MLB: Mariners Momentum Erased North of the Border

8/30/26

(Toronto, ON) A very tough homestand could not have gone better for the Seattle Mariners as they went 4-2 against two National League contenders in what was the first bit of positivity the M’s have had in a month. They played all-around strong baseball with tough pitching and an offense start to click again with the long ball carrying the way. The bullpen was also terrific on the homestand and for the first time since an eight-game winning streak spanning from May to June.

Things were going good for the Mariners as they headed north of the border to a building that does not bring fond memories to those in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first trip to the Rogers Centre for the Mariners since the game 7 heartbreaker in the ALCS and now the Mariners would try to erase those thoughts with a big series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto has also not had a good season following their trip to the World Series but a late summer turnaround had the Jays feeling pretty good going into this weekend. Two teams that have not lived up to the hype in 2026 battling it out in pivotal series while playing their best baseball of the season set the table for a very intriguing ALCS rematch.

Blue Jays 8, Mariners 1 (Game One, August 28th)

Game one would be on Apple TV for the whole country to see as the ALCS rematch got underway. Seattle would rely on a guy who never pitched in that series as the opener as Emerson Hancock took the ball on Friday night. Toronto would also start a pitcher that didn’t take part in that series as offseason acquisition Dylan Cease had the game one start for the Jays.

Seattle would get going early on Friday night and the longball momentum continued to build for the Mariners just two batters into the game. Dylan Cease had to battle to retire Randy Arozarena to begin the game. He would then face Dominic Canzone as the second batter. A 1-1 count saw Cease challenge Canzone with a fastball down the middle and the lefty was on it. Canzone sent a deep drive to right center for his 20th home run of the season. It gave Canzone his first 20-homer season as his breakout season gave Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the Mariners, Toronto was also rolling right out of the gate offensively. Brett Bateman singled to leadoff the game and turned it into a double with his second stolen base of his rookie year. A notable play then happened when Nathan Lukes rolled a dribbler up the first base line. Emerson Hancock fielded the ball as he fell and applied the tag to get Lukes but was injured on the play. Hancock stayed in despite the leg injury but was clearly not the same pitcher. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled home a run to tie the game and two batters later Toronto had the bases loaded. A Kazuma Okamoto sac fly and an Andrés Giménez RBI single put the Blue Jays up 3-1.

Dylan Cease settled in very nicely after that home run by Dominic Canzone in the 1st. He would keep the bats pretty quiet for Seattle and only gave up three more hits in six innings pitched. Emerson Hancock settled in a bit but could not keep Toronto from adding on in his final inning on the mound. In the bottom of the 5th, Nathan Lukes launched his 10th home run of the season and two batters later, George Springer hit his 14th of the year to send Hancock packing after the 5th. Hancock would be heading right to the clubhouse to get checked out by the medical staff as Seattle had a 5-1 deficit.

A couple of singles for the Mariners by Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodríguez were left on as Dylan Cease finished his strong day with eight strikeouts in a quality start. Both teams would go to their bullpens but one was much better than the other. Seranthony Domínguez was the first reliever used by Seattle and he was welcomed to the game by Kazuma Okamoto, who sent a sweeper 400-feet for his 27th homer of the year. Time was running low on Seattle while the deficit continued to grow to 6-1.

Michael Rucker was up next for the 7th for the M’s and his hot and cold pitching style continued and it wasn’t the one that the Mariners needed Friday. Rucker was tagged up after walking Nathan Lukes as this one got ugly. Back-to-back singles by George Springer and Myles Straw plated another run before an RBI infield single by Kazuma Okamoto made it 8-1. Seattle would threaten former Mariner Paul Sewald in the 8th with a couple of baserunners, but did nothing with it. CJ Van Eyk would make quick work of them in the 9th and the good vibes were quickly erased as Seattle dropped game one to Toronto in a blowout, 8-1.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Blue Jays

• George Springer- 4-4, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R
• Kazuma Okamoto- 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Dylan Cease (W, 9-5)- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Blue Jays 4, Mariners 3 (Game Two, August 29th)

It was a special day in Toronto that delayed the start of game two by about 40 minutes as legendary Toronto Blue Jays player, manager, and broadcaster Buck Martinez was inducted into the Blue Jays Hall of Excellence on Saturday. That would give way to the second career start for Seattle lefty Kade Anderson and his first road start of his career. He would hope to outduel former AL West rival José Soriano to try to earn his first MLB win.

