Mariners winning ways continue, win sixth straight series with victories over the Marlins
By Jeffrey Nooney, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Our Seattle Mariners are on a roll right now, a total change from how the first three series of the 2025 MLB season played out for them. With yet another series win in the books, the Mariners have taken the lead in the American League West by a full game over the Texas Rangers. With a run differential of +15, Seattle has the third best run differential in the American League only behind the New York Yankees (+42) and Detroit Tigers (+42). This is the sixth consecutive series that the Mariners have won since the three-game sweep down in San Francisco. Surprisingly, the offense has been the reason for the hot start to the season. It has been said that if Seattle could just have a league average offense, they could be world series contenders with how good the pitching staff has been. Through the first 28 games, the offense is performing better than league average. The Mariners are third in home runs, first in walks, eighteenth in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, fifth in OPS and second in OPS+. In this series, the Mariners scored 25 runs on 31 hits. The rest of the league should be on notice, especially if the starting rotation is able to get anywhere near the level to which they performed at last season.
Our game gallery from the Seattle Mariners home loss to the Miami Marlins in the series opener of a three-game weekend set on Friday, April 25th, 2025 at T-Mobile Park. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Game one: Marlins win 8-4
This may be the costliest loss of the season, and that’s not regarding the final result of the game itself. Seattle starting pitcher Logan Gilbert (1-1, 2.37 ERA) got the not on the hill for the Mariners but had to be pulled from the game after the third inning due to what was originally classified as right forearm tightness. He said that he felt tightness during his pregame warmups, something he has experienced before, but it didn’t go away this time. His fastball velocity was down a bit and he never attempted to throw his splitter because of the injury. An MRI he had in Seattle the next day revealed that he had a “grade one flexor strain” and was placed on the 15-day injured list. Reliever Casey Lawrence was brought in to pitch after that third inning in an attempt to try and save the bullpen for the rest of the series. He did just that, even if his numbers look bad. Lawrence pitched five full innings, allowing eight runs (just two earned) on ten hits and did not walk a batter, striking out four. He would be designated for assignment for the third time this season following the game as Seattle needed more bullpen help and since Lawrence obviously doesn’t have any more options remaining, being claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Super utility man Dylan Moore got the scoring started with a solo home run in the second inning, continuing his strong performance from last week when he was named as the American League player of the week. The Mariners had a 1-0 lead up until the top of the fifth when the Marlins scored six runs. With one out and a runner on first, Moore committed a fielding error that led to three straight singles and a home run as all six runs scored in the inning were unearned against Casey Lawrence. Seattle infielder/designated hitter Jorge Polanco hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, cutting into the Miami lead at 6-4. The hope was short lived for the Mariners though, as the Marlins top prospect, Agustín Ramírez, hit his first career home run in the top of the eighth inning to give the Marlins a 8-4 lead and effectively put this game to bed as Seattle lost yet another series opener.
Our game gallery from the Seattle Mariners home win over the Miami Marlins in game two of a three-game weekend set on Saturday, April 26th, 2025 at T-Mobile Park. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Game two: Mariners win 14-0
This game was over for the Marlins on the very first pitch of the ballgame. Julio Rodríguez hit his fifth home run of the season on the first pitch thrown by Miami starter Connor Gillispie, which was immediately followed by Jorge Polanco’s sixth home run of the season. In just three pitches, the Mariners led by a score of 2-0 to start a night that would be an explosion from the Seattle offense. That is just the third time in franchise history that the Mariners led the game off with back-to-back home runs. Third baseman Ben Williamson and utility man Miles Mastrobuoni would each drive in two runs on doubles, giving the Mariners a 6-0 lead in just the first inning. Outfielder Luke Raley gave the Mariners another run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning, which would be the end of the outing for Gillispie. Polanco hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the fourth, followed by an RBI hit by pitch from first baseman Rowdy Tellez pushing the Mariners lead to 9-0. Williamson drove in the next two runs of the game with an RBI fielder’s choice in the fourth and an RBI single in the 6th inning, making the score 11-0. The Marlins decided to throw out a position player for the final two innings, sending out Javier Sanoja to try and just get Miami out of this one and on to the rubber match the next day. The Mariners scored three more runs with Sanoja in, as Mitch Garver hit his first home run of the season while Miles Mastrobuoni drove in the final run with a single.
