Mariners make it seven consecutive series wins with two-game sweep of Angels
By Jeffrey Nooney, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - After the first month of the season, our Seattle Mariners are off to one of their best starts in recent memory. The Mariners have now won seven straight series and stand on top of the American League West division standing by two games over the Houston Astros. Their 18-12 record (.600 winning percentage) is the sixth best in all of baseball, and second best in the American League with only the Detroit Tigers ahead of them. Seattle’s run differential of +23 is the third best in the American League trailing only those same Tigers and the New York Yankees. As of Wednesday, April 30th, the Mariners have scored 152 runs over their 30 games played. Last season, it wasn’t until May 12th that Seattle reached over 152 runs scored and they did that in 41 games. The offense as a whole is clicking this season after a somewhat mediocre first three series of the year, and if the Mariners are to make the playoffs and beyond, they’ll need to maintain that consistency because of the injuries to the starting rotation and their somewhat underwhelming performance so far at this point of the season.
Before the series got underway, the injury bug struck Seattle yet again. Super utility man Dylan Moore was placed on the 10-day injured list with right hip inflammation, and as a corresponding move infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor was called up from AAA Tacoma to replace him on the roster. Outfielder Luke Raley grabbed his side after a swing during early batting practice ahead of Tuesday’s game and was subsequently scratched from the lineup. He was then placed on the 10-day injured list before Wednesday’s game and will likely miss six weeks with an oblique injury. Seattle called up outfielder Rhylan Thomas to replace Raley on the active roster. When Thomas makes an appearance for the Mariners, he will be making his Major League debut, having been acquired from the New York Mets in the Ryne Stanek deal prior to last year’s trade deadline.
Our game gallery as the Los Angeles Angels fell to our Seattle Mariners in the first contest of a two-game series at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday, April 29th, 2025. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Game one: Mariners win 5-3
The Mariners got off to an early start by loading the bases in the first inning without recording an out, looking to keep their positive momentum rolling swiftly into this odd two-game series against a divisional rival. Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz could not find the strike zone after Julio Rodríguez turned on the first pitch and hit a single. Jorge Polanco and Cal Raleigh worked walks, but Randy Arozarena hit a groundball on the first pitch of his at bat to Angels shortstop Zach Neto, who nailed Rodríguez at home for the force out. On the very next pitch, Rowdy Tellez flew out in foul territory to first baseman Nolan Schanuel. Two pitches later, J.P. Crawford popped out to third base. Following that frustrating first inning that saw a golden opportunity squandered, Jorge Polanco blasted a three-run home run in the second inning, scoring Miles Mastrobuoni and Leo Rivas to jolt Seattle and get them an early lead. That was it for scoring until the top of the seventh when Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe hit a solo home run off Mariners reliever Carlos Vargas to make the score 3-1. Polanco proceeded to answer that homer with one of his own, as he hit his second home run of the night, this time a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Angels tacked on two more before Mariners reliever Andrés Muñoz closed the game out for his 11th save of the season.
Seattle right hander Bryce Miller started the game for the Mariners and was not sharp in this one. Miller (2-3, 3.52 ERA) earned his second win of the year, but his command was way off. “Big Tex” walked a career high five batters, but managed to not allow a single run. He struck out six and allowed just two hits in his scoreless appearance. Miller told the media after the game that his back locked up during pregame warmups and he did not feel well during the game, as he couldn’t sit down between innings, so he stood the whole time. Miller has not felt good in a start yet this season, but looks forward to the summertime when his body will hopefully return to 100%.
“It was a frustrating outing. It’s been a frustrating start to the season for me. The majority of my starts I have not felt great. Today I was feeling good then my back locked up on me pregame. It’s just been one thing after another that hasn’t been anything major, it’s just been nagging. Once I get to feeling good i’ll be happy. Today was one of those days where I expect myself to get through at least 7 (innings) and give the bullpen a chance but I wasn’t able to do that. So yeah, frustrating.”
Our game gallery as the Los Angeles Angels fell to our Seattle Mariners in the second contest of a two-game series at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday, April 30th, 2025. (Photos by Liz Wolter for Circling Seattle Sports)
Game two: Mariners win 9-3
This game was much closer than the final scoreboard will show. The Angels scored a run in the first inning thanks to a Logan O’Hoppe RBI single. Seattle responded in the bottom of the second thanks to Randy Arozarena’s fifth home run of the season, tying the game at one. Later in the second inning, Seattle infielder Leo Rivas drove in the Mariners second run with an RBI single that scored catcher Mitch Garver. Los Angeles outfielder Jorge Soler hit his fifth home run in the top of the third inning to tie this game at two, showing just how back and forth this game was going to be for the first six innings of the contest.. Mariners “chaos ball” came back in the bottom of the third inning when designated hitter Cal Raleigh reached first base on an error. He got to second base on a wild pitch from Angels starting pitcher (and former Mariner) Tyler Anderson, before stealing third base and scoring on a throwing error from O’Hoppe that gave the Mariners a 3-2 lead. The seesaw momentum of the game continued, as Los Angeles tied the game on an RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Zach Neto in the top of the fourth inning. That was it for scoring until the bottom of the seventh when the Mariners hung six on the board. Shortstop J.P. Crawford blew the game wide open with a two-run single, followed by an RBI double from Julio Rodríguez. Raleigh drove in Julio with a single and Rivas drove in the final two runs with a single of his own to cap off the six-run frame.
Mariners starter Emerson Hancock (1-1, 6.62 ERA) spun his second consecutive quality start in this one, continuing a nice run for the former Georgia Bulldog coming off a disastrous first appearance of the season. The Angels had a lot of traffic against him, but Hancock limited the hard contact when it mattered. In his six innings of work, he allowed three runs (all earned) on nine hits, walking four and striking out two. Reliever Casey Legumina (2-0, 3.52 ERA) earned his second win of the season when he came in to pitch in the seventh inning, as Eduard Bazardo and Troy Taylor finished the game off without allowing baserunners.
What’s next?
Following their two-game series sweep of the Los Angeles (Anaheim) Angels to finish out a five-game homestand, our Seattle Mariners hit the road for a two city, six game road trip to face a pair of American League West division rivals. The Mariners head down to Arlington first to take on the Texas Rangers then head to Sacramento to face the Athletics. This will be the first time Seattle will play the Athletics in their new town and stadium. The Mariners swept the Rangers in April in three games, while they split a four game series with the Athletics on Opening Weekend. Both the Rangers and the Athletics have records of 16-15 and are 2.5 games behind the Mariners in the standings for the top spot in the division. Here are this weekend’s pitching matchups:
Friday May, 2nd (5:05PM PDT first pitch): Bryan Woo (3-1, 3.09 ERA) vs. Jack Leiter (2-0, 2.03 ERA)
Saturday, May 3rd (4:05PM PDT first pitch): Luis Castillo (3-2, 3.62 ERA) vs. Patrick Corbin (2-1, 3.79 ERA)
Sunday May 4th (11:35AM PDT first pitch): Logan Evans (1-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. Jacob deGrom (1-1, 2.73 ERA)
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