7/19/26

(Seattle, WA) A fresh start was desperately needed for the Seattle Mariners as the All-Star Break came and went as the Mariners clumped their way into the break with a 1-5 road trip and falling out of first place in the AL West. A nice little break helped the Mariners reset and a manageable start to the second half gave them a chance to give fans hope and give the team momentum and optimism. However, they have had these opportunities multiple times this season and a lack of a strong run was starting to shrink Seattle’s margin for error.

A team that had not only a worse first half, but a way worse first half would be in town as the San Francisco Giants came to the Pacific Northwest in full sell mode. A trendy sleeper team in the National League before the season started, the Giants have been miserable this season and will likely see a number of players traded away as the deadline approaches. They would however love to play spoiler against a team that was in desperation mode.

Giants 7, Mariners 0 (Game One, July 17th)

Starting off the second half of the season, the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants met at T-Mobile Park on Friday as all sights were set on the rapidly approaching August 3rd trade deadline. To get the second half underway, Bryce Miller would make the start for Seattle against Landen Roupp for San Francisco.

It was a pitchers duel early on as both Roupp and Miller looked sharp after an extended layoff due to the All-Star Break. San Francisco managed just three hits and a walk in the first four innings while Seattle had just one hit and two walks, with the lone Josh Naylor single coming with two outs in the 4th. With both teams struggling for offense, the long ball would be crucial and that is exactly what broke the offensive slog. In the 5th, Drew Cavanaugh singled to right to put a runner on with one out. Bryce Miller would get Luis Arraez to fly out for an important second out, but Bryce Eldridge had some two-out magic in his bat. Eldridge took a splitter on the outside corner and got just enough to get it out to center for his ninth home run of the season. The two-run blast gave this game some offense and gave the Giants a 2-0 lead.

Seattle notched their second hit of the game in the bottom of the 5th on a leadoff single by Luke Raley. However that evaporated rapidly as a bunt by Victor Robles resulted in Raley being thrown out at second before Robles was caught stealing shortly after. Landen Roupp was never really uncomfortable despite the M’s making a ton of contact against him. Roupp went seven scoreless innings and just allowed two hits while only striking out two batters and walking three. A lot of weak contact has been all to familiar for the M’s lately and that continued against Roupp to start the second half.

San Francisco loaded the bases in the 6th and managed a run to make it 3-0 but the big blow came one inning later. With Nick Davila replacing Bryce Miller on the mound, the Giants got on him quickly. Casey Schmitt singled to welcome him to the game and after recording an out, Davila allowed a single to Heliot Ramos to put another on. After Jung Hoo Lee was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Davila was really up against it with Willy Adames coming to the plate. Davila hung a slider and Adames delivered the knockout blow with a grand slam to center for his 16th home run of the season. The bats were completely silenced the rest of the way and the second half started like the first ended as the M’s were shutout by the Giants in the opener, 7-0.

Notable Performances

Giants

Mariners

• Bryce Miller (L, 4-4)- 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
• Josh Naylor- 1-3
• Luke Raley- 1-3

Mariners 4, Giants 3 (10 Innings) (Game Two, July 18th)

After about as abysmal of a start to the second half as fans could imagine, the Seattle Mariners looked to bounce back quickly in game two with the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. In another strong pitching matchup in this series, Logan Webb would try to keep the M’s offensive woes live on while Bryan Woo would hope to give Seattle their first win of the second half.

It was another slow start on offense for both teams as Woo and Webb put up scoreless innings into the 3rd. That is when the Giants got their bats going a bit starting off with a single by Drew Gilbert to begin the inning. Luis Arraez turned it into a threat with a single of his own to put runners on first and second with just one out and the meat of the order coming to the plate. Bryce Eldridge got the scoring started in game one and did so in game two as well with a single to center. The ball was booted by Luke Raley which allowed Gilbert to score and make it 1-0.

Seattle got a hit on a Cole Young singled in the home half of the 3rd but it didn’t amount to anything at all. Woo got in some more trouble in the 5th with runners on first and second with two outs, but a grounder to J.P. Crawford ended the inning. In the 6th, San Francisco seemed to land a couple of staggering haymakers that put the M’s on the ropes. Rafael Devers led off the inning with a solo home run that barely stayed fair and barely got out down the left field line for his 20th of the season. Three batters later, Willy Adames hurt the M’s again with a solo shot to right for his 17th of the season. Two solo home runs had the stadium and the Mariners in a bad place with San Francisco leading 3-0.

Gabe Speier kept the deficit at three with a scoreless 7th while Logan Webb remained on the mound for the Giants after the 7th inning stretch. He would hit Randy Arozarena with one out to put a man on before walking Dominic Canzone as well. A little wild streak from Webb all of a sudden had the tying run at the plate with one out for Seattle. Cal Raleigh couldn’t play hero as he popped out to third for the second out. Cole Young was the hero the city of Seattle was looking for. Young went down and got a sweeper below the zone but still hammered it out to right field to completely flip the game on its head. A three-run blast was Young’s 12th of the season and out of nowhere, the game was tied at 3-3.

