Missed Chances Bite Mariners In 6-4 Loss To Rangers
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - With another opportunity to create distance between themselves and their opponent today while gaining ground on a Houston Astros team that lost again today, our Seattle Mariners fell short to the Texas Rangers as a few critical missed opportunities loomed large in the end. Leaving five runners stranded between the sixth and seventh innings factored into this game having to go into extra innings, which included the Mariners having the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh with just one out before Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh both struck out looking. It’s a frustrating result for Seattle given the opportunities squandered throughout the rare Saturday day game, but also an instance of this Mariners lineup still not quite clicking as a unit following the additions made at the trade deadline.
This third game of a four-game weekend set between the Rangers and Mariners started off slow, seeing just two runs scored in the first five innings, as the visiting Texas side ultimately got the first runs pushed across home plate. The first two innings of this game went by quickly and without action as starting pitchers Luis Castillo and Merrill Kelly faced the minimum through those frames. Things changed in the top of the third, starting with a former Mariner.
Rangers first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who was released by the Mariners back on June 26th, led off the top of the third inning with an infield single as Seattle second baseman Cole Young was able to knock down a well hit ball towards him but was not able to get a throw off. The next batter took advantage of a Castillo four-seam fastball that ate up too much of the plate, as Kyle Higashioka hammered it to the Texas bullpen in left field to put the Rangers ahead early. The momentum pendulum seemed to continue a heavy swing in favor of Texas as the Rangers had runners on the corners with one out before Castillo got Marcus Semien to line out and Adolis García struck out swinging.
The game started to turn in favor of the Mariners in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Rangers provided plenty of evidence that they either completely forgot how to play baseball or they truly are cursed when playing at T-Mobile Park (Texas has a putrid 8-37 record at T-Mobile Park since 2020 coming into this game) in recent memory. J.P. Crawford, last night’s hero for Seattle, led the bottom of the frame off with a ground rule double as he sliced a ball to right field that took a big hop into the stands right next to the foul pole. A Cole Young flyout to center field didn’t deter the Mariners lineup, as Randy Arozarena singled to put runners on the corners with just one out. Arozarena’s ability on the base paths played a role in how Seattle would manufacture their first out of the game, and it surprisingly didn’t come as a result of a stolen base.
Arozarena’s presence on first base bothered Rangers starter Merrill Kelly so much that his numerous pickoff attempts resulted in a disengagement violation, allowing Randy to advance to second and scoring Crawford from third base to get the Mariners on the board. A Julio Rodríguez double, as a ball to García in right field wasn’t fielded well and easily allowed Arozarena to score from second, tying the ballgame. Texas’ poor play continued with a blunder by Rangers starter Merrill Kelly, as the right hander fielded a ball right back towards him easily but tried to throw Rodríguez out at third in puzzling fashion. Unsure if Kelly was unaware of the fact that there were two outs and simply getting Josh Naylor out at first ends the inning or if he truly thought he could get Julio at third, but it ultimately created another runners on corners situation for the Mariners.
“They had several righties in there, and [Ezequiel Durán] was in the game as well. Just felt like that was a good spot for legs [Casey Legumina], and we knew we had Fergy [Caleb Ferguson] there towards the bottom if they got to the lefties. But again, I thought Lego threw the ball well, they were able to get a lot soft contact on him that broke over some holes, and they were able to push them across.”
Quick Mariners notes, from Mariners PR
37,226 was the announced paid attendance at T-Mobile Park for today’s game three of four between the visiting Texas Rangers and our Seattle Mariners.
Game one attendance: 28,293
Game two attendance: 40,984
Game three attendance: 37,226
Sockeye the Salmon won today’s Mariners “Salmon Run,” as Humpy had a massive lead (Mostly thanks to a “false start”) but lost it as the affable fish got distracted by the fans along the first base line and lost a floatie.
2025 standings, so far
King: 22 wins
Silver: 17 wins
Sockeye: 16 wins
Humpy: 0 wins
The Yellow Mariners Tea store boat won today’s Mariners “Hydro Challenge,” courtesy of a lightning bolt boost towards the very end.
2025 standings, so far
Green boat: 19 wins
Red boat: 18 wins
Yellow boat: 18 wins
The Mariners fell 6-4 to the Texas Rangers in the 3rd game of the 4-game series…they still hold a 9-3 record against the Rangers this season but dropped their first home game in the last 7 games at T-Mobile Park against the Rangers this season.
The Mariners have played 17 extra-inning games this season, tied for most in MLB with Boston…it also marked their MLB-leading 11th game going 11+ innings this season...Seattle did not play any 11+ inning games last year.
Randy Arozarena went 2-for-5 and hit the game-tying 2-run homer to lead off the 10th inning…his 14 home runs since June 30 are the most homers in MLB and 2 more than any other player during that span.
His 22 home runs this season are 1 shy of matching his career-high 23 home runs in 2023 with Tampa Bay.
