Mariners win fourth series in a row, continue to dominate Blue Jays
By Jeffrey Nooney, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - In yet another wild series on this nine-game road trip, our Seattle Mariners were able to take two out of three in Toronto against the Blue Jays. The Mariners improved their record to 12-10 on the season so far and currently sit just one game behind the first place Texas Rangers in the American League West. Over their last ten games, Seattle’s record of 8-2 is the best in all of baseball. The Mariners have the only positive run differential in the American League West, currently sitting at +5, which is the fourth best in the American League. Seattle is playing good baseball right now, and this series against the Blue Jays shows just what this team can do especially considering that the offense has been helping pick up the pitching as of recent series’. They outscored the Blue Jays 17-10 in the three games, scoring eight runs in each of the two wins in Toronto. The best performer for the Mariners came from former Blue Jay Rowdy Tellez. Tellez hit a home run in each of the three games, including a 12th inning grand slam in Saturday’s contest to blow it wide open as Seattle took the second contest of the three-game set. Rowdy’s start to 2025 has been a slow one, but he may have turned a corner after this series and here’s hoping considering how grim the Mariners infield has looked coming into the season, let alone after the loss of Ryan Bliss due to injury. Tellez is still slashing just .156/.204/.444/.649, but he now has four home runs and has driven in 11 runs. He is hitting the ball extremely hard this season and is above the 91st percentile in average exit velocity, barrel percentage, hard hit percentage and launch angle sweet spot percentage. The Mariners will need Tellez to stay hot if they are to keep winning series, as consistent offense has obviously been a massive question mark for this franchise in recent years.
Game one: Blue Jays win 3-1
Friday night’s game was nationally televised on Apple TV+ and this was one of the worst games the Mariners played all season. Seattle struggled on the basepaths in this one, being thrown out at second base, third base and home plate as their aggressive nature turned against them. Blue Jays right fielder and Bellevue native Addison Barger threw out all three of those runners, earning all three outfield assists, which tied a Blue Jays franchise record. Toronto starting pitcher Bowden Francis (2-2, 3.13 ERA) was lights out in this game as he pitched six innings and only gave up one run (earned) on five hits. Francis walked only one and struck out five, holding the Mariners to just one run in this game thanks to a Rowdy Tellez solo shot in the second inning off. Back in 2021, Tellez was traded from the Blue Jays to the Milwaukee Brewers for Bowden Francis, reminding us that it’s funny how baseball works sometimes.
Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo (2-1, 3.12 ERA) took his first loss of the season, as he did not have his best stuff in this game but still managed to get through seven innings for his second consecutive start. Woo gave up three runs (all earned) on seven hits, walking two and striking out four. Woo struggled early, but he retired his last nine batters faced. Much like his last start against the Rangers and despite the early struggle, Woo still found a way to get deep into the ballgame. Bryan has started just four games this season but has only one less inning pitched than teammate Logan Gilbert, who has pitched in five games. Woo is averaging 6.5 innings pitched per outing while Gilbert is just under 5.5 innings per start, providing a key boost as the rotation so far this season hasn’t been able to get consistently deep into ballgames. Bryan Woo may be this team’s fourth starter, but he is pitching at an ace level for the Mariners this season so far and it will be huge for Seattle going forward if he’s able to maintain that level of performance.
Game two: Mariners win 8-4 (12 innings)
This game was a roller coaster from the first pitch to the last pitch. The Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead in the first before Cal Raleigh’s domination of the Jays continued with a two-run double in the fifth inning, shortly after some words were exchanged between hime and Toronto starting pitcher José Berríos. Cal ended the day by going 2-3 with a double, run scored and three walks. The Blue Jays then tied the game at two in the fifth inning before taking the lead with a broken bat RBI single from Bo Bichette in the sixth. Mariners rookie third baseman Ben Williamson hit his first career big league home run in the seventh inning, tying the game at three. That was it for scoring until the 12th inning when the Mariners blew the game wide open. With the bases loaded, Randy Arozarena singled and drove in the go-ahead run, giving the Mariners a 4-3 lead. With two outs, former Blue Jay Rowdy Tellez hit a grand slam off Toronto reliever Jacob Barnes. The ball traveled 430 feet, and the exit velocity was 108.5 miles per hour. The Blue Jays scored a run in the bottom of the 12th, but that didn’t matter as the damage was already done and Seattle had evened the series at a game a piece.
