7/20/26

(Seattle, WA) A successful series for the Seattle Mariners out of the All-Star Break did not completely rejuvenate the fanbase but was a good start to the second half for a team with postseason aspirations. The AL favorites before the season started, Seattle has not lived up to those lofty expectations but a 50-50 record through 100 games put Seattle in a position to take care of business themselves but that would require more consistency especially at the plate.

Another 2025 playoff team would enter Seattle on Monday for a three-game series as the Cincinnati Reds visited T-Mobile Park. Cincinnati did not build on that momentum from a playoff berth as the first half was a nightmare for them and unlike the Mariners, the Reds do not seem like they will be able to overcome it barring an incredible second half. Cincinnati should be sellers at the deadline but still have plenty of talent at the plate and in their pitching staff to play spoiler.

In the opener of the series on Monday night, the Mariners would face a second lefty in a row as Andrew Abbott got the start for the Reds. Abbott has had a tough month of July but it has been self-induced with eight walks in 15 innings. George Kirby would have the ball for the Mariners in his first start of the second half in his second career start against Cincinnati. Kirby ended the first half on a heater with five consecutive quality starts dating back to June 10th.

Mariners 8, Reds 0 (Game One, July 20th)

The Mariners and Reds have one thing in common when it comes to offense as they are the top two teams in baseball scoring runs via the home run with both sitting at about 50% of their runs coming via the long ball. So when the experienced starters of Andrew Abbott and George Kirby took the hill, both knew that keeping the ball in the park was crucial and both did so early.

Seattle left two on in the 2nd while Cincinnati put together a strong threat in the 3rd. Back-to-back singles by Edwin Arroyo and Ke’Bryan Hayes put two on with nobody out for the top of the order. Elly De La Cruz hit a grounder to Josh Naylor at first and Seattle cutdown Hayes at second to put runners on the corners with one out. A shallow fly ball off the bat of Sal Stewart was handled easily by Victor Robles in right, but shockingly the Reds tried to score Arroyo. He was thrown out by a mile at the plate for a double play and Kirby escaped the early pressure to keep things scoreless.

Neither starter ran into many speedbumps in their outings as the Mariners were once again locked in a pitchers duel. In the bottom of the 5th, Andrew Abbott would have to deal with some pressure. Victor Robles singled to leadoff the inning but remained at first with two away. That is when he took matters into his own hands and stole second and got third as a reward as the throw went into center field. Randy Arozarena would draw a walk to bring Julio Rodríguez to the plate. J-Rod would sent a grounder to De La Cruz at short and the throw was off and actually hit Julio who was on with an RBI infield single. J-Rod was removed from the game in the next half inning but it was precautionary. Julio left his mark with the RBI infield hit to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

George Kirby would be terrific once again as he continues to be a very reliable starter in the summer months for the Mariners. Kirby ran his quality start streak to six in a row with six scoreless innings against the Reds. He would also allow just three hits and of course just one walk while striking out six. The strikeouts haven’t piled up for Kirby in 2026 like they were in his first couple of seasons, but the weak contact continues to be his best friend. After a rough 2025, Kirby seems to have found his form and even evolved here in 2026.

Nick Davila got a double play to help him face the minimum in the 7th while preserving the 1-0. Cincinnati went to their bullpen for the bottom of the 7th with Pierce Johnson taking over. He would struggle as Victor Robles recorded his third hit of the game to start the inning before a pinch hit single by Luke Raley put runners on the corners with nobody out. Celebrating his 21st birthday, Colt Emerson made sure to make an impact after he was a late addition to the lineup because of J.P. Crawford’s wrist soreness causing him to be a late scratch. Emerson got the job done here with a sacrifice fly to left to extend the lead to 2-0.

The inning wasn’t over and got very controversial for the Reds as the fanbase continues to question decisions made in the 7th. Randy Arozarena would single to keep pressure on Pierce Johnson before an RBI double by Weston Wilson made it 3-0 after he replaced Julio in the lineup. Terry Francona would go to his bullpen to bring in a lefty in Caleb Ferguson to face a lefty in Dominic Canzone. It felt like they made that move to get the advantage against Canzone, but instead shocked everyone by intentionally walking Canzone and loading the bases for Cal Raleigh. Of course Cal has struggled this year, but a 60 home run season a year ago still makes him a threat. Cal made sure to let everyone know it was a bad choice as he jumped all over a hanging breaking ball down the middle of the plate and crushed a grand slam 408-feet into left field. It was Cal’s 10th long ball of the year and blew this one wide open as Seattle took a commanding 7-0 lead.

With a thin bullpen, the big lead made things much easier on Dan Wilson as he threw Cole Wilcox in the 8th who would keep the shutout alive. Seattle added on another run in the home half on a Cal Raleigh groundout to make it 8-0 with three outs to get. Michael Rucker was on to try to get those three outs and put together his best inning as a Mariner. Rucker threw 12 pitches and 11 of them for strikes as he struck out the side in order for an easy breezy 9th. Seattle ended up turning this one into a blowout as they took the opener from Cincinnati 8-0 to win their third consecutive game.

Notable Performances

Reds

Mariners

• George Kirby (W, 8-8)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
• Cal Raleigh- 1-5, HR, 5 RBI, R
• Victor Robles- 4-4, SB, 2 R

What’s Next

Monday night was good to the Seattle Mariners (51-50) as they won their third in a row while Texas lost in a 10-3 blowout to the Chicago White Sox. That puts Seattle back in first place but the rest of the AL West won with Houston beating Miami, the A’s winning in Arizona, and the Los Angeles Angels ending a 104-game losing streak when trailing entering the 9th with a comeback win over St. Louis. The M’s hold half of a game lead over the Rangers, 3 1/2 over the Astros, and 7 1/2 over the struggling Athletics. All five teams continue their series on Tuesday.

The Mariners and Reds will also continue their three-game series on Tuesday night at 6:40pm in a very intriguing but difficult pitching matchup for the M’s. They will see one of the best young pitchers in the game when Chase Burns (11-1, 2.54 ERA) starts in the middle game for Cincinnati. Burns is having an incredible year in his first full big league season but has pitched seven innings just once as efficiency issues have prevented him from going beyond six in a vast majority of his starts. So far in July, he has allowed eight walks in 11 innings with just six strikeouts but only seven hits allowed. It will be an emotional day for Seattle starter Luis Castillo (3-8, 4.93 ERA) as he faces his former team for the second time in his career. La Piedra spent 5 1/2 seasons with the Reds and posted a 3.62 ERA in 137 appearances before being traded to Seattle in 2022.

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