Mariners win series in Boston, finish road trip 6-3
By Jeffrey Nooney, edited by Charles Hamaker
Boston, MA - Our Seattle Mariners won their fifth straight series on the 2025 MLB season, following a big three-game set in Boston against the Red Sox. This is the first series win for the Mariners at Fenway Park since way back in 2014, as they did it behind their surprising offense plus some strong pitching outings from Emerson Hancock and Bryan Woo. Seattle has scored the fourth most runs in the American League while sitting just 0.5 games behind the first place Texas Rangers in the American League West. With stops in Cincinnati, Toronto and Boston, the Mariners went 6-3 on this long, all East Coast trip spanning nine games in eleven days. Seattle lost game one in each of the three stops on this road trip but got wins in game two and three in each of the three series’. Despite known Mariner killer Alex Bregman’s big series (6-12, two runs scored, three doubles, a home run and five runs driven in), Seattle fought hard and earned the series win being outscored 15-16 across the three games. Our Mariners now head home on a happy flight to begin a five-game homestand tomorrow, looking to build off their five straight series wins and 11-4 record since being swept by the San Francisco Giants in their first “road trip” of the season.
Game 1: Red Sox win 8-3
This was a game of missed chances for Seattle, beginning what is always a tough series for any road team at Fenway Park. Boston’s starter Bryan Bello (1-0, 1.80 ERA) was making his 2025 debut after missing the start of the season with a shoulder strain. Mariners designated hitter Jorge Polanco hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning with one out, giving Seattle a 1-0 early lead. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh then walked, and Bello loaded the bases by hitting left fielder Randy Arozarena and right fielder Luke Raley with pitches. Bello got off the hook with a line drive from Rowdy Tellez that took Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas right to the bag to double up Raley. Boston then took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning off an Alex Bregman two-run double. Bregman doubled again in the bottom of the fifth inning, and again drove in two more giving the Red Sox a 4-1 lead. The Mariners loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning and scored two more off a J.P. Crawford single. Boston’s Casas hit a three-run home run off Mariners reliever Trent Thornton in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Red Sox a 7-3 lead. Jarren Duran drove in another run in the seventh inning in what would be the last run scored in the ballgame to get Boston the win in the series opener.
Seattle starting pitcher Bryce Miller (1-3, 4.21 ERA) struggled in this one. Miller could not finish the fifth inning, giving up four runs (all earned) on five hits. Bryce also walked four while striking out four, needing 100 pitches to get through his 4.2 innings of work. Relief pitcher Trent Thornton’s struggles continued in this game, giving up another three runs in 0.2 innings of work. Thornton’s earned run average has ballooned to 6.10, with his expected ERA sitting at 7.07, so I guess it could be worse. Thornton is giving up a lot of hard contact, including four home runs in his ten innings of work this season. For a reliever that Seattle used heavily last season and seemingly want to use heavily this year, Thornton will need to work on cutting down the hard contact if he wants to be an arm they’ll continue to need.
Game 2: Mariners win 8-5
After losing game one and a duel with Garrett Crochet looming in game three, the Mariners really needed to win in this middle game of the series and they did just that. Seattle designated hitter Mitch Garver got the scoring off to an early start with an RBI single in the first inning giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead. Seattle never trailed in this game, as shortstop J.P. Crawford kept his hot streak going in the top of the fourth inning with his first home run of the season, pushing the Mariners lead to 4-0. The Red Sox scored a run in both the bottom of the 4th and 5th innings, making this a 4-2 game. In the top of the sixth, former Seattle reliever Brennan Bernardino struggled with fielding and throwing. On a slow ground ball off the bat of Dylan Moore, Bernardino struggled to field the ball and then threw it past first baseman Triston Casas, scoring Leo Rivas. Seattle center fielder Julio Rodríguez then singled and drive in Moore, giving the Mariners a 6-2 lead. A pair of RBI singles from third baseman Ben Williamson and Crawford in the top of the seventh inning pushed the Mariners lead to a six-run advantage at 8-2. Casas hit a three-run home run to make the score 8-5, but that would be the end of the scoring in this one thankfully for Seattle as they evened the series at one and forced a rubber match the next day.