Both starters worked scoreless innings in the 1st to kickstart a terrific pitching matchup. Two batters into the 2nd inning and it would be Seattle landing the first blow, and once again it came via the home run. Cal Raleigh had a fastball up above the zone and he continued to haunt the Blue Jays. A drive down the right field line was deep and gone for Cal’s 19th home run of the season and his 16th career homer against Toronto. It was a good start as the M’s grabbed a 1-0 lead.

Seattle would then be held quiet by José Soriano for awhile but were helped out by his loss of the strike zone in the 4th. With two outs, Josh Naylor singled before José Soriano walked both Cal Raleigh and Cole Young to load the bases. Taylor Ward came to the plate and his time in Seattle has not gone well but he would record arguably his biggest hit as a Mariner. Ward laced a single to left to cash in on the two-out rally. Naylor and Raleigh both scored and Seattle’s lead was up to 3-0.

A fantastic over the shoulder catch by Josh Naylor in the bottom of the 4th helped Kade Anderson keep Toronto off the board. Or at least, kept them off the board until the 5th. A single by Myles Straw and a walk to Brett Bateman put two on and ended the left-handers day with one out. Eduard Bazardo was on and struck out Alejandro Kirk for a huge second out before he walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to load the bases. With the bases loaded and two outs, Bazardo would walk in a run on a wild pitch to George Springer. Toronto would try to score Bateman from second on the wild pitch and while Cal Raleigh’s throw to Bazardo covering home was in plenty of time, the reliever never put down the tag which allowed Bateman to score. A disaster stemming from a lack of focus allowed Toronto to get back in the game with Seattle’s lead cut down to 3-2.

José A. Ferrer was on for the 6th trying to protect the one-run lead. He retired back-to-back batters after a leadoff walk to Charles McAdoo but the inning continued on a walk to Myles Straw. That walk would haunt the Mariners in a big way. Brett Bateman slapped a grounder the other way into left field for a two-out, game-tying RBI single. Alejandro Kirk followed with his own opposite field RBI single to turn a 3-2 Seattle lead into a 4-3 deficit very quickly.

Seattle would have to get to Toronto’s bullpen but there was not much life from the bats. Seattle put runners on the corners in the 8th but Mason Fluharty struck out Cal Raleigh to end that threat. In the 9th, Louis Varland came on and he made quick work of the M’s thanks to a great defensive play by Vladdy. It was a major gut punch to the Mariners as they blew a lead to drop game two 4-3.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Blue Jays

• Myles Straw- 2-3, 2 R, BB
• Brett Bateman- 1-3, RBI, R, BB
• José Soriano (W, 11-7)- 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

Blue Jays 7, Mariners 0 (Game Three, August 3oth)

Between a blowout loss in the opener and blowing a lead in game two, the Seattle Mariners were in a bad spot as they tried to avoid a sweep in Toronto on Sunday morning. Logan Gilbert would take the ball for Seattle and was the perfect guy to try to stop a bit of a losing streak and get the M’s back on track. His opponent would be future Hall of Famer in Max Scherzer, who shutdown the M’s in the playoffs last season

Max Scherzer looked like vintage Mad Max in the 1st inning as he struck out the side without breaking a sweat in a solid start to his day. Logan Gilbert on the other hand had to grind in the 1st after giving up a leadoff walk to Brett Bateman. He would retired Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before Bateman stole second, but that stolen base was irrelevant. That is because Alejandro Kirk went down below the zone and took a sweeper out to left center for a two-run shot and his eighth home run of the year. The blast gave Toronto plenty of momentum early with a 2-0 lead.

Taylor Ward would be left at second base in the Mariners first scoring chance of the game and their second chance came in the 4th after they finally recorded their first hit. Cal Raleigh missed a home run by inches with a two-out double off the top of the wall in right but continued his stretch of driving the baseball. Unfortunately, Josh Naylor wasn’t able to cash in as he struck out to end the frame and another scoring chance vanished for the Mariners.

Logan Gilbert’s pitch count was rising quickly and Toronto would take advantage of a gassed Gilbert in the 5th to add on to their lead. Vladdy doubled home a run to make it 3-0 before Logan saw his day come to an end. He was outdueled big time by Max Scherzer who was brilliant in a blast from the past. Scherzer shut the Mariners down from the very start of the day with seven scoreless innings and he allowed just one hit. Scherzer walked just one batter while striking out ten. In doing so, Mad Max passed Gaylord Perry for the 9th most strikeouts in MLB history in his best outing as a Toronto Blue Jay.

