4/2/25

(Seattle, WA) After being one-hit in a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers in game two of the three-game series, the Seattle Mariners took the field for a day game in the finale on Wednesday afternoon. Looking to avoid being swept to end the season’s first homestand, the Mariners were going to have to beat the reigning American League Cy Young award winner in Tarik Skubal. To do that, the Mariners would need a strong start from their own pitcher in Luis Castillo who would look for his first win of the season after being beaten by the Athletics last week.

Mariners 3, Tigers 2 (Game 3, April 2nd)

A one-out double by Riley Greene was left stranded as for the first time in the series the Tigers were held off the scoreboard in the top of the 1st. In the bottom of the inning, Seattle put some pressure on Skubal as Cal Raleigh singled with two outs before Randy Arozarena doubled for the second time this season to put runners on second and third. Skubal wasted no time in going after Mitch Garver, striking him out on three pitches to escape the jam and keep the game scoreless.

Fortunately for the M’s, Skubal wasn’t as fortunate in the bottom of the 2nd. Dylan Moore reached on a one-out walk but Skubal would get Ryan Bliss swinging for the second out. J.P. Crawford hit a routine grounder to second that should have ended the inning. Detroit second baseman Colt Keith fielded the ball and looked to flip it to second but realized it would be too late. By the time he turned to throw it to first, it was too late there as well as Crawford beat the throw to keep the inning alive. Victor Robles drove the next pitch over Ryan Kreidler’s glove in center for his third double of the year. Moore and Crawford both scored easily and Seattle capitalized on the mistake to take a 2-0 lead.

Luis Castillo rolled through the first five innings, getting a little defensive help on a nice sliding catch by Julio in center to escape the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, Castillo got a little more breathing room. Leading off the inning, Dylan Moore drove a slider on the outside corner out to right field. The ball continued to slice as it cleared the wall in right field for Moore’s first home run of 2025. The solo blast would also push the Mariner lead to 3-0.

Detroit got to Luis Castillo leading off the top of the 5th. Trey Sweeney would dig in and jumped all over a hanging slider. Sweeney took the first pitch out to right field for his first home run of the season. The shot gave the Tigers some life as they were on the board, trailing 3-1. Back-to-back one out singles for Ryan Kreidler and Zach McKinstry put a couple more runners on the corners. Riley Greene hit s chopper to Dylan Moore at third, but his only play was at first which allowed Kreidler to score, making it 3-2.

La Piedra escaped the rest of the 5th and also spun scoreless frames in the 6th and 7th before his second start came to an end. Detroit’s lineup has been pesky for Mariner pitching in recent years, but Luis Castillo made the adjustments and didn’t try to overpower them or get them to chase. Instead, the veteran painted the edges of the zone and induced a lot of soft contact. His final line was seven innings of two run ball with only five hits allowed while walking two and striking out five. The M’s needed Castillo to be on his A-game and he delivered in a big way in the finale.

With the score still 3-2 entering the 9th, Andrés Muñoz came in looking for his third save of the season. It was not quick nor clean this time around. Muñoz walked the first two batters he faced as Colt Keith and Justyn-Henry Malloy reached to begin the inning. After striking out Trey Sweeney for the first out, Muñoz gave up a single to Dillon Dingler to load the bases with only one out. With the tying runner on third, Javier Báez pinch hit and hit a grounder to Dylan Moore. Moore would cut down the tying run at the plate for a huge second out but the bases remained loaded. Zach McKinstry was the last hope for Detroit, but Muñoz saved his best pitches for last and struck out McKinstry to escape the jam. A collective sigh of relief came from the Seattle dugout as the Mariners avoided the sweep and ended the homestand with a 3-2 win over Detroit.

Notable Performances

Tigers

Mariners

• Luis Castillo (W, 1-1)- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
• Dylan Moore- 1-1, HR, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
• Victor Robles- 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI

What’s Next

While it wasn’t quite the dream start to the season for the Seattle Mariners, they do finish up the seven-game homestand with a 3-4 record as they head out on the road for the first time this season. No AL West team is off to a hot start as the Texas Rangers sit atop of the division at 5-2 with the Los Angeles Angels at 4-2 in second. Behind the Mariners in 4th and 5th are the Houston Astros at 2-4 and the Athletics at 2-5. No reason to panic for anybody quite yet.

The Mariners first road trip will be a very short one in both distance and duration. The M’s will head down to San Francisco to help the Giants celebrate their home opener in just a quick three-game set before returning home. The Giants took two out of three from Cincinnati to begin the season before sweeping the Houston Astros in a three-game set this week.

For the San Francisco player profile, we won’t talk about either of the Cy Young winners the Mariners will face or the star of the team in Heliot Ramos. Instead, we will talk about the player tied for the second most home runs in baseball in Wilmer Flores. Now the batting average doesn’t jump off the page as Flores is just hitting .227 to begin the year, but his .773 slugging percentage and 1.064 OPS does leap out to the eyes. Flores homered twice in the series with Cincinnati and twice in the series in Houston. Flores has four home runs and only five hits this season which tells you that the Mariners pitching staff has to be careful. He is not the scariest guy in the lineup, but beginning this season his bat has done the most damage and a guy the Mariners have to be wary of.

For more takeaways from the series with the Tigers, take a look at this article by Paul Taylor of CascadiaSports.net.

You can also see the projected pitching matchups for the series with the Giants below.

• Game 1, Friday 1:35pm- Bryce Miller (0-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. Justin Verlander (0-0, 3.60 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 6:05pm- Bryan Woo (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Robbie Ray (1-0, 5.06 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 1:05pm- TBD vs. Jordan Hicks (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

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