MLB: Mariner Bats Breakout in Beantown

9/2/26

(Boston, MA) Being swept in Toronto put the Seattle Mariners in yet another bad funk as their dreaded road woes continued. A trip to Boston for three games against the Red Sox didn’t give much reason for optimism as Fenway Park has been tough on the Mariners for the last decade. Pitching has been a big issue in Boston for Seattle and with a beat-up bullpen, there was plenty of cause for concern entering the week.

While it wasn’t a dream start to the season, the Boston Red Sox have turned things around since the May firing of manager Alex Cora. Comfortably in a playoff spot, Boston was just getting better and healthier as the M’s rolled into town. The return of Roman Anthony and Trevor Story had the lineup looking very sharp, but it did take a big blow before game one with Willson Contreras being placed on the IL. Still, Boston’s red hot lineup and Seattle’s ice cold bullpen meant that this series would be up for grabs for all 27 innings.

Red Sox 9, Mariners 8 (10 Innings) (Game One, August 31st)

Game one’s pitching matchup was the most intriguing after Boston shuffled their rotation for the last two games of the series. They kept the same starter for the opener with Payton Tolle on the mound as the big lefty faced the Mariners for the second time this season. Countering him would be George Kirby for Seattle as he looked to end a very rough streak as of late for the usually reliable right-hander.

Payton Tolle was pretty good against the Mariners when he faced them back in May but he got off to a bumpy start this time. Randy Arozarena continued his very hot stretch with a leadoff double, his 27th of the season. After he moved up to third on a groundout by Dominic Canzone, it would be Julio Rodríguez bringing home the first run of the game with his 19th double of the year. A couple of doubles gave George Kirby a 1-0 lead before he took the mound.

Many different members of the Boston Red Sox have been very hot lately but arguably none have been hotter than Mickey Gasper. After being sent down on Sunday and recalled on Monday, it didn’t seem to affect him much as he was determined to put a bow on his historic month of August. Gasper crushed a splitter to right field for his sixth of the season. By the time the game was over, Gasper had posted the third highest OPS in a single month in MLB history with a 1.827 while tying the game at 1-1.

A double play helped Payton Tolle settle down in the 2nd but George Kirby was not as fortunate for the Mariners. Nick Sogard hooked his 11th double down the right field line to leadoff the bottom of the 2nd and set the table for Boston to grab the lead. They would do just that as two batters later Jarren Duran would provide some more power for the Sox. A two-run shot to right was his 19th of the season and put Boston up 3-1.

Of course when the Mariners and Red Sox meet in Fenway Park, there are never any bland and boring games so this one was far from over. With the bases empty and one out in the 3rd, Randy Arozarena got one back for Seattle with a solo bomb over the Green Monster and onto Landsdowne Street. His 21st of the year got it back to a one-run game for the time being. In the 5th, Cole Young was hit by a pitch before Weston Wilson drew a walk and J.P. Crawford reached on a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. Seattle would tie the game on a Randy Arozarena single that kept the bases loaded with still no outs. Unfortunately, it would turn into a missed opportunity as the M’s had to settle for just one run as Tolle struck out Canzone and J-Rod before Cal Raleigh flew out to minimize the damage.

Despite losing the lead, Boston felt like they still had the momentum thanks to Tolle’s escape job. In the bottom of the 5th, they took back control of the game entirely. Connor Wong reached on an infield single before Roman Anthony doubled to left to put two in scoring position with nobody out. While Mickey Gasper’s fly out couldn’t bring in a run, Ceddanne Rafaela would clutch up with a two-run single into center. The tied game was short lived as Boston was back in front 5-3.

Back-and-forth this game went however and Seattle was right back on the horse in the 6th. Josh Naylor led off with a walk and Taylor Ward looked like he would follow with a single but Ceddanne Rafaela made a terrific diving catch for the first out. Cole Young hit into a fielder’s choice and Boston looked to be in good shape as they went to their bullpen and brought Tyron Guerrero on. Seattle was seeing the ball well out of his hand however as they rallied with two outs. A single by Weston Wilson and walk for J.P. Crawford loaded the bases for Randy Arozarena who was just a triple shy of the cycle. He wouldn’t complete it but still did damage with a two-run single the other way into right field to tie the game once again. It stayed tied for just three pitches as Dominic Canzone doubled off the Green Monster to bring home two more. A four-run rally had Seattle roaring again with a 7-5 lead.

