It could’ve been worse! Those words define the series loss in Anaheim this weekend.

After dropping a frustrating back-and-forth game on Friday, things were (briefly) looking up for the Mariners on Saturday night. Cal Raleigh had hit yet another homer in the first inning — a three-run shot for his 25th of the season — and the Mariners had a comfortable 4-0 lead after J.P. Crawford drove in an additional run in the second.

Perhaps it was a little too comfortable. As any Mariners fan will know, it’s never a good idea to take anything for granted with this team. If it feels too easy, it probably is too easy. After all, there’s no such thing as an ‘easy’ game between these two teams at Angel Stadium.

Sure enough, it was a little too early to chalk one up in the win column. Former homegrown Mariners utility man Chris Taylor led off the scoring for the Angels with a solo home run. Following this team for over two decades has made me jaded — right off the bat, this felt like a bad omen for what was to come.

Later that same inning, Jo Adell continued his torment of the Mariners with a solo shot of his own to cut the lead in half, 4-2. Luis Castillo was able to get out of the inning, though, and we headed to the third.

That’s when it happened.

Julio Rodríguez singled to lead off the inning. After stealing second base, the situation was set. With one out, Randy Arozarena stepped up to the plate, looking to drive in Julio and extend the Mariners’ lead.

It looked like he was going to do just that. With the second pitch of the plate appearance, Arozarena turned on a 94 mph sinker. It looked like a seeing-eye base-hit destined for left field — until it wasn’t.

With his speed, Julio had his eyes set on home plate, and was already more than halfway down the line between second and third when the 98.1 mph exit velocity grounder was headed through the hole. The batted ball struck Rodríguez in his shin and turned an almost-sure RBI into an out.

After being tended to, Julio had to be assisted off the field, putting very little weight on the leg in question. He had to leave the game, and Mariners fans everywhere were holding their breath.

If you’re part of a tortured fanbase like the Mariners’, and you watch one of the faces of your franchise go down with a fluke injury, your instant reaction almost has to be cursing some higher power or wondering out loud what burial ground the team’s stadium is built on.

In the immediate aftermath, Arozarena was still on base and went on to steal second base with two outs. However, he would be stranded with Rowdy Tellez grounding out to end the threat. Leody Taveras, in Julio’s absence, would take over in center field in the subsequent half-inning.

In the bottom of the third, Taveras makes an error, misplays another fly ball (hit by Taylor, by the way), and Tellez drops a throw to first on a softly hit dribbler in front of the plate. The Angels tie the game with two runs off of two errors and two ‘hits,’ the misplay being one of them.

As a fan watching, it felt like a total collapse. The Mariners would score two more runs, but the pitching struggled to keep the Angels offense in check the rest of the night, and the they would go on to lose, 8-6. It’s the type of loss that makes you want to stop watching for a few days.

M’s fans would be able to breathe a sigh of relief in postgame with Julio’s X-rays coming back negative. He would be in the lineup on Sunday.

The Mariners would need a win on Sunday afternoon, however, to avoid a disastrous sweep that would extend their losing streak to six games, and drop the team back to .500 on the season. They would also need to call on George Kirby to get it done, despite him not having recorded a win yet this year.

Kirby’s outing on Sunday can only be described as heroic. Over seven innings, he gave up only two runs — both on a homer by Taylor Ward in the fourth — allowing only two hits and striking out a career-high 14 hitters. It was by far his best start of the season thus far.

The offense left 11 runners on base over the course of the afternoon, but pushed across just enough to score three runs and turn it over to the back-end of the bullpen. Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz would each pitch a scoreless inning in relief to close out a much-needed 3-2 victory of the Mariners.

Like I said, it could’ve been worse! Obviously, losing a series to a division rival is never an optimal thing. But, when all’s said and done, the Mariners’ all-star center fielder avoided the injured list on a play where he looked bound for it, and the team found a way to preserve a win from an otherwise pretty horrid series.

When you think about it, this sport is all about minimizing damage. As far as I’m concerned, the Mariners did exactly that this weekend. They live to see another day.

AL West Standings

The Mariners lost a game of ground in the division this weekend. However, they briefly dropped 3.5 games back after the loss on Saturday. With the Astros losing on Sunday in concurrence with the Mariners win, the margin shrunk back to 2.5 games.

While the Mariners’ poor run of play recently is partially to blame for the shifting circumstances in the division standings, it’s not entirely their fault. The Astros have also been on fire, having won 11 of their last 16 games.

Know your opponent: Arizona Diamondbacks

The Mariners now head to Phoenix to face the Arizona Diamondbacks for three games at Chase Field.

At first glance, the D-backs appear to be having a similar type of year to the Mariners and facing a lot of the same struggles. Both teams got off to very hot starts to the season, and both teams have fallen back to Earth in recent weeks. The D-backs have lost four consecutive games and five of their last six series.

The D-backs are facing injury problems in their rotation as well. Starting pitcher Corbin Burnes, a Cy Young Award winner signed by Arizona this offseason, was recently ruled out for the year in need of Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) in his right elbow. They also lost starter Jordan Montgomery to Tommy John surgery back in March.

Former Mariners Eugenio Suárez and Ketel Marte are both large contributors, combining for 30 home runs so far this year.

Most of all, though, the D-backs are led by Seattle native and Lakeside School alum Corbin Carroll. Despite a bit of a step-back season last year, Carroll has bounced back greatly so far in 2025 and has put up 3.0 fWAR so far — a top 10 player in the Majors.

Former D-backs outfielder Dominic Canzone was recalled by the Mariners today, with Taveras designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

The Mariners are 16-8 at Chase Field all-time, and have won seven of their last eight games there. M’s are reeling, but so are the D-backs. Lots of forces and interesting storylines at play in this series — what will win out?

This is Rolling Roof Rundown’s twice-weekly Mariners newsletter. You can follow James @rollingroofrundown.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.