MLB: Mariners End Good Homestand on a Sour Note

8/26/26

(Seattle, WA) Two straight series wins had already been locked up for the Seattle Mariners by the time they took the field on Wednesday for the finale of their homestand and three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The M’s have survived a brutal month of August and given themselves a great chance to make a run at the AL West with the easiest September schedule in baseball. They could not look too far ahead however as they still needed to try to complete the sweep of the Phillies before a tough road trip to end the month.

For the final of the three-game set, Seattle would be able to roll out Bryan Woo who missed his scheduled start over the weekend against Chicago. A shoulder issue gave Woo some trouble but a good bullpen session and no lingering issues after allowed him to return before the road trip. He would need to be on top of his game facing Jesús Luzardo who has been one of the best lefties in the sport all season but especially so in August.

Phillies 6, Mariners 0 (Game Three, August 26th)

Philadelphia was on fire out of the gate just like they were in the opening game of the series. Kyle Schwarber began the game with a five-pitch AB that ended with his 16th double of the season. What Bryce Harper did two batters later had an even bigger effect on the game. Bryan Woo was wild early on and elevated a fastball to the red hot Harper who extended his on-base streak to 29 games in a big way. Harper drove the fastball to left center and it hit the top of the wall and went over for a two-run shot. It was Harper’s 27th home run of the season and gave the Phillies a quick 2-0.

Jesús Luzardo was sharp in the home half of the 1st and the Phillies opened things up against Woo in the 2nd. The extra base hits kept coming as Bryson Stott led off the inning with his 26th double of the season and was joined on base by Brandon Marsh who walked. Justin Crawford drove in another run in this series with a single to right to make it 3-0, but it was just the tip of the iceberg. Kyle Schwarber had been held very quiet by Seattle pitching in this series, but a breakout was imminent. Schwarber eviscerated a fastball to right center for his MLB-leading 40th home run of the season. The three-run blast broke this one open early and made it 6-0.

Bryan Woo would settle in after that and the Mariners bullpen was sensational once again in this series. The only problem was Jesús Luzardo was extremely dominant on Wednesday afternoon. The lefty did not allow a hit until Jhonny Pereda singled in the 5th, but that would be the only hit he allowed in the game. Luzardo diced up the Mariners in seven scoreless, one-hit innings with three walks but nine strikeouts. That gave Luzardo 203 punchouts on the season and he took pressure off of the Phillies lineup.

Seattle would have to get it done against the Phillies bullpen if they wanted to complete the sweep but that was no easy task either. Tim Mayza had a very quick inning in the 8th and then closer Jhoan Duran would need to get some work in so he pitched the 9th. The M’s would double their hit total in the game against Duran as Randy Arozarena singled to welcome him into the game. That seemed to lock Duran in as he struck out the next two he faced before getting a lineout to end this one. It was a very quick 2 1/2 hour game but the M’s failed to sweep the Phillies, dropping the finale 6-0.

Notable Performances

Phillies

Mariners

• Jhonny Pereda- 1-2, BB
• Randy Arozarena- 1-3, BB
• Bryan Woo (L, 9-9)- 4 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

What’s Next

A couple of blow out losses in each series finale was not ideal for the Seattle Mariners (64-70), but a 4-2 homestand against two high level teams with elite offenses is as good as the M’s good have hoped for. It is arguably their best homestand since a 5-1 mark before the All-Star break. To lessen the blow of the loss, Texas was hammered by Chicago 10-4 while Houston would get blown out by New York 9-3 on Wednesday. That kept the AL West standings the same, with Houston leading Texas by half of a game and Seattle by 2 1/2. Houston is the only AL West team in action on Thursday as they finish up their three-game set in the Bronx, so there could be a tie atop the AL West and Seattle’s deficit will either be at two or three games when they return to action on Friday.

Seattle now gets to finish up a brutal month of August with a six-game road trip that starts with an opponent under .500 and just ahead of them in the Wild Card race. The Mariners head north of the border for a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays (65-69) in their first trip to Toronto since the devastating game 7 loss in the ALCS. Toronto has gone on a solid run in the second half of the season behind great pitching despite trading Kevin Gausman. The Jays brought in AL West foe José Soriano from the Angels and also have gotten an incredible stretch from Dylan Cease. Their 13-10 record in August is their best record in a single month in 2026 thanks in large part due to the 3.33 team ERA. The home/road splits are almost identical for both the lineup and pitching staff.

Seattle took two out of three from Toronto when the two met early in July in Seattle but in all three games, one team was shutout. Pitching remains the strength of both teams and Dylan Cease has been arguably the best pitcher for either team this season. Cease joined Toronto in the offseason and is well on his way to a new career high in strikeouts. While team-wise the splits have been even, Cease has been much better away from the Rogers Centre. At home, Cease has an ERA of 3.03 but that has a lot to do with the teams he has faced at home. Out of 13 starts at home, Cease has faced just two teams in the bottom third of the league in runs scored.

• Game One, Friday 4:15pm (Apple TV)- Emerson Hancock (7-7, 3.37 ERA) vs. Dylan Cease (8-5, 2.37 ERA)
• Game Two, Saturday 12:07pm- Kade Anderson (0-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. José Soriano (10-7, 3.43 ERA)
• Game Three, Sunday 10:37am- Bryce Miller (4-8, 4.12 ERA) vs. Max Scherzer (1-7, 7.02 ERA)

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