Seranthony Domínguez was sharp with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 6th and gave Seattle’s lineup a chance to add on and that is what they did. Erik Miller was the next man out of the Boston bullpen and he would face Cal Raleigh first. The Big Dumper was ready to stay hot and hit a towering fly ball that just cleared the Monster in left for his 20th homer of the year. The reigning AL Player of the Week stayed hot and made it 8-5 Mariners late.

Gabe Speier pitched around a walk in the 7th and stayed on to retire Wilyer Abreu to begin the 8th. Then Dan Wilson went to Eduard Bazardo and his struggles continued as Boston fought back. Singles by Nick Sogard and Caleb Durbin brought the tying run to the plate, but an infield fly off the bat of Jarren Duran gave Seattle a huge second out. Unfortunately, Boston had their own clutch two-out knock as Trevor Story hit his ninth double of the year to bring home two. Andrés Muñoz had to come in to get the final out of the 8th but it was just an 8-7 lead for the Mariners going into the 9th.

Seattle would waste yet another add-on opportunity after Dominic Canzone’s leadoff triple was left stranded in the 9th. That kept it a one-run lead as Muñoz looked for the four-out save. Boston would catch a huge break as a line drive by Roman Anthony got by a diving Julio Rodríguez and rolled all the way to the wall. That turned a single into a triple and put the tying run on third with nobody out. While Muñoz bounced back to strikeout Mickey Gasper, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a sacrifice fly to left and a terrific slide by Anthony saw him just beat the tag at the plate. Some costly mistakes late let Boston tie the game up and send it to extra innings.

Aroldis Chapman rolled through the M’s in the 10th as the automatic runner was left on base in more bad situational hitting by the Mariners. The returning Cooper Criswell would pitch the 10th against his former team with Eli White representing the winning run at second. A sacrifice bunt by Nick Sogard moved him to third and Dan Wilson would intentionally walk the bases loaded to face Trevor Story. The bases loaded situation gave Seattle a chance at a double play or a force out at home, but neither happened. Instead, Trevor Story walked it off with a shot to the wall as the collapse was complete. A three-run lead in the 8th turned into an extra innings walkoff loss as Seattle dropped game one in Boston, 9-8.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Red Sox

• Trevor Story- 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI
• Ceddanne Rafaela- 2-4, 3 RBI
• Payton Tolle (ND)- 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

Mariners 9, Red Sox 6 (Game Two, September 1st)

If being swept took the Seattle Mariners to rock bottom, game one in Boston saw them dig into that rock to find a new low. A disastrous blown lead had Seattle on a five-game losing streak and they would look to Bryan Woo to try to end it as he looked for his second consecutive quality start on the road. Tuesday also marked the highly anticipated MLB debut of Seattle prospect Lazaro Montes as the M’s looked for some kind of spark. It would be a fare matchup for Montes as Boston changed their rotation which saw Jedixson Paez make his first career start and just his fourth big league appearance.

Once again both teams would come out with a bang early in this game. In the top of the 1st, it took Seattle just two batters to get on the board. Jedixson Paez left a changeup right down the heart of the plate and Dominic Canzone was too dialed in to miss it. A solo bomb to right was Canzone’s 21st of the season and have Seattle a 1-0 lead. It was a short lived lead as the second batter for the Boston Red Sox would match it. Bryan Woo’s fastball caught too much of the zone to Mickey Gasper who would start September with a bang and his seventh homer of the season. Dueling solo shots had this game tied early at 1-1.

Unlike game one, Seattle was able to respond and put the young Paez under more pressure in the 2nd in his first career start. Josh Naylor doubled for the 19th time this season to start the inning and moved to third on a single by Cole Young. Lazaro Montes would have an RBI opportunity in his first career AB, but drew a walk instead to load the bases. The M’s were able to cash in on the bases loaded, no out situation this time as J.P. Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Naylor and make it 2-1. Brock Rodden kept things going with an infield single on a bouncing ball over Gasper’s head at first, making it 3-1. Randy Arozarena dealt the big blow four pitches later as he clobbered a three-run blast over the Green Monster for his 22nd of the season. A five-run inning had Seattle grabbing a sizeable lead early, up 6-1.

