Mariners drop game one against Blue Jays despite late rally attempt

Seattle Mariners
Written By Jeff Nooney

By Jeffrey Nooney, edited by Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA - Our Seattle Mariners had many chances to win tonight’s series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, but Lady Luck was simply not on their side. The Blue Jays take game one of this weekend set by a final score of 6-3, as the Mariners record falls to 22-15,still maintaining a three-game lead over the Athletics for the top spot in the American League West division. Losing game one of a series is not the end of the world as five of Seattle’s last nine series wins included a game one loss. Toronto flew into Seattle early this morning from Los Angeles, landing around 3:00 AM because of the fact that their final game against the Angels did not start until 6:29 PM instead of a standard day time start. If they were tired, it didn’t show in this one, as the Blue Jays hitters got all over Castillo by posting five runs in the first three innings of this contest. The Mariners offense looked like they were slowly mounting a comeback in the latter innings, including loading the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the eighth, but Seattle lacked the punch needed to complete that resilient effort and ultimately fell.

Seattle Mariners starting right-handed pitcher Luis Castillo during the teams 6-3 loss on Friday, May 9th, 2025 to the Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park. (Photos by Kevin Ng for Circling Seattle Sports)

Mariners starter Luis “La Piedra” Castillo struggled out of the gate tonight, walking Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before Bellevue native Addison Barger hit the first of three doubles on the night, driving in the two on base to get the scoring started for Toronto. Those were the only two batters Castillo would walk tonight, interestingly enough, despite some control issues that plagued him throughout this outing. In the top of the third inning, Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement singled and drove in Barger, making the score 3-0. Toronto’s next hitter, Nathan Lukes, hit his second home run of the season shortly after to blow the game wide open and give the Jays a 5-0 lead within the first third of this ballgame.

Our gallery of the Seattle Mariners hitters during the teams 6-3 loss on Friday, May 9th, 2025 to the Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park. (Photos by Kevin Ng for Circling Seattle Sports)

Seattle was able to get one run back in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a Jorge Polanco RBI single, but that was it for scoring until the bottom of the sixth inning. Randy Arozarena drove in a run with a single, before newly acquired outfielder Leody Taveras slammed an RBI double, making the score 5-3 in favor of the Jays as the Mariners started to inch their way back. Seattle loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth inning, as former Mariners reliever who returned to the team that traded him in Yimi García lacked any sense of control to seemingly put Seattle in prime position. Despite the glowingly golden opportunity that had fallen into their lap, the Mariners next three hitters to the plate failed to put the ball in play well enough to bring any of the runners across home plate, squandering their last chance to further the comeback effort. The Blue Jays got an extra run in the top of the ninth to push their lead back up to three runs, before turning the ball over to their closer, Jeff Hoffman, who earned his eighth save of the season.

Castillo (3-3, 3.95 ERA) had to battle from his first pitch through his last, managing to get through five innings but allowing five runs (all earned) on seven hits while walking two and striking out just three. The Seattle bullpen was excellent yet again, giving up just one run across four innings of work as Casey Legumina pitched two shutout innings while striking out three.

It took a few innings, but the Mariners were able to get to Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman. Gausman (3-3, 3.97 ERA) pitched five and a third innings while allowing three runs (all earned) on eight hits, striking out three and not walking a batter. Old friend Yimi García, whom the Mariners acquired at last seasons trade deadline from these same Blue Jays in a trade that sent prospects Jonatan Clase and Jacob Sharp to Toronto, struggled in the eighth inning, but was ultimately able to work out of a bases loaded, no outs jam.

Quick Mariners notes, from Mariners PR:

  • The Mariners dropped game one of the 6-game homestand by a score of 6-3 against the Blue Jays.

    • The teams are now tied at 2-2 this season after Seattle took 2-of-3 in Toronto on April 18-20.

  • With a single in the 3rd inning, J.P. Crawford extended his 16-game hitting streak (4/19-c), which is currently the longest active streak in the Majors.

  • Randy Arozarena went 2-for-3, extending his career-high 31-game on-base streak (3/31-c) which is the 2nd-longest active streak in the Majors, trailing only Kyle Schwarber-PHI (44 G).

    • Arozarena’s current streak is also the longest streak by a Mariner since Robinson Canó’s 34-game on-base streak from April 30-June 5, 2016.

  • Jorge Polanco knocked in the first run of the game with an RBI-single in the 3rd inning.

    • Polanco’s 28 RBI this season are currently the 4th-most in the AL, trailing Aaron Judge-NYY (34), Spencer Torkelson-DET (32), and Alex Bregman-BOS (30).

  • With a single and run in the 3rd inning, Ben Williamson became the 8th Mariner in franchise history to record 20+ hits and 13+ runs in the first 20 games of his career (Last: Willie Bloomquist, 2003)…of those players, he is only 1 of 3 Mariners with 10+ RBI as well, joining Alvin Davis (23 RBI) and Rod Craig (14 RBI).

  • Luis Castillo finished his 8th start of the season allowing 5 runs on 7 hits (1 HR), issuing 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts across 5.0 innings pitched…he threw 94 pitches (60 strikes) and 14-of-24 first-pitch strikes.

    • Castillo's 34 pitches in the first inning were his 2nd-most in any inning this season (35, 4th inning on 4/8 vs. HOU).

  • Casey Legumina entered for Castillo in the 6th inning, tossing 2.0 hitless innings of relief with 3 strikeouts…Collin Snider allowed 1 hit, striking out 2 batters in the 8th inning.

    • Legumina has not allowed an earned run in 6 consecutive outings (4/26-c).

  • Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh had back-to-back base hits before Arozarena and Leody Taveras scored both with RBI-singles.

    • Going 2-for-4, Rodriguez is the only active player in the Majors with 25+ AB and no strikeouts so far in the month of May…his 7-game streak without a strikeout (5/2-c) is the longest streak by a Mariner so far this season.

    • Taveras is batting .375 (9-for-24) with runners in scoring position this season and is 2-for-4 with RISP since joining the Mariners on May 8.

What’s next?

Following tonight’s series opening loss, our Seattle Mariners face these same Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow night with a scheduled first pitch at 6:40PM PDT. It’s a special occasion in tomorrow’s game as it’s “Maple Grove Night,” as the Mariners will honor retired starting pitcher James Paxton as he’ll be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch and those who purchased their ticket through a special promotional link will receive a Limited-edition Maple Grove T-shirt while seated in the section where the “Maple Grove” used to be located back when Paxton was pitching for Seattle. After that Saturday night showdown, the series finishes this Sunday which so happens to be Mother’s Day. Here are the probable pitchers for the remaining two games of this series:

  • Saturday, May 10th: Bowden Francis (2-5, 5.66 ERA) versus Logan Evans (1-1, 7.20 ERA)

  • Sunday, May 11th: José Ureña (0-0, 8.59 ERA) versus Bryce Miller (2-3, 4.15 ERA)

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Jeff Nooney
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