Mariners right handed starting pitcher Logan Gilbert (1-1, 2.63 ERA) got the nod on the bump in this game for Seattle, but could not get out of the fifth inning. Logan gave up two runs (both earned) on seven hits, while walking two and striking out nine. The Mariners bullpen was outstanding in this game, giving up just two runs (one earned) on five hits while walking two and striking out three as they again needed to help pick up the team following a starter not going particularly deep into the ballgame. Carlos Vargas pitched two scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th innings, allowing just two hits. Eduard Bazardo pitched a scoreless 10th, and Andrés Muñoz pitched a scoreless 11th inning. Casey Lawrence gave up a run in the 12th, but it was the free runner that starts each extra inning on second base and with the massive lead in hand thanks to Tellez’s grand slam. Vargas and Bazardo have found themselves in high leverage roles this season and for the most part have excelled in those roles, besides Bazardo giving up the crucial grand slam to Jake Fraley back in the Cincinnati series.
Game three: Mariners win 8-3
After the monster 12th inning from the Mariners offense the previous day, the Mariners continued their hot streak right away in this ball game. Super utility man Dylan Moore led the game off with his fifth home run of the season, giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead, a lead Seattle would never relinquish. After a Julio Rodríguez double, Cal Raleigh hit his ninth home run of the season to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead. Cal now is tied for the lead in Major League Baseball for the most home runs with Tyler Soderstrom of the Athletics. In the top of the second inning, left fielder Randy Arozarena hit a two-run single followed by a Mitch Garver RBI single, giving the Mariners a 6-0 lead. With a 6-3 lead in the seventh, Rowdy Tellez hit yet another home run giving the Mariners an 8-3 lead which would be the final score as Tellez’s terrorization of his former team continued throughout the entirety of this Toronto series.
Seattle starting pitcher Luis Castillo (2-2, 4.44 ERA) got the win but struggled for his second consecutive game. The right hander battled through his five innings of work and worked his way out of numerous jams. “La Piedra” finished his outing giving up three runs (all earned) on ten hits while walking two and striking out five. Yet again, the Mariners bullpen was nails in this game, as in their collective four innings of work, they did not give up a run while allowing just one hit, two walks and struck out two. This was a complete win for the Mariners, even if Castillo struggled some. The offense did more than enough to win the ball game, just as they had the night before to force this rubber match.
What’s next?
Following this fourth consecutive series victory, our Seattle Mariners continue this east coast road trip with a three-game series at Fenway Park against the 13-11 Boston Red Sox. The Red sox just took three out of four games against the Chicago White Sox and are 7-3 over their last ten ballgames. Boston looks a bit different than in years past, adding former Houston Astro Alex Bregman to their lineup via free agency this past offseason. Bregman has been red hot to start the year, along with a fully healthy Trevor Story and rookie Kristian Campbell. After the series in Boston, the Mariners will finally come back home to begin with a five-game homestand that features a three-game series against the Miami Marlins and a two-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. Here are the projected starters for the upcoming series against the Red Sox:
Tuesday, 3:45PM PDT first pitch: Bryce Miller (1-2, 3.43 ERA) vs. Brayan Bello (0-0, 0.00 ERA) - (Bello is making his 2025 debut)
Wednesday, 3:45PM PDT first pitch: Emerson Hancock (0-1, 12.71 ERA) vs. Sean Newcomb (0-2, 3.63 ERA)
Thursday, 10:35AM PDT first pitch: Bryan Woo (2-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. Garrett Crochet (2-1, 1.13 ERA)
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