Bryan Woo settled in after that home run and cruised through the 2nd despite a lengthy top half of the 2nd. Seattle would then continue to add on as they looked to bury the Red Sox this time. In the 3rd, singles by Josh Naylor and Cole Young put runners on the corners again for the debuting Lazaro Montes. He got a chance to swing the bat this time and recorded both his first hit and RBI with a single to right to extend the lead to 7-1. The 4th saw Seattle’s stars step up with back-to-back doubles by Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh to make it 8-1 with the Mariner bats alive and well.

In the top of the 5th, some history was made for the Seattle Mariners and it was their rookie writing his name in franchise history. Lazaro Montes led off the inning against reliever Wyatt Olds. A slider at the bottom of the zone wasn’t low enough as Montes went down and got it, crushing it to straightaway center field for his first Major League home run. Lazaro Montes became the youngest Mariner to hit a homer in their debut at just 21-years-old, passing Alvin Davis who did it at 23. He also became the first rookie to record multiple hits in his debut as a Mariner since Ichiro did it in 2001. All in all, Lazaro Montes was putting his name in great company while putting the Mariners ahead 9-1.

An error by Brock Rodden would allow Boston to get another unearned run against Bryan Woo, but the right-hander was very strong on Tuesday night. Woo would record back-to-back road quality starts for the first time this season. He would go six innings and allow two runs (one earned) on five hits while walking just one and striking out seven. It is at the point of the season where the Mariners have to find consistency at home and on the road and they will need all of their starters to be better on the road and Woo did just that on Tuesday.

However, despite the good vibes, this game was far from over. With a 9-2 lead, the Seattle bullpen would not just cruise to the end of the game. Eli White doubled home two in the 7th off of Carlos Vargas to make it 9-4. José A. Ferrer put out the fire and finished the 7th as well as pitching a scoreless 8th. A 9-4 lead allowed Hoby Milner to make his team-debut in the 9th but it wasn’t what he had hoped for. Hard contact from all three batters he faced saw Boston close in on Seattle. A single by Roman Anthony was followed by Jahmai Jones fifth homer of the year to make it 9-6. A hard line drive by Eli White was caught by Milner for the first out, but Dan Wilson had to call on closer Andrés Muñoz in a must-win. Muñoz wouldn’t make fans sweat it out as he struck out Wilyer Abreu on three pitches before getting Isiah Kiner-Falefa to groundout to put this one away. It got a little close at the end, but the memorable debut of Lazaro Montes would not be spoiled as the Mariners took game two from the Red Sox, 9-6.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Red Sox

• Mickey Gasper- 1-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB
• Jahmai Jones- 1-1, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Jedixson Paez (L, 0-1)- 3.2 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

Mariners 8, Red Sox 3 (Game Three, September 2nd)

Game three would determine the series outcome between the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox as they met Wednesday afternoon. Seattle would surprisingly rest a chunk of their starters but would rely on Bryce Miller who would get the start after Emerson Hancock was placed on the IL over the weekend. A former AL West foe in southpaw Patrick Sandoval would be the starter for Boston and face the Mariners for the first time since he was with the Angels in 2023.

1st inning runs were a common theme in this series so Boston was feeling great when Patrick Sandoval had a 1-2-3 top half of the inning. Bryce Miller would not be able to match that as back-to-back singles for Mickey Gasper and Ceddanne Rafaela put two on with just one out. The hit parade continued as Wilyer Abreu snuck a grounder into left field for a third consecutive hit. Gasper would get the wave around third to try to beat Randy Arozarena’s throw. The throw was a little offline but Jhonny Pereda made a diving tag to cut down Gasper to keep Boston off the board. A pop-up by Nick Sogard would allow Bryce Miller to escape the scoreless 1st.

Sandoval would retire the first six batters he faced before Seattle got some traffic on in the 3rd. A leadoff single by Weston Wilson earned the M’s their first baserunner and J.P. Crawford followed with his own single to put two on the corners. A wild pitch would bring in the first run as Wilson scored to make it 1-0. Sandoval bounced back by retiring the next two batters he faced but Seattle built some momentum. A walk for Dominic Canzone extended the inning and Julio Rodríguez cashed in. An RBI single by J-Rod made it 2-0. Josh Naylor then dunked in a single to left center to bring home Canzone and Jarren Duran’s throw to third was airmailed. That allowed Julio to score on the error and Seattle had broken out to take a 4-0 lead.