It also marked Arozarena’s 6th home run this season in the 8th inning or later (last: 7/30 at ATH)…Seattle’s 17 home runs in the 9th inning or later are tied with Arizona for the second-most in MLB this season, trailing Athletics (21 HR).
J.P. Crawford hit a ground-rule double down the right field line in the 6th inning…he then scored the Mariners first run of the game on a disengagement violation (Merrill Kelly).
Josh Naylor reached on a fielder’s in the 6th inning, recorded his 17th stolen base of the season, and singled in the 10th inning.
His 6 stolen bases in his first 9 games with Seattle matches Donnell Nixon (1987) for the most stolen bases through a player’s first 9 career games for the Mariners.
His 6 stolen bases since July 26 ties CJ Abrams-WSH for the most swipes across that span…Naylor is 1 of 2 Mariners to record 6+ stolen bases across an 8-game stretch this season, joining Arozarena (6 SB, 4/7-4/16).
Julio Rodríguez hit an RBI-double in the 6th inning, scoring Arozarena to tie the game 2-2…he is now 2 doubles shy of 100 career doubles.
Dominic Canzone singled in the 7th inning and is batting .400 (4x10) across the current homestand (7/31-c).
Dylan Moore entered in the 7th inning to pinch run for Canzone and stole his 12th bag of the season…he has stolen a base in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
Celebrating his 33rd birthday today, he became the 14th player in MLB history to pinch run and steal a base on his birthday…he is the first Mariner to do so and is the first player in MLB since Andrew Velazquez-LAA on July 14, 2023.
Cole Young singled in the 3rd inning and is batting .375 (3x8) with 2 runs scored, a home run, triple, 3 RBI, and 3 walks across the current homestand (7/31-c).
Starter Luis Castillo tossed 4.1 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits (1 HR) and 1 walk with 4 strikeouts in his 23rd start of the season…he threw 87 pitches (51 strikes).
Across his last 7 starts since June 29, he is 4-1 with a 2.19 ERA (10 ER, 41.0 IP) and 40 strikeouts to 7 walks with the Mariners going 5-2 when Castillo starts.
His 3.38 career ERA (214 ER, 569.0 IP) in a Mariner uniform (min. 500.0 IP) and his 2.77 ERA (95 ER, 308.2 IP) at home (min. 300 IP) are each franchise-best marks…his 351 strikeouts at T-Mobile Park move ahead of Joel Piñeiro (348 SO) for the 6th-most in Mariners history.
Higashioka’s home run in the 3rd inning was the first home run Castillo has allowed in the last 6 games (since June 24 at MIN)…his 6-game streak without a home run allowed was the longest active streak by a starting pitcher coming into today and was the longest streak by a Mariners starter since George Kirby did not allow a home run in 7 consecutive games from June 26-July 31, 2024.
His 4.1 innings pitched matches his season-low in which he also tossed 4.1 innings on April 15 at Cincinnati.
The Mariners bullpen (Carlos Vargas, Eduard Bazardo, Gabe Speier, Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash, Casey Legumina, and Caleb Ferguson) combined for 6.2 innings of relief, allowing 7 hits and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts.
Vargas entered in the 5th inning and tossed 1.2 shutout innings of relief…he has not allowed an earned run in his last 3 games (7/26-c) and owns a 1.59 ERA (1 ER, 5.2 IP) across his last 5 appearances (6/21-c).
Muñoz now holds a 1.29 ERA (6 ER, 42.2 IP) and has not allowed an earned run in his last 7 appearances since July 13.
Ferguson made his 2nd appearance with the Mariners since being acquired from the Pirates on July 30…he has not allowed an earned run since July 22.
What’s next?
Following this frustrating loss in the eleventh inning against an American League West foe in the Texas Rangers, our Seattle Mariners shift their focus to tomorrow’s game and series finale. That fourth and final game of the extended weekend set between the Rangers and our Mariners has a first pitch time of 1:10PM PDT at T-Mobile Park as American League Cy Young candidate Jacob deGrom takes the hill for Texas to dual against young Logan Evans for Seattle in a big bout between two teams battling for a Wild Card spot/the potential to climb in the West. Considering how close the Rangers are to the Mariners in the division, sitting just a game behind Seattle after today’s result, and the potential implications that it could have the rest of the way, it’s a big game that both sides will desperately want.
When it comes to promotional and group nights, there’s a lot going on for this Sunday matinee game. It’s “SpongeBob SquarePants Day” as those who purchased a ticket through the special promotional and group nights page will receive a Mariners-themed SpongeBob jersey in addition to their ticket to the game. It’s “University of Idaho Day” to continue a few college nights, as today was “Boise State University Day,” as those who purchased a ticket through the aforementioned page will receive a University of Idaho Mariners-themed jersey while $5 of each ticket will benefit the University’s Alumni Legacy Scholarship. Other additions to the itinerary for this game include “Fleet Week,” and “Cover Your Bases: Prevention Day” to promote life-saving preparedness and prevention education for local disasters. Phillip Ferrell will perform the national anthem ahead of this game while country musician Zach Top will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
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