7/22/26

(Seattle, WA) Another series, another rubber game for the Seattle Mariners was on the slate for Wednesday afternoon. Wrapping up their second half opening homestand, the Mariners would look to close it out in winning fashion and with a winning record as they finished up the series with the Cincinnati Reds. After a valiant effort against one of the best pitchers in the National League on Tuesday night, the M’s would hope that they could take advantage of a little more friendly look on Wednesday.

For the finale, former Royal and second-year Red, Brady Singer would have the ball for Cincinnati. Enjoying his best run since joining the Reds before the 2025 season, Singer would hope to limit his opponents to four or fewer hits for a fourth consecutive start. For Seattle, Emerson Hancock would take the mound in the series deciding game. It was a long wait for Hancock to get back on the mound after he left his last start of the first half after just 1 2/3 innings after having a groundball go off his hand on his first pitch of that game.

Reds 5, Mariners 3 (Game Three, July 22nd)

A walk and a stolen base by Elly De La Cruz was left stranded in the 1st by Emerson Hancock to allow the young right-hander to settle in. Seattle would then get their own baserunner and stolen base in the bottom of the 2nd but Brady Singer was not able to work around it. Josh Naylor singled to center with one out before stealing second for his 21st stolen base of the season. Cal Raleigh came up and would not need to leave the yard to bring in the first run of the game. A base hit to right would be thrown in quick by Spencer Steer, but Naylor was waved home. The throw was well of target fortunately as Naylor scored to put Seattle in front 1-0.

Both teams went quickly and quietly in the 3rd before Cincinnati would finally get to Hancock in the 4th. A fourth leadoff home run of the series for the Reds would tie the game as JJ Bleday crushed his 17th of the season to make it 1-1. Emerson retired the next two Reds batters before Tyler Stephenson shot a double down into the right field corner for his 12th double of the season. A wild pitch moved him to third before Dane Myers hit a grounder to second that was knocked down by Cole Young. He never really controlled it and couldn’t get a good grip on the ball which allowed Myers to reach and Stephenson to score. Extra base hits piled up and gave the Reds a 2-1 lead.

It didn’t take too long for the Reds lead to disappear. In the bottom of the 4th, Randy Arozarena was on first after hitting into a fielder’s choice to erase Dominic Canzone’s single. Josh Naylor slapped a grounder down the left field line that got lodged under the padding of the wall for a ground-rule double and his 13th of the season. That put the tying run on third and go-ahead run on second but a pop-up by Cal Raleigh on the infield for an important second out. Luke Raley would have to be clutch and he was as he smoked a base hit to right center. Both Arozarena and Naylor scored on the two-out two-run single to put the Mariners back in front, 3-2.

Neither team really had much going until the bullpens took over in the 7th. Eduard Bazardo took over for Emerson Hancock but was shaky, allowing a one-out walk to Edwin Arroyo followed by a single for Ke’Bryan Hayes. Elly De La Cruz came to the plate but hit a harmless fly ball to left for a massive second out but the Cincinnati rookie would deal the M’s a massive haymaker. Sal Stewart got a sinker at the very top of the one and hammered it the other way to right field for a three-run bomb and his 21st of the season. His Rookie of the Year candidacy got even stronger as the Reds took a 5-3 lead.

Seattle would leave a walk stranded in the 7th and a double by Julio Rodríguez wasn’t cashed in on in the 8th. Down to their final three outs, the Mariners would have to comeback against Emilio Pagán but once again they got absolutely nothing going in the 9th. Pagán rolled through Josh Naylor, Cal Raleigh, and Luke Raley with just 20 pitches to put this one away. The bullpen’s hiccup inning cost the M’s the game and the series as they dropped the rubber game to Cincinnati, 5-3.

Notable Performances

Reds

Mariners

• Luke Raley- 1-4, 2 RBI
• Josh Naylor- 2-4, 2B, 2 R, SB
• Emerson Hancock (ND)- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

What’s Next

Seattle (51-52) finished up their very manageable homestand with a 3-3 record, leaving them in almost the exact same spot that they were going into the All-Star Break. Texas lost their finale to Chicago while the A’s lost to Arizona and the Angels fell to the Cardinals. Houston was the only AL West team to earn a win as they swept Miami to take advantage of a down day in the division. Texas sits atop the division at 51-51, half of a game up on Seattle and just two up on Houston while the A’s and Angels are 8 and 10 1/2 games back respectively. No teams in the division will be in action on Thursday.

Things really start to pick up now for the Mariners as the schedule gets very tough beginning with a seven-game road trip that starts with one of the biggest series they have remaining. The M’s head to Arlington for a four-game series with the first place Texas Rangers in one of two series between the two teams down the home stretch. Texas is 4-2 against Seattle so far this season and swept the Mariners in Arlington back in April. Since winning six in a row to end June, the Rangers have not been able to open much of a division lead as they are 7-9 in July which is the exact same record as the Mariners this month.

In the first series in Arlington, the Mariners were outscored 8-3 in the three games. Against a tough Rangers pitching staff, they will have to be better at the plate. With that being said, MacKenzie Gore might have the biggest impact on this series as he gets the start in game one. Seattle has been abysmal against lefties all season but did have some success against Gore. In Arlington, the lefty went five scoreless innings with one hit and two walks allowed while striking out nine. However, in Seattle he went five innings but allowed seven hits and five runs with one walk and five strikeouts. Gore allowed three homers in that second game and has been terrible in July with an 8.24 ERA in four starts. Seattle must get to him and hand him a short start and ruin the Texas bullpen as soon as the series begins. If not, then get ready for low scoring and tight games as Texas’ bullpen is much better when it gets to be lined up rather than asjusting to chaos.

• Game One, Friday 5:05pm- Bryce Miller (4-4, 2.27 ERA) vs. MacKenzie Gore (6-8, 4.80 ERA)
• Game Two, Saturday 4:15pm (Fox)- Bryan Woo (7-6, 4.16 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (9-8, 4.21 ERA)
• Game Three, Sunday 11:35am- Logan Gilbert (8-6, 3.38 ERA) vs. Jacob deGrom (7-6, 3.76 ERA)
• Game Four, Monday 11:35am- George Kirby (8-8, 3.57 ERA) vs. Kumar Rocker (3-8, 4.13 ERA)

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