M's resilient again, snatch ninth-consecutive series win from jaws of defeat

Tuesday night in Sacramento, the Mariners trailed the Athletics by a run headed into the ninth inning, just three outs away from their first series loss in exactly a month’s time.

Seattle had already dropped a back-and-forth series opener Monday following a managing miscue in extra innings that helped A’s rookie Jacob Wilson drive in the winning run for his team in the bottom of the 11th.

With the A’s bringing on reliever Tyler Ferguson for the fourth consecutive day in the absence of flamethrowing closer Mason Miller, the Mariners were going to get one more decent crack at it in the ninth.

After the M’s loaded the bases with one out, manager Dan Wilson picked catcher Cal Raleigh off the bench to pinch hit for Mitch Garver. Despite being called upon in the midst of what was supposed to be a rare night off, Raleigh delivered a clutch, two-run single into right field to put the Mariners ahead.

The M’s tacked on another run via a sacrifice fly from Dylan Moore. With closer Andrés Muñoz unavailable, the Mariners turned the ball over to reliever Carlos Vargas to get the final three outs. Though he allowed a couple of two-out baserunners, Vargas was able to lock down the win and secure his first career big-league save.

With the win, the series drew even.

On Wednesday afternoon, pitcher Bryan Woo got the start facing an A’s lineup that had previously only scored three runs on him in seven combined starts over the past couple of seasons. Woo—born in Oakland—saw his streak of success against his hometown team abruptly come to a halt in the first inning, giving up three runs and digging an early hole. He would settle in, though, and hold the A’s to five runs over six innings.

For the better part of Wednesday afternoon, the Mariners offense looked anemic and didn’t produce many threats. Heading into the sixth inning, their only run came from an RBI double in the fifth by Ben Williamson.

Everything changed in the bottom of the sixth. With a runner on first and one out, the A’s went to their bullpen and brought in reliever Mitch Spence. Spence struggled with his command right off the bat, walking Randy Arozarena to put another baserunner on and bring Rowdy Tellez to the plate with a chance to do damage. Tellez answered the call, dialing up a three-run homer to right, cutting the lead to only one run and putting the Mariners right back in it with several innings to play.

In the eighth, with two outs and still down a run, Leody Taveras stepped to the plate. Having just been claimed off waivers from the Rangers on Tuesday, the former top-prospect was still in search of his first hit with the team.

He chose a great time to find it. Taveras found a hole in the left side of the infield to drive in Miles Mastrobuoni from second and tie the game up with Miller potentially looming in the ninth. Dylan Moore followed up with a double into the right-center gap in the following at bat, once again putting the Mariners into the lead in the late innings.

Eduard Bazardo, Gabe Speier and Muñoz were able to combine to secure the final six outs, and the Mariners came away with yet another series win—their ninth in a row.

Out of the nine series wins in the streak, five of them have come after losing the first game. They are 6-0 in rubber games so far this season.

Despite their 3-7 start, the Mariners are 19-7 since then—the best mark in the Majors in that time frame.

Maybe the resilience is just in their DNA.

A look at the AL West

The Mariners now hold a three-game lead at the top of the American League West, trailed by A’s. The Astros and Rangers lost a bit of ground this week, falling to four and five games back, respectively.

Along with the series win in Sacramento, the Mariners also took two of three from the Rangers in Arlington this last weekend. The M’s are now 5-1 against Texas this season, bringing them within two wins of locking down the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker in case it matters at the end of the regular season.

What’s up next?

The Toronto Blue Jays make their annual trip to the Pacific Northwest this weekend, kicking off a three-game set against the Mariners tonight at T-Mobile Park. The Blue Jays have struggled out of the gate this year and just avoided a sweep to the last-place Angels last night in Anaheim. North of the border, the Mariners took two of three from them back April 18-20.

(As an aside, it will be interesting to see how many Blue Jays fans make the trip down to Seattle, amid ongoing geopolitical tensions between the United States and Canada. The amount of Blue Jays fans coming down from British Columbia is noteworthy most years, but it would not be surprising to see things a little bit different this time around.)

Following this weekend, the New York Yankees come to town for three games starting Monday night, setting up a matchup of heavyweights near the top of the American League standings. The series is expected to feature two early MVP candidates facing off—Raleigh and Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.

Like most weeks, all games will be televised on Root Sports and broadcast over the radio on 710 AM Seattle Sports.

Saturday night’s game against the Blue Jays and Tuesday/Wednesday’s games against the Yankees will also be available on MLB Network for out-of-market viewers.

This is Rolling Roof Rundown’s weekly Mariners newsletter. You can follow James @johnstonsports.com on Bluesky and, if you haven’t already, subscribe to the newsletter for more news and commentary. Rolling Roof Rundown is now on Instagram and Threads as well.