9/14/26
(Anaheim, CA) After two heartbreaking walk-off losses in Sacramento, the margin for error was almost non-existent as the Seattle Mariners headed to Southern California for the final time this season. Three games with the Los Angeles Angels were on the slate beginning on Monday night with the division deficit surprisingly smaller than it was going into the weekend. Once again, Houston, Texas, and Seattle all seem to be unwilling to go on a run to secure the division which creates a chaotic final two weeks of the season.
In the opener of the three-game set, Seattle would introduce another AL West foe to their talented rookie in Kade Anderson. The lefty would hope to build upon his first MLB win in his most recent start against Texas. The Angels would go with their own lefty Reid Detmers for game one as he hoped to continue the best stretch of his career against a team he has struggled with.
Angels 6, Mariners 4 (Game One, September 14th)
It was not the best 1st inning for the Seattle Mariners despite the game starting on a high note. J.P. Crawford led off the game with a single followed by a double for Randy Arozarena. However, Crawford was thrown out at the plate on the double and Arozarena was stranded at third in a scoreless half inning. In the bottom half, a Mike Trout single and Jose Siri double plated a run for the Angels against Kade Anderson early. Siri then stole third for his 10th seventh stolen base of the season. That allowed Vaughn Grissom to bring home another run with a sacrifice fly to put Los Angeles up early 2-0.
Both pitchers settled in for 1-2-3 innings in the 2nd and Reid Detmers repeated that success in the 3rd. Kade Anderson was not able to build off of his clean inning. Wade Meckler began the inning with hard contact and a single to center. Zach Neto kept things rolling with his fifth triple of the season to plate another run and make it 3-0 with a runner on third and still nobody out. Two batters later and Jose Siri was doing more damage with a single to left to drive in Neto and make it 4-0 against the rookie.
Seattle was lifeless already and needed a spark to get back in the game. It came almost immediately after the Angels opened up the lead. In the 4th, Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone both singled to put two on and nobody out for the big bats in the Seattle order. Cal Raleigh was up next and had a 1-1 count thanks to a generous call in his favor behind the plate. Detmers was trying to keep everything down against the Big Dumper and did so with a slider on the outer third, but Raleigh was able to get to it. Cal drove it the other way to right field for a three-run shot and his 22nd of the season. Just like that the M’s were back in it with just a 4-3 deficit.
Kade Anderson couldn’t make it beyond the 5th and left with Zach Neto on first and one out in the 5th. Cooper Criswell took over against the middle of the Angels order and struggled. Jose Siri reached on a bloop single and a walk to Vaughn Grissom loaded the bases with just the one out. Criswell would get a huger strikeout of Christian Moore for the second out but could not escape the jam entirely. Denzer Guzman laced a base hit into center that would allow Neto and Siri to score easily and opened the Angels lead back up to 6-3.
The rest of the Seattle bullpen gave them a chance against the Angels bullpen as Michael Rucker put up a clean 6th to keep the deficit at three. The first man out of the Halos bullpen was Blake Weiman but he looked sharp with two quick outs in the 7th. The lineup then turned over to J.P. Crawford who made things interesting late. Crawford chased a sinker below the zone and sent it out to right center for his 12th home run of the season. That tightened things up late as the M’s trailed 6-4.
Ryan Watson retired all four batters he faced and forced the M’s to have to come back against flamethrower Ben Joyce in the 9th. Joyce was very wild for the Angels but got Josh Naylor to groundout despite solid contact for the first out. Lazaro Montes would pinch hit for Michael Arroyo but worked a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Cole Young’s fly ball to center was handled by Jose Siri and Seattle was down to their final out. Former Angel, Taylor Ward, would then also pinch hit for Weston Wilson and worked a walk of his own to put the tying run on for J.P. Crawford. Brock Rodden represented the tying run as he ran for Ward to put more speed at first base. Crawford would smoke a liner down the right field line but the ball didn’t make it to the outfield. Vaughn Grissom was placed perfectly and snagged the liner to end the rally. It was another devastating loss for the M’s as they dropped the opener to the Angels, 6-4.
Notable Performances
Mariners
- Cal Raleigh- 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
- J.P. Crawford- 2-5, HR, RBI, R
- Kade Anderson (L, 1-2)- 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
Angels
- Jose Siri- 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB
- Zach Neto- 2-4, 3B, RBI, 2 R
- Reid Detmers (W, 6-8)- 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO
What’s Next
Three losses in their last four games to the two worst teams in the American League has seemingly written the Seattle Mariners (70-81) fate for the 2026 season. They almost have to win out to have a chance at the postseason with Houston and Texas having Monday off and dropping the M’s to 5 1/2 back with 11 games to go. Houston will play at home against Kansas City on Tuesday while Texas hosts Boston.
In game two between Seattle and Los Angeles, it will be a must-win for the Mariners as they have an extremely favorable pitching matchup against the Angels. Seattle will have their ace Logan Gilbert (12-9, 3.72 ERA) on the mound in the middle game. Gilbert has struck out 21 batters in 11 2/3 innings in September but has also allowed 10 earned runs this month. It will be his first start against the Angels this season. For the Halos, Ryan Johnson (4-8, 5.12 ERA) will take the ball in game two. Johnson has been fantastic in the second half of the season with a 2.11 ERA since the start of August compared to his 7.63 ERA thru the end of July. First pitch is scheduled for 6:38pm.
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