7/29/26

(Los Angeles, CA) A dramatic win in the opener on Tuesday night had the Seattle Mariners feeling very good as they were staring at the opportunity to steal a series on the road against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. Not only did they win in a very entertaining game, but the Mariners saw the middle of their lineup and their stars provide some power with Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, and Dominic Canzone all leaving the yard. They would have to dig deep again if they wanted to earn another win against the best team in the sport.

For game two of the series, Seattle would have to get it done against another lefty. Eric Lauer would have the start for Los Angeles and he had brought the Dodgers great luck as they entered Wednesday winning all eight games in which Lauer had appeared in. For Seattle, it would be a showcase for a potential trade piece in Emerson Hancock who has been a hot name on the trade block over the last couple of weeks.

Dodgers 4, Mariners 2 (Game Two, July 29th)

Once again it was a very good start for Eric Lauer on the mound followed by the Dodgers striking in the bottom of the 1st. For the sixth consecutive game, the Mariners gave up a run in the 1st inning and it again came on a long ball. Andy Pages had a rough first game of the series but made up for it in game three. Pages took a hanging sweeper out to left for his 18th home run of the year. The solo blast had the M’s playing from behind yet again with a 1-0 deficit.

Seattle was having a rough time getting things going against Eric Lauer on Wednesday night as the southpaw was extremely sharp. Emerson Hancock was going to have to limit the damage done by the start studded Dodgers lineup but they added on in the 3rd. Two one-out singles by Shohei Othani and Andy Pages put two on for the meat of the LA order. Freddie Freeman hit a hard grounder that wasn’t able to be handled by Weston Wilson at third, resulting in an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Cole Young was the only Mariner finding success against Eric Lauer but a one-man army is never going to beat a juggernaut like the Dodgers. Los Angeles continued to add on in the game with a two-out RBI single by Andy Pages in the 4th and an RBI double by Ohtani in the 6th. A 4-0 deficit and absolutely no life from the Seattle lineup had the Mariners crashing down to reality as their struggles against lefties resurfaced after a one-day hiatus. Eric Lauer dominated the M’s for six scoreless innings in which he allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out four. With the Dodgers bullpen better than it was last year, things did not look good late for the Mariners.

Fortunately for Seattle, the bullpen was great once again and prevented the Dodgers from breaking things open. Cole Wilcox got a line drive double play to face the minimum in the 7th and Alex Hoppe sat the Dodgers down in order in the 8th. In the top of the 8th, Seattle did get a threat going against Tanner Scott. A double with one out by Weston Wilson got Seattle going as Mitch Garver looked to cut the deficit in half. A deep fly ball to left field was caught on a great play at the wall by Teoscar Hernández and an RBI turned into the second out. Seattle would get on the board as Cole Young singled to bring home Wilson but a 4-1 deficit still stood in front of the Mariners.

A former Mariner made his return from the IL to try to close things out for Los Angeles in the 9th. Edwin Díaz made his first appearance since April 19th in a save situation. He did have some rust and gave up some hard contact but Julio would fly out to deep center before Dominic Canzone hit a ground-rule double down the left field line. Cal Raleigh would move Canzone to third on a fly out to right but Seattle was down to their final out. Things then got interesting as Josh Naylor doubled to right for his 15th of the year to score Canzone and make it 4-2 with the tying run coming to the plate. Seattle had some fight with Luke Raley stepping in with plenty of power. However, he couldn’t square up a well located slider and lined out to first to end it. Seattle’s comeback was too little, too late as they couldn’t overcome the 4-0 deficit and dropped game two to the Dodgers, 4-2.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Dodgers

• Eric Lauer (W, 6-5)- 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
• Andy Pages- 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Shohei Ohtani- 2-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB

What’s Next

The late comeback fell just short on Wednesday for the Seattle Mariners (53-56), but it was still a respectable loss and did not hurt them in the standings. That is because Texas was shutout by Tampa Bay 3-0 on Wednesday but Houston stayed hot with a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels, 7-4. The AL West is turning into a three-team race because the A’s lost again in extra innings to Boston, 4-2. The Rangers are one game ahead of the Astros and 2 1/2 ahead of the Mariners with just a few days before the trade deadline. Seattle also sits 2 1/2 back of Cleveland for a Wild Card spot. The Rangers and A’s will finish their respective series on Thursday while the Angels and Astros have the day off.

Seattle and Los Angeles will finish up the three-game series in a winner-take-all matchup at 7:10pm on Thursday night. Roki Sasaki (4-5, 4.71 ERA) will be the starter for LA in the finale. Sasaki has had a tough sophomore season but has been good this month. After giving up six runs in three innings to start the month, Sasaki has allowed just five runs in the last 18 2/3 innings. Seattle made an adjustment to the rotation as well as Bryan Woo (7-7, 4.37 ERA) will get the start in the finale. While Woo has been terrific at home, he has been the worst pitcher on the team on the road with a 6.52 ERA in 11 starts.

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