After a spectacular start in Cincinnati, Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock dazzled once again to help Seattle in a major way to even this series. Hancock (1-1, 7.71 ERA) gave up just two runs (both earned) on five hits and walked just two, striking out seven, a new career high for strikeouts. The Mariners 7-8-9 hitters were the stars of the show in this game. Ben WIlliamson, Leo Rivas and J.P. Crawford combined to go 7-12 with four runs scored, five runs batted in, three walks and zero strikeouts with the rest of the lineup combining to go just 6-28. Over his last ten games, J.P. Crawford has hit .306 with an on-base percentage of .414. For the season, J.P. has increased his batting average from the mid .150’s to .260, as he now looks like the J.P. Crawford we fondly remember from 2023. It’ll take more than just this recent stretch to fully declare him back, but if Seattle is able to get this sort of Crawford at the plate for the rest of the season than the Mariners will be in much better shape.
Game 3: Mariners win 4-3
The Mariners offense has been impressive as of late, but game three of this series may have been one of their most impressive performances this season. Garrett Crochet started the ballgame for the Red Sox, and he has been one of the best pitchers in the game this season, so it looked like a dismal situation for this Seattle offense. His 1.13 ERA ranked third in all of baseball coming into the game, but Seattle got to Crochet early and made him work all afternoon. Doing the catching for the Mariners today, Mitch Garver got things going with a two-run double in the first inning. Red Sox star third baseman Alex Bregman hit a solo home run in the first, bringing the score to 2-1 and continuing his torment of the Seattle MLB franchise. Dylan Moore, in right field today, hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning and Julio Rodríguez had an RBI groundout giving the Mariners a 4-1 lead against one of the best starting pitchers in all of baseball. Bregman drove in yet another run with an RBI single in the third inning, making the score 4-2 Mariners. Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez hit a solo home run off Seattle reliever Gabe Speier in the bottom of the eighth inning, Speier’s first run given up all season, making the score 4-3 as it clanged off Pesky's Pole. According to Statcast, Narváez’s home run would have only been a home run in one stadium: Fenway Park. Andrés Muñoz close the game out for the second straight contest, earning his ninth save of the season with an emphatic strikeout of Boston rookie Kristian Campbell as the final strike of the game saw Campbell accidentally fling his bat into the infield on the follow through of his swing.
Bryan Woo’s hot start to the 2025 season for Seattle continued in this game with yet another quality start. With Woo and Hancock’s consecutive quality starts, this marks the first time two Mariners starting pitchers earned quality starts in back-to-back games at Fenway Park since 2001 (Freddy Garcia and Jaime Moyer). Woo (3-1, 3.09 ERA) pitched six innings, only giving up two runs (both earned) on three hits, walking just one and striking out eight.
What’s Next?
Following a 6-3 road trip, taking all three series with stops in Cincinnati, Toronto, and Boston, our Seattle Mariners begin a quick five-game homestand by hosting the Miami Marlins for a weekend series and then the Los Angeles Angels for a two-game series next week as there’s a Monday off day in between the two. The Marlins come into Seattle with an 11-13 record and are tied with the Washington Nationals for third place in the National League East. Miami has won just four of their last ten games and have a negative 21 run differential, as they were projected to be one of the bottom four teams in the National League. Here are the pitching matchups for the weekend series:
4/25 Friday (6:40PM PDT first pitch): Cal Quantril (1-2, 8.31 ERA) vs. Logan Gilbert (1-1, 2.63 ERA)
4/26 Saturday (6:40PM PDT first pitch): Connor Gillispie (0-2, 6.75 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (2-2, 4.44 ERA)
4/27 Sunday (1:10PM PDT first pitch): Max Mayer (2-2, 2.10 ERA) vs. Bryce Miller (1-3, 4.21 ERA)
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