Seattle’s bullpen once again couldn’t keep the deficit from growing as this one slowly turned into another blowout. Kazuma Okamoto hit his 28th home run of the season off of Gabe Speier before Nick Davila let things get way out of control in the 8th. Andrés Giménez brought home two with a single and Brett Bateman added an RBI double off of Davila as the game went from manageable to 7-0 very quickly. It was all Toronto on Sunday as Seattle managed just one hit as they were swept by the Blue Jays, 7-0.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Blue Jays

• Max Scherzer (W, 2-7)- 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO
• Alejandro Kirk- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Kazuma Okamoto- 1-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB

Roster Moves

• SP Emerson Hancock placed on 15-day IL (Left abductor strain)
• RHP Nick Davila recalled from Triple-A Tacoma

What’s Next

For as good as the last homestand was for the Seattle Mariners (64-73) this weekend was twice as bad. Not only were they swept, they were swept pretty dominantly with just one of the three games being competitive. Seattle lost ground as well obviously in the AL West race as Houston took two of three from the New York Mets and Texas won a game in their series with Milwaukee. Seattle is now five games out of the Wild Card race, meaning it is AL West or bust more than likely for the M’s. Houston leads the division by two games over Texas and now five over Seattle. Houston will host the Chicago White Sox for four this week while Texas looks for some revenge against the Athletics after dropping two of three in West Sacramento a couple of weeks ago.

Seattle will wrap up a brutal AL East road trip as they head to Fenway Park to take on a suddenly healthy Boston Red Sox squad. Boston (74-63) has had quite the turnaround this season after firing manager Alex Cora in May and are now five games clear of a Wild Card spot. Boston’s bats were silenced over the weekend against the Yankees, but they have been hot and are now fully healthy. Both Roman Anthony and Trevor Story were activated off the IL on Sunday and they now have as healthy of a lineup as they have had all season long. Mix that with the fourth best pitching staff in terms of ERA and everything is coming together at the right time for the Sox.

The Mariners pitching staff did alright against Boston back in June but this lineup is hot right now. Maybe the most dangerous bat currently is Wilyer Abreu who played in two games against the Mariners in that series and both were Boston victories. While he homered in that series, Abreu has been raking all month long with an OPS of 1.003 in 96 at-bats this month. He has 17 extra base hits this month (9 doubles, 7 home runs, and 1 triple) and his strikeout to walk ratio is almost even. He has cooled down a bit in the last week, but Seattle needs to make sure they don’t let him heat back up, although there are plenty of other dangerous bats in the lineup as well.

• Game One, Monday 3:45pm- George Kirby (9-10, 4.02 ERA) vs. Payton Tolle (8-6, 3.09 ERA)
• Game Two, Tuesday 3:45pm- Bryan Woo (9-9, 3.46 ERA) vs. Sonny Gray (16-4, 2.82 ERA)
• Game Three, Wednesday 1:10pm- Bryce Miller (4-8, 4.12 ERA) vs. Patrick Sandoval (1-3, 4.20 ERA)

Mariners Minor League Update

This will be a new segment each week to update what is going on in the Seattle minor league system. We will continuously give scores for each team but will also highlight some of the key players that have had strong series.

Tacoma Rainiers (Won Series vs. Salt Lake City Bees, W 8-5, L 16-1, W 6-2, W 6-3, W 8-3, W 7-6)

Hitter of the Series

Nolan Jones, OF- 6-21, 2 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, BB

Pitcher of the Series

Cooper Criswell, RHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

Arkansas Travelers (Won Series @ Wichita Wind Surge, L 7-6, W 4-3, W 8-4, W 5-3, W 11-1, W 9-8)

Hitter of the Series

Charlie Pagliarini, 2B- 10-26, 3 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R, 3 BB

Pitcher of the Series

Jimmy Kingsbury, RHP- 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO

Everett AquaSox (Split Series vs. Eugene Emeralds, L 10-4, W 11-6, W 12-10, W 4-3, L 12-9, L 8-4)

Hitter of the Series

Carlos Jimenez, OF- 9-24, 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, 5 R, 5 BB

Pitcher of the Series

Sam Whiting, RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

Inland Empire 66ers (Split Series vs. Fresno Grizzlies, W 8-0, L 8-7, W 8-2, L 7-5, L 5-4, W 10-5)

Hitter of the Series

Estevan Moreno, INF- 10-25, 3 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 6 R, BB, 4 SB

Pitcher of the Series

Jose Romero, RHP- 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

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