7/21/26

(Seattle, WA) Three consecutive wins had the Seattle Mariners back on top of the AL West standings and they would hope to secure back-to-back series wins in game two with the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Vibes could not have been lower after the M’s laid an egg out of the All-Star Break but the team had put that slow start in the rearview mirror to climb back above .500 and would try to go on the run that the baseball world has been waiting for all season.

It would not be easy for Seattle in the middle game as Chase Burns would be the opponent fresh off his massive contract extension. The second overall pick in the 2024 draft signed a seven-year, $105 million late last week and would get his first start since inking the deal in search of his 12th win of the season. Seattle would counter with a former Red in Luis Castillo who has been much better at home and would hope to have a better outing in his second career start against his former club.

Reds 4, Mariners 2 (Game Two, July 21st)

You couldn’t have drawn up a better start if you were the Cincinnati Reds than what they got on Tuesday night. Elly De La Cruz stood in the batter’s box to get the game going and did he ever. De La Cruz would make Luis Castillo work hard with an eight-pitch at bat to begin the game. On the final pitch of the AB, the face of the Reds hammered fastball out to right center for his 17th home run of the season. One batter in and the Reds had their first run of the series with a 1-0 lead.

La Piedra worked out of a bit of trouble in the 2nd while Chase Burns stranded two runners on with back-to-back strikeouts of Colt Emerson and Weston Wilson to keep Seattle off the board. After a very sharp top of the 3rd, Castillo would face Eugenio Suárez to start the 4th and the former teammates with multiple teams would duke it out. Unfortunately for the Mariners, this round went to Geno as he obliterated a first-pitch fastball to center for a solo shot and his 13th of the season. A couple of solo bombs were enough to have the Reds feeling good with a 2-0 lead.

Seattle again stranded two in the home half of the 4th as they could not find the damaging hit against Chase Burns in this one. They did make him work hard though as he had to leave the game after just five innings as he threw 91 pitches to make it that far. The Reds gifted him another run as a going away present in the 5th after a walk to TJ Friedl and a single by Edwin Arroyo. Josh Naylor made a great play to take a hit away from Elly De La Cruz, but the runners moving up paid off as a sacrifice fly by Sal Stewart tagged on another run, making it 3-0.

Finally the Mariners would get their chance against a shaky Cincinnati bullpen as Sam Moll took over in the 6th. He would have mixed results as he walked Dominic Canzone before striking out Cal Raleigh. Josh Naylor singled which led to a surprise as Julio Rodríguez emerged from the dugout to pinch hit after leaving last night’s game with an injury. J-Rod battled against Tejay Antone and looked like he won the battle with a rocket destined for left field. Elly De La Cruz had other plans with an incredible diving stop and turned it into an out as Naylor was cut down at second. The web gem was massive as Antone got Victor Robles to groundout to escape the inning unscathed.

Luis Castillo finished strong with a quality start as he allowed three runs on four hits over seven innings with two walks and three strikeouts. However, he was outdueled by Chase Burns and would need the M’s to comeback late. In the bottom of the 7th, Antone remained on the mound and got Colt Emerson to groundout on three pitches. Next up was Weston Wilson and he got T-Mobile Park going a little bit. Wilson capitalized on a curveball that hung over the middle of the plate and sent it out to left field for his third home run of the season. He made it three consecutive games with an RBI and got Seattle on the board while still trailing 3-1. Seattle loaded the bases on walks later that inning but a Josh Naylor groundout left the bags packed.

With a two-run deficit staring them in the face, the Mariners were down to their final six outs. Julio Rodríguez would leadoff the 8th against Julian Garcia and brought the M’s a little bit closer. J-Rod barreled up a fastball at the very bottom of the zone and turned it into his 15th home run of the season to tie him with Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley for the team lead. It also put the M’s one swing away from tying the game up as they were just down 3-2.

Michael Rucker could not keep the deficit at one as Nathaniel Lowe hit his 12th home run of the season to start the 9th and push the Reds lead back up to 4-2. With three leadoff home runs in the game, the Reds turned this one into in essence a home run derby which is fitting due to both teams relying so heavily on the home runs. Another former Mariner would enter the game in the 9th as Emilio Pagán was on for the save. He had no trouble retiring the M’s in order to bring this one to a quick close. Seattle fought back but a couple of big missed opportunities and a couple great defensive plays by the Reds decided as Cincinnati took game two, 4-2.

Notable Performances

Reds

Mariners

• Luis Castillo (L, 3-9)- 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
• Weston Wilson- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• Julio Rodríguez- 1-2, HR, RBI, R

What’s Next

The loss snaps the three-game winning streak for Seattle (51-51) and immediately drops them back down to second in the division. Texas bounced back from a blowout loss with a blowout win as they beat the Chicago White Sox 10-0 while Houston defeated the slumping Miami Marlins 5-3. The Angels won their third in a row with a 5-1 win over St. Louis while the A’s lost in extra innings to Arizona. Texas is half of a game ahead of Seattle for 1st while Houston sits three back.

The Mariners and Reds will wrap up their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon with the rubber game of the set and the finale of the M’s homestand. Cincinnati will go with the streaky Brady Singer (4-9, 4.56 ERA) for the winner-take-all finale. Singer has been up and down all season but is on a hot streak in July with a 2.33 ERA in 19 1/3 innings. Breakout starter Emerson Hancock (6-4, 3.17 ERA) will wrap up this turn through Seattle’s six-man rotation with his first start of the second half. Hancock’s last start of the first half was cut short when he left after 1 2/3 in the finale in Tampa Bay but he has allowed just one run in his last 14 1/3 innings. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40pm.

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