7/7/26

(Miami, FL) With so many people taking their summer vacations right now, the Seattle Mariners decided to do the same with a nice road trip to finish out the first half of the season before the All-Star Break. A trip to Florida for six games is how the M’s would close out the first half but that road trip turned out to me a little more intimidating than it looked to be at the start of the season. However, the vibes were high for the Mariners after a series win against the Blue Jays to close out a 5-1 homestand so the squad had momentum as they traveled south.

No team in baseball has been hotter since the start of June than the Miami Marlins. They got off to a nice start to the season before cooling off in May. Since then, no team in baseball has a better record and the 2026 Marlins feel a lot like the 2025 Mariners where they just find a way to get it done no matter the situation they are in. Instead of facing a bottom feeder, the M’s would be facing a legit playoff threat.

On paper we would be in for a fantastic pitching matchup for the opener on Tuesday. All-Star Max Meyer would get the ball for the first time since being named to his first All-Star team, but will not pitch in the game due to him being scheduled to pitch on Sunday, two days before the All-Star Game. He would go up against Bryan Woo as the Mariners rotation looked to continue their dominant stretch as of late.

Marlins 6, Mariners 5 (10 Innings) (Game One, July 7th)

Max Meyer was dealing from the very get-go and was perfect through the first three innings of this game. Bryan Woo on the other hand continued to struggle away from T-Mobile Park. He dealt with constant traffic but escaped it in the 1st. He wasn’t so lucky in the 2nd as Owen Caissie led off the inning with his 12th home run of the season to give Miami a 1-0 lead. He seemed to settle in as he retired the next two, but back-to-back singles by Javier Sanoja and Liam Hicks extended the inning with runners on the corners. A wild pitch then scored Sanoja and made it 2-0 Miami.

Miami would continue to add on while the Mariners were just happy to finally get a hit. Another two-out rally for the Marlins came in the 3rd and was started by a Griffin Conine single. A walk to Owen Caissie gave Jakob Marsee and RBI opportunity and he cashed in with an RBI single to right to make it 3-0. In the 4th, a double and error put Liam Hicks on third with one out for Kyle Stowers. He hit a hard line drive into right field, but a diving catch by Luke Raley took a hit away. It was still deep enough to score Hicks and put Seattle in a 4-0 hole.

A breakthrough would finally happen for Seattle in the 5th as it seemed Max Meyer turned into a completely different pitcher. Cal Raleigh doubled for the sixth time this season to leadoff the inning and give the M’s a good shot to score. He would move to third on a Josh Naylor groundout before Luke Raley brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center. Two pitches later, the Mariners showed they weren’t done as Cole Young squared up a fastball and sent it out to right field. It was just high enough to get out for Young’s 10th homer of the season as Seattle cut their deficit down to 4-2.

Then came a golden opportunity for the Mariners to bring this one all the way back and tie it up or take the lead. Max Meyer lost control and walked both Colt Emerson and Randy Arozarena while J.P. Crawford singled in between to load the bases with nobody out. Clayton McCullough had to go to his bullpen and brought in Michael Petersen. The flamethrower showed no fear and went right after the meat of the order. Dominic Canzone put the ball in play with a grounder to first and while Kyle Stowers bounced his throw home, Joe Mack picked it to cut down a run. A strikeout of Cal Raleigh put all the pressure on Josh Naylor but a grounder to second erased the bases loaded, no out threat without a run scoring for Seattle.

Luke Raley’s double in the 7th was stranded but both Jose A. Ferrer and Eduard Bazardo threw 1-2-3 innings to keep the deficit at two. In the 8th after Crawford walked to begin the inning, Calvin Faucher took over on the mound as the third reliever. He would hit Randy Arozarena to put the tying run on before recording the first out with a strikeout of Dominic Canzone. Cal Raleigh came through this time with his second double of the game and the seventh of the season to bring home Crawford, making it 4-3 with runners still on second and third. Josh Naylor then tied the game with an RBI single and got second on interference by Xavier Edwards. Raleigh was erased in a rundown between third and home for the second out but with Victor Robles at the plate, a wild pitch would allow Naylor to score. Seattle did not waste this opportunity as they stormed back to take a 5-4 lead.

With the bullpen looking sharp, Dan Wilson brought in lefty Gabe Speier for the 8th to face pinch hitter Heriberto Hernández. A good battle took place but Hernández emphatically won the battle. A 3-2 fastball was hammered out to left and it had enough to get out for his 12th long ball of the season. Seattle’s comeback was erased as the game was back where it started and all tied up at 5-5. Both teams used their closers for the 9th and Pete Fairbanks and Andrés Muñoz both put up a goose egg and we headed for extra innings.

Cade Gibson was on for the Marlins in the 10th and Weston Wilson ran for Dominic Canzone as the automatic runner at second. Cal Raleigh was at the plate and hit a grounder to Otto Lopez at short and he immediately went to third and cutdown Wilson for the first out. Josh Naylor was next and his fly ball to left was handled before Mitch Garver pinch hit for Luke Raley. Garver battled for an eight-pitch AB, but ended up grounding out to short to end the inning. Seattle couldn’t push across a run and would need to hold Miami off the board in the home half of the 10th.

Michael Rucker was on for the M’s with Xavier Edwards as the automatic runner at second and the winning run. Heriberto Hernández sent a line drive out to new right fielder Miles Mastrobuoni and while the catch was made, Edwards moved up to third to put the winning run 90-feet away. Esteury Ruiz then walked which gave Seattle a chance at a double play. It never came. Instead, Jakob Marsee sent a deep fly ball of the wall in right field to send everybody home. A gutsy comeback ended in extra innings heartbreak for the Mariners as they dropped the opener to the Marlins in 10 innings, 6-5.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Marlins

• Jakob Marsee- 2-4, 2 RBI, Walk-Off
• Heriberto Hernández- 1-2, HR, RBI, R
• Max Meyer (ND)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

Seattle (47-45) does not get off to a good start for their Florida road trip but did show quite a bit of fight if you’re looking for some optimism. The Mariners remain atop the AL West despite Texas’ comeback win over the Los Angeles Angels. Houston also earned a win in Washington D.C. while the Athletics fell in Detroit. That gives Seattle a half game lead over Texas and two over Houston while the A’s have fallen to 5 1/2 games back.

The Mariners and Marlins will continue their aquatic battle in game two on Wednesday afternoon at 3:40pm. In the middle game of the series, we will get another solid pitching matchup yet again. Tyler Phillips (1-3, 3.52 ERA) will make another start but don’t expect to see him go too long. He is more of a bulk reliever but has been thrust into the Marlins rotation for the last month. Miami has had bad luck despite him pitching fairly well as they are 7-16 in games where Phillips pitches this season. George Kirby (7-7, 3.81 ERA) will try to right the rotation ship after Woo’s hiccup in the opener. Kirby has recorded a quality start in his last four outings despite allowing 31 hits in those starts.

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