Bryce Miller was dealing with quite a bit of traffic on Wednesday but did a good job of navigating the trouble. The only time Boston got him was an RBI double by Trevor Story that just stayed fair down the left field line. He would be pulled in the 5th in an aggressive move by Dan Wilson, but it worked out as José A. Ferrer came in to get the last out of the frame. While it wasn’t a line that will jump off the page, it was a hardnosed outing from the Texan as Miller went 4 2/3 allowing just one run on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts against a red hot lineup.

With the lead sitting at 4-1 going into the 6th, Brayan Bello would be the long relief for Boston and Patrick Sandoval, trying to eat some innings. He was a bit wild in the inning as he hit Cole Young and then walked Weston Wilson to put the first two men on. J.P. Crawford built on his great night with another base hit to right to load the bases with nobody out. Jhonny Pereda smoked a single into center to open the lead back up with two runs coming home. Randy Arozarena stayed hot with another RBI in the series with a single to left to make it 7-1. Seattle still wasn’t done as they earned another four-run inning, capped off by Dominic Canzone’s 23rd double of the year. Seattle pulled away from Boston with a commanding 8-1 lead.

Michael Rucker got a double play to help him spin a scoreless 6th but he hit a snag in the 7th. Roman Anthony homered for the second time this season. Back-to-back doubles by Mickey Gasper and Eli White plated another run, making it 8-3. Rucker would get out of that inning and Seranthony Domínguez would make sure to limit the high-leverage arms used with a 1-2-3 8th. That left the 9th for former Red Sox reliever Cooper Criswell. He had a sour taste in his mouth from his return in extra innings on Monday and was ready for payback. Criswell would get a quick three outs in the 9th thanks to some flexibility from Josh Naylor at first. Seattle had scored 8+ runs in each game of a three-game series for the first time since last July as they earned a huge series win in Boston with an 8-3 victory in the finale.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Red Sox

• Roman Anthony 3-5, HR, RBI, R
• Wilyer Abreu- 3-4, 2 2B, R
• Patrick Sandoval (L, 1-4)- 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO

Roster Moves

• RHP Cooper Criswell activated from 60-day IL
• RHP Nick Davila placed on 15-day IL (SC joint sprain)
• Seattle Mariners select the contract of OF Lazaro Montes from Triple-A Tacoma
• Seattle Mariners sign LHP Hoby Milner
• RHP Nolan Kingham designated for assignment
• OF Connor Joe designated for assignment

What’s Next

Seattle (66-74) could not make up any ground this week as Texas took two of three from the Athletics while Houston has taken two of the first three from the Chicago White Sox, with game four being played on Thursday afternoon. The AL West remains exactly the same as it was coming into the week with Houston leading Texas by two games and Seattle by 5. Houston will finish their series with Chicago on Thursday before hosting Arizona for three. Like Seattle, Texas will begin a four-game series Thursday night when they host the AL-best, Tampa Bay Rays.

September is off to a good start for the Seattle Mariners and now they begin their much more manageable final stretch of the season by returning home for four games with the Athletics. The A’s (54-86) have been a disaster since holding the AL West lead in late May and have free fallen down to the cellar of the entire sport. No team has a worse record since June 1st than the A’s who are 26-55 since that date. Injuries have hurt the lineup which was the strength of the team as Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom, Nick Kurtz, and Jacob Wilson are all on the IL and could all miss the rest of the season.

With so many injuries to the Athletics and a pitching staff that is being pieced together as it goes, the A’s are not quite the daunting challenge they were when these two teams played in May. What has been good news for the A’s is the seeming resurgence of former top-10 prospect Lawrence Butler. After a strong rookie season in 2024, Butler seemed to lose the power while striking out more. That was cause for concern after he signed a 7-year, $65.5 million contract before the 2025 season. It looked to be another year of regression until Butler broke out in August with a .297 average and .505 slug while hitting six homers and driving in 17 runs. The strikeouts are still an issue, but if Butler is producing when he is putting the ball in play, those will be overlooked for the young outfielder.

• Game One, Thursday 6:40pm- Jack Perkins (3-10, 6.42 ERA) vs. Kade Anderson (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
• Game Two, Friday 7:10pm- J.T. Ginn (9-8, 3.71 ERA) vs. Logan Gilbert (11-8, 3.42 ERA)
• Game Three, Saturday 6:40pm- Jeffrey Springs (3-13, 6.37 ERA) vs. George Kirby (9-10, 4.19 ERA)
• Game Four, Sunday 1:10pm- Gage Jump (6-9, 5.15 ERA) vs. Bryan Woo (10-9, 4.25 ERA)

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