Seattle starting pitcher Luis Castillo (3-2, 3.62 ERA) hds his best start of the season in this game. While he was shaky in the first inning, allowing two walks, they did not score as “La Piedra” worked around them. Castillo allowed just one hit in his six-shutout innings of work, only walking two and striking out five. The Marlins had no answers to Castillo, as he retired seventeen of the last eighteen batters he faced and allowed just three base runners all night. Troy Taylor, Casey Legumina and Tayler Saucedo finished the game from the bullpen and allowed just three hits (one each) and struck out two in some easy clean up work with the lead in such a large state to set up the rubber game the next day.
Game Three: Mariners win 7-6
The Mariners finished the series off with a close win over the Marlins to take their sixth consecutive series victory dating back to being swept by the San Francisco Giants in Seattle’s first “road trip” of 2025. Logan Evans, the Mariners tenth ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was called up to make his Major League debut for this game with Logan Gilbert on the injured list and in order to give Bryce Miller an extra few days of rest. Evans (1-0, 3.60 ERA) pitched five solid innings for the Mariners, giving up just two runs (both earned) on two hits as he walked three batters and struck out three. Evans has the chance to stick in the rotation at least for a while with the injuries to Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, and if his first start of any indication of what he’s beginning with then he certainly could more than earn that opportunity. Seattle hitters were all over Marlins starter Max Meyer to assist Evans in his MLB debut with some solid run support. In Meyer’s last start against the Cincinnati Reds, he pitched six-scoreless innings while striking out 14, but he was not as sharp in this one as he allowed five runs (all earned) in just four innings of work. Meyer gave up five hits while walking four and struck out six, also giving up a home run.
Marlins rookie Agustín Ramírez stayed hot as hit a home run in the first inning off Evans, but Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh answered with a home run of his own in the bottom of the frame, his tenth of the season and another with his torpedo bat. In the bottom of the second inning, Julio Rodríguez drove in two on a base hit followed by a Jorge Polanco RBI double, giving the Mariners a 4-1 lead. Miami second baseman Otto Lopez drove in a run with a groundout in the top of the fifth inning making the score 4-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford hit a three-run home run, giving Seattle a 7-2 lead. Ramírez would then hit his second solo home run of the day in the top of the sixth inning off Mariners reliever Colin Snider, making the score 7-3. Marlins third baseman Connor Norby hit a three-run home run, his first home run of the season, off Trent Thornton in the top of the eighth to bring Miami within a run before Andrés Muñoz shut the Marlins down in the ninth inning, securing the victory in the finale and giving Seattle the series win.
What’s Next?
Following the series win over the Miami Marlins in the first set of this brief homestand, our Seattle Mariners have an off day on Monday before a quick two-game series against the Los Angeles Angels before they head back out on the road. The Halos have a 12-15 record and were swept in three games by the Minnesota Twins over the weekend. “Los Angeles” comes into Seattle last in the division and with a -33 run differential which is the third worst in all of baseball. Star outfielder Mike Trout is healthy and loves to hit in T-Mobile Park, as in 92 games in Seattle, he’s hitting .333 with 33 home runs and 80 runs batted in. Trout is most certainly the key player to watch for the Angels, considering he’s healthy right now and his history hitting here in Seattle. Here are the pitching matchups for the series:
Tuesday, 4/29 (6:40PM PDT first pitch): Jack Kochanowicz (1-3, 5.47 ERA) versus Bryce Miller (1-3, 4.21 ERA)
Wednesday, 4/30 (1:10PM PDT first pitch): Tyler Anderson (2-0, 2.80 ERA) versus Emerson Hancock (1-1, 7.71 ERA)
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