8/5/26

(Seattle, WA) It was all Detroit in the opener of the three-game series between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. An 8-0 shutout in which Detroit tagged on four runs in the 9th put Seattle in a tough spot as they really need to stack series wins moving forward to try to reach the postseason. To do so, the M’s needed their offense to wake up from a season long slumber as the two biggest threats in the division in Houston and Texas piling up wins.

In the middle game of the series, Seattle would need more of what Bryan Woo has done at home this season. A 2.20 ERA at T-Mobile Park for Woo would need to be lowered even more with the struggles at the plate Seattle continue to deal with. Detroit would have to go with a bullpen day after trading two starters in Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the deadline. Drew Anderson would start the game as he is expected to make his way into the Detroit rotation in the final two months of the season.

Mariners 4, Tigers 2 (Game Two, August 5th)

Early on it was another pitchers duel as Bryan Woo retired the first six batters he faced while Drew Anderson got a couple of double plays in the first few innings to deny the Mariners of any offense. Woo got in some hot water in the 4th as Gleyber Torres hit one off the wall but settled for a single after Dominic Canzone got the ball in quickly. Dillon Dingler followed with a liner that looked destined for the left field corner. Randy Arozarena cut it off and threw a strike to third to cut down Torres at third for the first out. Dingler did move to second on the throw and he was joined on base by Riley Greene who was hit by a pitch. Colt Keith then sent a very deep drive to left field but Arozarena owned this inning. A leaping catch brought back a potential home run and turned it into the second out. Bryan Woo would then strikeout Spencer Torkelson and gave a lot of love to his defense as he escaped the jam without any damage done.

Detroit continued their bullpen day after a two-out single by Julio Rodríguez in the 4th as Tyler Holton took over as the second reliever used. He ended the inning with a Josh Naylor pop-up but Woo bounced back with a scoreless 5th and 6th thanks to a diving catch by Dominic Canzone. There was no offense to speak of as the teams had combined for just five hits going into the bottom of the 6th.

Tyler Holton continued the Detroit dominance on the mound with two quick outs in the bottom of the 6th before he was replaced by Brenan Hanifee. Seattle would extend the inning as Randy Arozarena doubled for the 24th time this season for the Mariners first extra base hit of the series. Detroit elected to intentionally walk Dominic Canzone and take their chances with Julio Rodríguez. It did not pay off. J-Rod drove a sinker on the outside corner the other way for a no-doubter. The three-run blast was Julio’s 17th of the season and the two-out rally ended with the Mariners having a 3-0 lead.

Bryan Woo has been bad on the road and there is no denying it. However, he has been equally as good at home. Woo was terrific on Wednesday night and even when he allowed a one-out single in the 7th to Max Clark, he quickly got Eduardo Valencia to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and his night. A lot of credit had to go to the defense but Woo was great in his own right. He went seven scoreless innings and allowed just three hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He did also hit a few batters but Bryan Woo settled down whenever he had runners aboard to keep Detroit off the board.

Things got very interesting in the top of the 8th. Cal Raleigh was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the 7th and while he was erased on a double play, the issue was far from over. Gabe Speier made quick work of Hao-Yu Lee and Kevin McGonigle before missing badly inside to Gleyber Torres. On the second pitch to Torres, he hit the second baseman who then began to jaw at Cal Raleigh. Benches cleared and while it was just a lot of talk, the umpires ejected Speier before doing the same to Dan Wilson who came out to defend his lefty reliever. Of course nothing changed as Eduard Bazardo came on to pitch but the game did get tighter. Dillon Dingler made sure Bazardo’s struggles continued with a two-run shot to center for his 25th homer of the year. Just like that it was a one-run game with Seattle’s lead cut to 3-2.

Two pitches into the bottom of the 8th and Seattle got a run back. Colt Emerson obliterated a fastball from Enmanuel De Jesus for his eighth home run of the year to make it 4-2. That would be the lead that Andrés Muñoz would look to protect. He rolled right through both Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson with a couple of strikeouts. Max Clark looked to extend the game with a grounder up the middle but a diving stop by Cole Young and a nice pick by Josh Naylor at first put this one away. The offense finally woke up a bit with a couple of homers to back a great outing by Bryan Woo as the Mariners beat the Tigers 4-2 to even the series.

Notable Performances

Tigers

Mariners

• Bryan Woo (W, 8-8)- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
• Julio Rodríguez- 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB
• Colt Emerson- 1-3, HR, RBI, R

What’s Next

Seattle (56-59) needed the win and they got it to force a rubber game with Detroit on Thursday. Even better news for the M’s was that Houston lost to Toronto in extra innings while Texas shutout San Francisco. Meanwhile, the Angels and Athletics lost to the Orioles and Reds respectively as they continue to fall way back. Those two finish up their respective series on Thursday while the Astros and Rangers are both off with Houston owning a 1 1/2 game lead over Texas and 2 1/2 game lead over Seattle.

The Mariners and Tigers will finish up the three-game series and the season series on Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Park. The best case scenario for the Mariners is a split season series but to do that they will need to win this series on Thursday at 1:10pm. They will face a familiar foe as lefty Framber Valdez (6-7, 4.41 ERA) faces the Mariners for the 19th time as a starter in his career. Valdez has a 3.43 ERA in his career against Seattle but an even better 2.47 ERA at T-Mobile Park. For the Mariners, Bryce Miller (4-5, 2.80 ERA) will try to quiet the Tiger bats. Miller is going through his toughest stretch of 2026 and has not made it out of the 6th inning in his last four starts. He did quiet the Tigers on June 6th in Detroit when he went six scoreless innings with one hit allowed and two walks while striking out nine.

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