4/27/25
(Seattle, WA) Returning home from a long nine-game, three city road trip, the Seattle Mariners were ready to play in their friendly confines at T-Mobile Park for a three-game series with the Miami Marlins. With the Mariners coming in red hot and the Marlins entering the series still trying to find consistency from their rotation which has plagued them in the opening month of the season.
Marlins 8, Mariners 4 (Game One, April 25th)
Logan Gilbert took the mound to open up the homestand for the Mariners and the ace got off to a very strong start on the mound. Cal Quantrill also got off to a nice start for Miami despite coming into the game with an ERA over 8.00. One mistake from Quantrill would put the Mariners out in front in the 2nd. Coming off being named the AL Player of the Week, Dylan Moore has stayed hot this week and took advantage of a fastball in his wheelhouse. Moore yanked the heater out to left for his sixth home run of the season, giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
Gilbert was perfect through his first three innings, but then was pulled before the start of the 4th due to right forearm tightness. That quickly changed the mood as the ace has been a workhorse for the Mariners in his career but the bullpen took over early. Casey Lawrence came in and did his job with a scoreless 3rd before putting a man on first with two outs in the 5th. Then disaster struck. Matt Mervis sent a grounder to Dylan Moore at second and he booted a routine play that should have been the third out and instead kept the inning going.
Liam Hicks then flipped a base hit to left that tied the game at 1-1 and started the Mariners collapse. Following the rookie catcher was Javier Sanoja who got a sinker right down the middle and sent it back up the middle for an RBI single, giving Miami a 2-1 lead. Xavier Edwards brought home two more with a two-run single to left, making it 4-1 with Edwards on second and two outs still. Jesús Sánchez then came to the plate and put the exclamation point on the inning. Sánchez crushed his first home run of the season 406-feet to right field for the final runs of the inning. All six of the Marlins runs in the inning were unearned but they still had taken a 6-1 lead.
With Seattle in a big hole, the vibes were very low at T-Mobile Park with Logan Gilbert’s injury casting a large shadow over the game. In the bottom of the 6th, energy began to build for the Mariners. Back-to-back singles by Ben Williamson and J.P. Crawford put the first two Mariners on base. After Julio Rodríguez lined out, Jorge Polanco brought the M’s back to life. Polanco sent a fly ball to deep right center that cleared the wall for a three-run blast. It was Polanco’s fifth of the season already and cut the deficit down to two at 6-4.
A Rowdy Tellez double was left stranded in the 7th and Miami landed the knockout blow in the top of the 8th. After Eric Wagaman sent his sixth double of the season to left, the rookie sensation Agustín Ramírez came to the plate. The extra base hit machine had yet to homer in his short big league career, but that changed in Seattle. Ramírez sent his first career blast to center for a two-run shot to make it 8-4 and really take the wind out of the PNW crowd.
After leaving two stranded in the 8th, Seattle would be down to their three final outs in the bottom of the 9th. Ronny Henriquez would look for the final three outs for the Marlins. A leadoff walk for Rowdy Tellez put a man on and he moved up to second on a passed ball. Dylan Moore then struck out for the first out. Miles Mastrobuoni grounded out to first, putting Tellez on third with two outs however. Ben Williamson didn’t fare any better with a groundout back to Henriquez for the final out. A fun road trip did not carry over into the opening game of the homestand as the M’s lost the series opener for the fourth straight series, 8-4.
Notable Performances
Marlins
- Agustín Ramírez- 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Xavier Edwards- 2-5, 2 RBI, R
- Cal Quantrill (W, 2-2)- 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
Mariners
- Jorge Polanco- 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Dylan Moore- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
- Logan Gilbert (ND)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Mariners 14, Marlins 0 (Game Two, April 26th)
Following the tough opener, Seattle looked to even the series with Luis Castillo on the mound looking to get the momentum back on the Mariners side. A young, struggling starter would take the ball for Miami as Connor Gillespie would look to battle for his spot in the rotation with other starters returning from injuries.
