Bryan Woo (6-6, 4.26 ERA)
• Game 3, Thursday 6:40pm- Walbert Ureña (5-6, 3.14 ERA) vs. Bryce Miller (3-2, 1.97 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 (Lost Series vs. Round Rock Express, L 7-6, W 12-1, L 8-2, L 9-7, W 5-1, W 7-1)

Hitter of the Series

Patrick Wisdom, 3B- 7-17, 2B, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB

Pitcher of the Series

Jhonathan Díaz, LHP- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO

Arkansas Travelers (Won Series vs. San Antonio Missions, L 7-1, W 8-5, W 12-7, W 7-4, W 9-1, L 5-3)

Hitter of the Series

Michael Arroyo, UTIL- 8-20, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Ryan Sloan, RHP- 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO

Everett AquaSox (Split Series @ Eugene Emeralds, W 5-2, W 6-4, W 9-5, L 9-8, L 4-3, L 9-1)

Hitter of the Series

Felnin Celesten, SS- 10-26, 4 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Taylor Dollard, RHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO

Inland Empire 66ers (Split Series vs. San Jose Giants, W 14-11, L 9-7, L 4-1, W 13-1, W 3-1, L 5-4)

Hitter of the Series

Ricardo Cova, UTIL- 11-24, 2 2B, 3B, 8 RBI, 7 R, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Reese Lumpkin, RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO

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