9/15/26
(Anaheim, CA) To have everything go right for any sports team seems like an impossible task. For the Seattle Mariners, everything would have to go their way including two other teams melting down in the final two weeks of the season for them to claim a second consecutive AL West title. Even more difficult, the Mariners would have to win games themselves as a 1-3 road trip at the two worst teams in the American League continued on Tuesday night. The Los Angeles Angels picked up where the Athletics left off as they continued to chip away at Seattle’s slim playoff hopes in the opener. Now, the M’s would have to dig deep and fight to cling onto any hope.
Game two would see one of the great turnarounds of the season as Ryan Johnson would have the ball for the Angels. After posting a 7.63 ERA through the month of July, Johnson has seemingly figure it out with a 2.11 ERA since the start of August. It would be Logan Gilbert for the Mariners as they desperately needed a strong start from their most reliable starter in 2026.
Angels 2, Mariners 1 (Game Two, September 15th)
Ryan Johnson and Logan Gilbert shared a similar theme on Tuesday night. Both allowed plenty of traffic on base but neither allowed any hits with runners in scoring position while both piled up strikeouts. With a total of 12 hits and two walks allowed by the starting pitchers, it was very surprising that the game was scoreless into the 5th.
Logan Gilbert looked to casually move through another scoreless inning in the bottom of the 5th. Gilbert retired the first two after getting Zach Neto popped out and he struck out Mike Trout swinging. Wade Meckler extended the inning with a single for his second hit of the day but it was Vaughn Grissom who did the damage. A double to left field was Grissom’s 22nd of the season and allowed Meckler to score as he was moving on contact with two outs. What seemed like not too much of a threat would of course net the game’s first run and give the Angels a 1-0 lead.
That lead didn’t last too long as the Mariners got some extra base hits in the 6th. Dominic Canzone began the inning with his fourth triple of the season to put the tying run on third with nobody out against Ryan Johnson. The escape artist would get Cal Raleigh to pop out on the infield, but Julio Rodríguez would make this threat count. A double to left center would be J-Rod’s 23rd of the season while scoring Canzone to tie the game at 1-1. While Julio moved to third, Cole Young couldn’t bring him home and Seattle settled for a tied game.
Again, it would not last for long. In the bottom of the 6th, Josh Lowe would come to the plate with the bases empty and one out. Lowe battled to a 2-2 count before a splitter didn’t get down or in enough and Lowe made Gilbert pay. A solo bomb to center would be Lowe’s 12th of the season and all of a sudden it was the M’s needing to beat the Angels bullpen as they trailed 2-1.
The Halos bullpen retired the first six Mariners they faced and the game moved to the 9th at 2-1. Ryan Watson allowed hard contact by J-Rod but the line drive was flagged down by Wade Meckler for the first out. Josh Naylor put the tying run on with a single to right and gave Seattle some 9th inning life again. That life faded rapidly. Cole Young’s grounder up the middle was gloved by Zach Neto and turned into a 6-3 double play to end this one. Another night with a lack of offense cost the Mariners again as they moved to 1-4 on the road trip against the two worst teams in the AL as they dropped game two to the Angels, 2-1.
Notable Performances
Mariners
- Logan Gilbert (L, 12-10)- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
- Julio Rodríguez- 1-4, 2B, RBI
- Dominic Canzone- 1-4, 3B, R
Angels
- Ryan Johnson (W, 5-8)- 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO
- Josh Lowe- 2-3, HR, RBI, R
- Vaughn Grissom- 1-3, 2B, RBI
What’s Next
There seems to be no hope left for the Seattle Mariners (70-82) as they are guaranteed a losing season for the first time since the shortened 2020 season. To really make things worse, both Houston and Texas won their games on Tuesday, both by a score of 4-2. That means the M’s are 6 1/2 out of the division and their elimination # is down to five. That means any combination of Astros wins and Mariners losses that equals five will eliminate them which is likely to happen this weekend.
Seattle will hope to avoid being swept in Anaheim in the finale with the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night at 6:38pm. Former Mariner, Yusei Kikuchi (1-5, 4.75 ERA) will look to deal another big blow against the M’s as the lefty takes the mound for the finale. Kikuchi has missed most of the season with a shoulder issue and will be making his fifth start since returning. George Kirby (9-11, 4.25 ERA) will be the man trying to help Seattle avoid the sweep. The right-hander has allowed 7+ hits in five of his last six starts.
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