Eduard Bazardo gave up a harmless two-out single in the 8th but put up a zero. Seattle rallied in the 8th with a walk by J.P. Crawford and a single by Dominic Canzone. Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch again to load the bases but Keaton Winn escaped the two-out jam with a Josh Naylor groundout to keep the game tied into the 9th. Andrés Muñoz got some work in for the M’s in the 9th with an easy 1-2-3 inning but Erik Miller did the same for San Francisco. Nine innings weren’t enough and we headed for extras.

Victor Robles took over in center as a defensive replacement for the M’s while José A. Ferrer was the new pitcher and had Christian Koss as the automatic runner at second. Luis Arraez looked to move him over with a grounder that looked like it would get into left field. However, Colt Emerson made a diving play to not only get Arraez at first, but also kept Koss at second with his defensive web gem. Bryce Eldridge failed to move Koss over as well with a fly out to center before Ferrer ended the inning with a strikeout of Rafael Devers. A scoreless top of the 10th meant the M’s just needed one run to walk it off in the home half.

Dylan Smith was on for the Giants in the 10th while Victor Robles was the automatic runner and represented the winning run at second. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Colt Emerson and with the winning run 90-feet away, T-Mobile Park was fired up again. J.P. Crawford drew a walk which put the double play on the table for San Francisco to try to extend the game to the 11th. In his first game off the IL, Julio Rodríguez came to the plate with a chance to win it and was able to get the ball in the air. A deep fly ball to left would be caught by Grant McCray, but it was plenty deep enough to walk it off. Robles came in to score as Julio was mobbed at first as the M’s came back to walk off the Giants 4-3 in 10 innings.

Notable Performances

Giants

Mariners

• Cole Young- 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Julio Rodríguez- 0-4, RBI, Walk-Off Sacrifice Fly
• Bryan Woo (ND)- 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

Mariners 6, Giants 3 (Game Three, July 19th)

The series finale would also be the deciding game of the three-game series to open up the second half of the season as Seattle and San Francisco wrapped up their three-game set on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Seattle would have Logan Gilbert make his first start of the second half of the year and he would face off with former Mariner and a former Cy Young winner in Robbie Ray.

It was not a clean start for Gilbert like it was for Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo in the two days prior as the Giants got to the Seattle ace early. The second batter of the game was Bryce Eldridge and he would bring in the first run of the game in all three games in the series. He jumped on the first pitch he saw from Gilbert and sent his 10th home run of the season to center. San Francisco wasn’t done as a single and stolen base by Casey Schmitt set the table for Heliot Ramos who clutched up with a two-out RBI single to give the Giants an early 2-0 lead.

Logan Gilbert settled in very nicely after that bumpy top of the 1st but needed the bats to help him out which is a big ask with how the Mariners have been hitting lately. Especially against a lefty in Robbie Ray, a two-run deficit seemed massive to the Mariners as they hoped to mount some sort of offense. It did not come early on as Ray carved up the M’s and stranded two in the 3rd with a strikeout of Cole Young to keep the Giants 2-0 lead safe.

While Gilbert was rolling along, Seattle would finally put together a strong threat against Robbie Ray in the bottom of the 4th. A grounder by Randy Arozarena looked to be a quick first out of the inning, but a terrible throw by Casey Schmitt put Randy on second on the error. Cal Raleigh moved Arozarena to third with a fly out to deep center before Josh Naylor slapped a grounder into left to get Seattle on the board. He would then steal second but stayed there with two outs as Weston Wilson came to the plate. The rarely used outfielder would actually clutch up with a base hit back up the middle to bring home Naylor and just like that the game was tied 2-2.

It would not stay tied for long as San Francisco responded right back in the 5th. A leadoff walk to Willy Adames allowed the Giants to play small ball as Grant McCray moved him up with a sacrifice bunt. Drew Cavanaugh would strikeout swinging for the second out to bring Luis Arraez to the plate. The best contact-oriented hitter in the sport had struck out twice and there was no shot he would do it again. Arraez put the ball in play and slapped a line drive down the left field line that just stayed fair. Adames would score as Arraez reached second with his 22nd double of the season to give the Giants back the lead, 3-2.

Seattle would chase Robbie Ray later on in the 5th after back-to-back singles by Cole Young and Randy Arozarena put runners on the corners with nobody out. San Francisco had to go to the bullpen and brought in Sam Hentges to face Cal Raleigh. It would be a win-lose for both teams as Raleigh would hit into a 5-4-3 double play but Young would come home to score anyway. The Giants lead was short-lived as the game was tied up again at 3-3.

Adrian Houser was the next man up for San Francisco and was on to pitch the bottom of the 6th with the game still tied. He got some defensive help as Justin McCray robbed Mitch Garver of a hit to begin the inning before Dan Wilson went to his bench. Luke Raley came in and pinch hit for Weston Wilson. Raley was more than warmed up and swung at the second pitch, a changeup that caught too much of the plate. He ended up with his second career pinch hit home run, both coming against San Francisco. The 15th home run of the season tied Raley with Dominic Canzone for the team lead and also gave the Mariners a 4-3 lead.