Things could not have gotten off to a better start for the Mariners. The first pitch thrown by Gillespie to Julio Rodríguez was sent off the foul pole in left for J-Rod’s fourth home run of the season to give Seattle an immediate 1-0 lead. Next up, Jorge Polanco came to the plate and hammered Gillespie’s third pitch of the outing out to right field for his sixth homer of the season. Only three pitches in and the back-to-back home runs had given Seattle a 2-0 lead.
They still weren’t done in the 1st inning. Seattle loaded the bases on walks from Cal Raleigh and Rowdy Tellez with a bunt single by Luke Raley mixed in. With only one out, Ben Williamson continued his nice start to his career with a double down into the left field corner. Raleigh and Raley both scored on Williamson’s second double to make it 4-0. Miles Mastrobuoni then recorded his first double as a Mariner out to right to drive in two more. That would do it for the opening frame but Seattle had already taken a commanding 6-0 lead.
In the home half of the 2nd, Seattle continued to pour it on Miami with a sacrifice fly by Luke Raley to make it 7-0. The bottom of the 4th was the next big inning for the M’s. After phenomenal defense in the top half of the inning, Jorge Polanco blasted his second home run of the game and seventh of the season to make it 8-0. Walks from Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena followed before Luke Raley singled to load the bases. A scary moment then occurred when Rowdy Tellez was hit on the hand to drive in a run. Rowdy would eventually leave the game with a hand injury. Ben Williamson drove in one more run with a groundout to make it 10-0 Seattle.
Williamson added another run with an RBI single to make it 11-0 and that brought in a position player to pitch for Miami. Javier Sanoja would take the mound but Seattle did not let up. Mitch Garver crushed a two-run home run for his first of the season off of Sanoja to make it 13-0. Miles Mastrobuoni added another RBI single before Tayler Saucedo put the Marlins out of their misery. The biggest blowout win for the Mariners since October 4th of 2001 had come to an end as the M’s evened the series with a 14-0 drubbing.
Notable Performances
Marlins
- Kyle Stowers- 2-3
- Dane Myers- 1-3
- Connor Gillispie (L, 0-3)- 2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO
Mariners
- Luis Castillo (W, 3-2)- 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
- Ben Williamson- 2-5, 2B, 4 RBI, R
- Jorge Polanco- 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB
Mariners 7, Marlins 6 (Game Three, April 27th)
For the finale we would have a debut for the Mariners. With Logan Gilbert on the IL, Seattle brought up another Logan as Logan Evans made his MLB debut in the finale on Sunday. It would be a tough draw for the rookie as he would battle Miami’s ace in Max Meyer.
Evans wasted no time getting involved on defense with a grounder back to him and then he covered first on a grounder to Donovan Solano for the first two outs of his Major League career. Out number three didn’t come as easily as fellow rookie Agustín Ramírez continued his incredible start to his career. Ramírez took advantage of a mistake from Evans and crushed his second home run of the season out to center. The solo blast gave Miami the early 1-0 lead.
Seattle got some power from their own catcher in the home half of the 1st inning. Coming into Sunday, Cal Raleigh sat in a tie for second in baseball in home runs behind only former Mariner Eugenio Suárez. After this one, Cal would be tied with his former teammate. Raleigh jumped on a first pitch fastball from Max Meyer and sent a towering shot out to right field. The solo blast was the 10th of the season for Raleigh and tied the game back up at 1-1.
Logan Evans notched his first two career strikeouts in the top of the 2nd and he was rewarded with the lead in the home half. Just like they did on Thursday against Garrett Crochet, the Mariner bats made another ace throw a lot of pitches early while cashing in as well. With J.P. Crawford on first with two outs, Miles Mastrobuoni and Leo Rivas recorded walks to load the bases for Julio Rodríguez. J-Rod didn’t try to do too much and sent a hard grounder into right center for a base hit. Crawford and Mastrobuoni both scored to make it 3-1 and Rivas wasn’t far behind. Jorge Polanco brought in the Mariner second baseman with his third double of the season, giving Seattle and Logan Evans a 4-1 lead.
Both teams were held off the board in the 3rd and Seattle chased Max Meyer after the 4th with another run. Two-out walks to Leo Rivas and Julio Rodríguez kept the inning alive for the scorching hot Jorge Polanco. He continued his unbelievable month of April with a base hit to center. Once again Rivas scored on the Polanco knock, making it 5-1 and ending Meyer’s day with his shortest outing of the season.
