MLB: Kirby Silences Phillies as Mariners Secure Series Win

8/25/26

(Seattle, WA) 2026 has been a pretty down season in the Pacific Northwest after one of the most exciting seasons in franchise history. The Seattle Mariners came into the year with expectations to reach the World Series and were the favorites in terms of odds and the experts pick to represent the American League in the Fall Classic. Things have not worked out that way but thanks to a mediocre AL West, the M’s are still right in the thick of the race for the playoffs. That made Monday night’s win so exciting because it was a taste of what this team can do if they click at the right time.

Looking to build off of one of the most impressive wins of the season, the Mariners looked to secure a second consecutive series win against yet another National League contender in the Philadelphia Phillies. In game two of the series, George Kirby would hope to get back on course after back-to-back short outings in a couple of losses for the M’s. There would be a family rivalry in this one as former Mariner catcher and current bullpen coach Austin Nola would watch his brother Aaron Nola take the mound looking to get the Phillies back in the win column after having their nine-game win streak snapped in the opener.

Mariners 4, Phillies 1 (Game Two, August 25th)

Unlike in the opener, both starters hung up a zero in the 1st and each stranded an early baserunner. Philadelphia really put pressure on George Kirby in the 2nd and it started with back-to-back one-out singles for Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh. With runners on the corners, the Phillies would strike as Justin Crawford smoked a base hit to center to score Bohm and give Philadelphia the first run of the game. Kirby would minimize the damage by getting Garrett Stubbs to fly out and the dangerous Kyle Schwarber to groundout but was still tagged with a 1-0 deficit.

Four pitches into the home half of the 2nd and the Mariners no-longer trailed. That is because Cal Raleigh has seemed to get going and did something that had not been done by a Mariners since Mike Cameron in 2002. Raleigh went down and got a curveball and hammered it out to right field for his 18th homer of the season. Raleigh became the first Mariner since Cameron to homer in four consecutive at bats and nobody gets the crowd fired up quite like the Big Dumper. T-Mobile Park was alive early as the game was tied at 1-1.

Philadelphia would once again have Kirby rocked in the 3rd despite a tremendous start to the inning for the Mariner right-hander. Kirby would retire Trea Turner and Bryce Harper for two quick outs before getting in some trouble. Luis Arraez would single and was joined on base by Alec Bohm who drew a walk. Those two outs were huge though as Kirby was able to just focus on getting Bryson Stott, which he did with a four-pitch strikeout to keep the game tied.

Both lineups then went very quiet for the next few innings as Seattle worked a couple of walks while Kirby retired 10 consecutive batters to keep the score 1-1. Aaron Nola continued to have to match scoreless frames with Kirby but in the bottom of the 6th, Seattle would strike. Julio Rodríguez would send a soft grounder up the middle but Trea Turner’s throw was not close to being in time to get J-Rod. Julio used his speed again with his 17th stolen base to get himself into scoring position. Josh Naylor would come through with a base hit back up the middle into center field. The throw home from Justin Crawford was well late, but the Phillies would throw out Naylor trying to move up to second. It was all good for Naylor and the M’s however as they had taken their first lead thanks to J-Rod’s speed, 2-1.

There was definitely some debate on if George Kirby would come out of the game or pitch the top of the 8th. The Mariners made that decision much easier on Dan Wilson in the bottom of the 7th against the Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering. The righty would hit Taylor Ward with one out before the returning J.P. Crawford singled to center to put runners on the corners. Brock Rodden worked a walk to load the bases but Randy Arozarena couldn’t come through as he popped out to Luis Arraez in foul territory for a big second out. Don Mattingly then went to his lefty in Brooks Raley for a left-on-left matchup with Dominic Canzone. Earlier in the year, Dan Wilson would have likely gone to his bench for a pinch hitter. Canzone’s growth has forced his manager to have faith in him and it would pay off here. Canzone slapped a sweeper on the outer black the other way into left center for a huge base hit. Ward and Crawford would both score on Canzone’s two-out, two-run single and the Mariners had breathing room with a 4-1 lead.

After some very short outings as of late, George Kirby made up for it in a huge way on Tuesday night. It looked early on like it could be another short night for the right-hander but even when he was in trouble, Kirby was not having to throw many pitches. He was outstanding and retired 15 in a row until that streak was snapped by a two-out single in the 8th by Bryce Harper. He would try to convince Dan Wilson to let him work out of the inning, but José A. Ferrer would end up recording the final out of the frame. Kirby ended up going 7 2/3 innings with just the one run allowed on six hits with one walk and nine punchouts. It was another gutsy outing by a Mariner starter as they continued to take all sorts of pressure off the offense.

Andrés Muñoz was on for what he hoped to be his 101st career save but it did not start of crisp. The Mariners closer walked Alec Bohm to leadoff the inning but he settled down to strikeout Bryson Stott on three pitches. Brandon Marsh made some good contact with a line drive to left, but Randy Arozarena was there to make the catch for out number two. A close 3-2 pitch was taken by Justin Crawford for ball four and Cal Raleigh’s challenge was unsuccessful which brought the tying run to the plate in pinch hitter Bryan De La Cruz. It proved to be too difficult to come of the bench against Muñoz as he would end the drama with a slider to strike out De La Cruz and end this one. It was dramatic late but great pitching stole the show as the Mariners secured the series win with a 4-1 victory over the Phillies.

Notable Performances

Phillies

Mariners

• George Kirby (W, 9-10)- 7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO
• Dominic Canzone- 1-3, 2 RBI, BB
• Cal Raleigh- 1-2, HR, RBI, R, 2 BB

What’s Next

Things continue to snowball in a very good way for the Seattle Mariners (64-69) as they have won five of their last seven games and have won consecutive series for the first time since the beginning of July. The series wins have also come against playoff level teams and have allowed the Mariners to start making a move in the AL West. Houston retook the division lead on Tuesday with a 9-7 win over the New York Yankees late in that one while the Texas Rangers lost 11-7 to the Chicago White Sox. The Astros hold a half game lead over the Rangers while the M’s now sit just 2 1/2 back of the division lead. Houston plays game two in the Bronx on Wednesday night while Texas will take on Chicago in the rubber game of their series on Wednesday afternoon.

For the Seattle Mariners, they have a chance to complete their first sweep since June 29th-July 2nd when they swept the Los Angeles Angels in Seattle. It won’t be easy as the Phillies have only been swept once since Don Mattingly took over in May and they will have a talented lefty on the mound in the finale. Jesús Luzardo (11-5, 3.35 ERA) will try to prevent that sweep and has had just one blow-up start per month. He is coming off that bad start when he gave up a couple of home runs to St. Louis but did only give up two earned runs while giving up four runs in total. Luzardo has 194 strikeouts in 156 innings this season. Good news for Seattle is that Bryan Woo (9-8, 4.10 ERA) will make his start on Wednesday after a successful bullpen session on Sunday. Woo was pushed back from his scheduled start on Sunday due to a shoulder issue and has an ERA of 1.00 in August and a home ERA of 1.96 this season. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm.

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