It’s not about how you start, but about how you finish and that described Logan Gilbert’s day perfectly. A shaky first inning that gave the Giants two runs was the only real bad inning for Gilbert who ended up going six innings on Sunday. An aggressive approach, Gilbert attacked the zone consistently and forced San Francisco to swing the bats. He would only allow four hits and three runs in his six innings and walked just one batter while striking out 10. More importantly, it flushed Gilbert’s rough outing in Tampa Bay and got the dominant righty back on track.

Seattle would not be done scoring runs and hitting bombs in this game as they got some breathing room in the 7th. With Houser still on the mound, Julio Rodríguez singled to begin the 7th but it was Cole Young once again to flex the muscle. Moving up to the #3 spot in the order, Young continued his hot stretch, jumping on a first pitch changeup and lining it down the right field line and into the seats for a two-run shot. It was Young’s 13th homer of the season as he left the yard in back-to-back games, extending the lead to 6-3.

Picking up where Logan Gilbert left off, the Mariners bullpen was sharp and dominant as well. Eduard Bazardo gave up a single in the 7th but still pitched a scoreless inning while Gabe Speier pitched around a walk in the 8th as well. Andrés Muñoz was on looking for his first save since July 2nd and had a nice three-run lead. Muñoz was unhittable on Sunday as he threw nine pitches total and all of them for strikes. Jung Hoo Lee prevented the immaculate inning with a groundout to J.P. Crawford at third while Heliot Ramos and Willy Adames both went down on strikes. After a nightmare start to the second half, Seattle bounced back to take the series from the San Francisco Giants with a 6-3 win in the finale.

Notable Performances

Giants

Mariners

• Cole Young- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Josh Naylor- 2-4, RBI, R
• Logan Gilbert (W, 8-6)- 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO

Roster Moves

• OF Julio Rodríguez activated from 7-day IL
• UTIL Miles Mastrobuoni designated for assignment

What’s Next

A manageable start to the second half of the season is what the Seattle Mariners (50-50) needed and they took advantage of it to get to the 100-game mark. The AL West continues to struggle as a whole as well as Texas dropped two of three to Atlanta, the A’s lost two of three to Washington, and Los Angeles lost two of three to Detroit. Houston had it the worst as they were swept by Baltimore to run their losing streak to four. Texas remains in first place but just half of a game ahead of the Mariners while Houston has fallen to four back and the A’s all the way to eight back. Texas will host Chicago for three this week and Houston will host Miami for three. The A’s will be on the road in Arizona while the Angels host the Cardinals.

Seattle will wrap up their six-game homestand to open the second half with another interleague foe on the schedule. The Cincinnati Reds (45-53) come to town in a very similar place to the Giants. After sneaking into the playoffs last season, the Reds could not sustain that momentum in large part due to injuries to key players. Ace Hunter Greene just came off the IL at the beginning of the month and has been in some trade rumors as of late while a large chunk of their lineup has seen IL stints including Elly De La Cruz, Matt McClain, and Eugenio Suárez. The Reds have been much like the Mariners as of late with a lack of consistency preventing them from making up ground in the NL Central.

Yes, this week sees Geno return to Seattle back with the Reds again as he has seemed to have a palindrome like career. However, what Chase Burns has done this season is special and he will be pitching in game two of this series. Burns has 11 wins this season and is 5th in baseball with a 2.54 ERA  with 118 strikeouts. The #2 overall pick in 2024, Burns has a fastball that will be triple digits that will sit up in the zone and is very tough to catch up to and his wipe-out slider is a fantastic secondary strikeout pitch. Burns does not go deep into games but his good for usually six innings but efficiency is really his weakness. Seattle needs to be prepared to battle at the plate and get his pitch count up as high as possible if they want to help the former Red in Luis Castillo outduel the new star in Cincy.

• Game One, Monday 6:40pm- Andrew Abbott (5-5, 4.11 ERA) vs. George Kirby (7-8, 3.76 ERA)
• Game Two, Tuesday 6:40pm- Chase Burns (11-1, 2.54 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (3-8, 4.93 ERA)
• Game Three, Wednesday 12:40pm- Brady Singer (4-9, 4.56 ERA) vs. Emerson Hancock (6-4, 3.17 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 (Won Series vs. Oklahoma City Comets, W 5-4, W 9-5, L 10-0)

Hitter of the Series

Lazaro Montes, OF- 4-12, 3 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB

Pitcher of the Series

Carson Fulmer, RHP- 7 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO

Arkansas Travelers (Swept vs. Wichita Wind Surge, L 10-4, L 6-5, L 12-7)

Hitter of the Series

Hunter Fitz-Gerald, 3B- 6-13, 4 2B, 4 RBI

Pitcher of the Series

Brock Moore, RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Everett AquaSox (Won Series @ Spokane Indians, W 11-3, L 6-5, W 21-3)

Hitter of the Series

Carlos Jimenez, OF- 8-14, 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Walter Ford, RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, Save

Inland Empire 66ers (Lost Series @ Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, L 11-7, W 8-7, L 12-5)

Hitter of the Series

Aiden Taurek, OF- 7-11, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB

Pitcher of the Series

Gleiner Diaz, RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

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