Miami cashed in on a wild pitch in the top of the 5th and Otto Lopez brought in a run with a groundout to make it 5-2. Ronny Henriquez was the first man out of the bullpen for the Marlins and after giving up a single to Randy Arozarena, made a rare mistake. Henriquez stepped off for a third time without getting Arozarena which moved him to second with one out. That violation didn’t matter because of what J.P. Crawford did next. The Mariner shortstop obliterated a changeup 417-feet for a two-run bomb. The blast was Crawford’s second of the season and opened the game up to 7-2.
It was a successful debut for Logan Evans on Sunday as the rookie was dialed in from start to finish. Walks were a bit of an issue as Evans walked three while striking out three. His five innings were relatively clean and he only allowed the two runs on two hits while letting his defense do some work. It was a dream day for Evans and he left his debut in line for his first career win.
Collin Snider replaced Evans out of the Seattle bullpen and he ran into the red hot Agustín Ramírez to start his outing. For the third time this series, Ramírez sent a ball into the T-Mobile Park sky with his third blast of the season. Miami showed they weren’t going away as they cut the deficit down to 7-3.
Seattle let the Miami bullpen off the hook a few times and things got very interesting in the 8th. Trent Thornton gave up back-to-back singles to Eric Wagaman and Kyle Stowers to begin the inning. Thornton bounced back to get Matt Mervis swinging but he couldn’t get the best of Connor Norby. After doubling earlier in the game, Norby sent a bomb into the upper deck for his first home run of the season. The three-run blast gave the Mariners no room for error as it was down to a 7-6 game.
Andrés Muñoz had to come in as it remained a one-run game into the 9th. Muñoz needed just three pitches to begin his outing with a strikeout of Xavier Edwards. Jesús Sánchez only saw two pitches before grounding out to Leo Rivas at second. Muñoz would remain perfect in save opportunities by getting the dangerous Agustín Ramírez to also groundout to Rivas at second. The Mariners were able to exhale as they wrapped up their sixth consecutive series victory with a 7-6 win over the Miami Marlins.
Notable Performances
Marlins
- Agustín Ramírez- 2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Connor Norby- 3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
- Max Meyer (L, 2-3)- 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO
Mariners
- Jorge Polanco- 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI
- J.P. Crawford- 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Logan Evans (W, 1-0)- 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO
What’s Next
Now after six series wins in a row for the Seattle Mariners (16-12) sit in first place in the AL West, one game ahead of the Texas Rangers. Seattle also holds a 1 1/2 game advantage over Houston, two games ahead of the Athletics, and 3 1/2 up on the Los Angeles Angels. The Mariners currently own the third best record in the American League.
Seattle will now play eight consecutive division games against AL West foes, starting with a quick two-game series against the Los Angeles Angels to wrap up the five-game homestand. The Mariners and Angels have not played yet but Seattle is 7-3 against AL West teams so far this season. After starting out the season with a surprising 8-4 record, the Halos have fallen off and have gone 4-11 since and plummeted to last place in the AL West.
Kyren Paris would have been the player spotlight but he has cooled down since his torrid start. One player that returned and is reminding everyone how good he can be is Mike Trout. After only playing 29 games last season, Trout has seen his average way down but the power is still there for the future Hall of Famer. Trout is tied for third in baseball with nine home runs, trailing only Cal Raleigh and Eugenio Suárez who each have 10. Trout’s 18 RBI also leads the Angels but his average of just .170 highlights his all or nothing start to the season. With the rest of the lineup really struggling, Seattle can elect to be very careful with Trout especially with his success against the Mariners in T-Mobile Park. Trout’s 54 career home runs against the Mariners is the most by a single player against the M’s in franchise history. Of those 54 home runs, 33 of them have come in Seattle.
- Game 1, Tuesday 6:40pm- Jack Kochanowicz (1-3, 5.47 ERA) vs. Bryce Miller (1-3, 4.21 ERA)
- Game 2, Wednesday 1:10pm- Tim Anderson (2-0, 2.60 ERA) vs. Emerson Hancock (1-1, 7.71 ERA)
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