2-3-4 Blues: Mariners’ Offensive Core Drops Ball in 3-2 Loss to Royals
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Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. expertly avoids a tag by Cal Raleigh during a play at the plate in the top of the seventh inning on July 3, 2025. Kansas City beat the Mariners 3-2. Credit: Stephen Brashear/AP Photo. [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. – The Seattle Mariners dropped game four and split the series with the Royals on Thursday, as the heavy hitters for the home squad struggled to get anything done while the visitors put together just enough offense in the seventh inning to sneak by for a victory. Despite a home run followed by two runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Royals held on.
Seattle went 0-11 with runners in scoring position and left a total of ten men on base – not a performance that will get the job done regardless of opponent. Both runs came on solo home runs, one by Jorge Polanco in the fourth and the other by Dominic Canzone in the ninth.
What led to the series split at T-Mobile Park?
Dueling Pitchers Get Soft Contact, Royals Miss Early Chances
Both starting pitchers in this game had excellent, if very similar, outings. Both got lots of soft contact from opposing hitters, with lilting fly balls and weak groundouts dotting the early innings on both sides. Logan Evans, just called up from the minors after Emerson Hancock was sent down, had a great game, getting each of his first nine batters out in the first three innings and then working out of some serious jams in the fourth and fifth before being pulled with two outs in the sixth. Royals pitcher Seth Lugo went into the seventh on the rubber for the other side, working out of a rough second inning with no damage but giving up a solo shot in the fourth.
Evans began the game well, striking out Jonathan India and Bobby Witt Jr. on the way to an easy first inning. In the bottom half, Julio Rodriguez drew a one-out walk on seven pitches and stole second during an attempted hit-and-run that ended up being a strikeout by Cal Raleigh. But Arozarena flew out to center to end the inning.
After another quick inning from Evans, Polanco led off the bottom of the second by knocking a hanging slurve on a soft line over Vinnie Pasquantino’s outstretched arm into right field. Polanco went for two and beat John Rave’s throw by about a second. Luke Raley followed this up with a walk, and the Mariners had a golden opportunity to open the scoring with two runners on and nobody out.
But the M’s let the chance slip through their fingers, as none of the next three batters could muster anything better than a fly ball to the middle of the outfield. In the third, Evans again breezed through three batters and the M’s again led off with a hit – this time a J.P. Crawford single through the right side hole – but Lugo put down the next three in turn.
The Royals finally got some baserunners in the top of the fourth. India led off with a walk and two batters later, Pasquantino was barely scraped by a low-and-in sweeper for a hit by pitch. Garcia took advantage of a hanging 2-2 cutter to yank a single into left to load the bases for Salvador Perez, only for the Royals’ catcher popped out to second on the first pitch. Evans fell behind Rave 3-0 but worked back in the count and got a weak grounder to Crawford to get out of the jam.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Mariners drew first blood. Lugo hung a 1-0 curveball up and in to Polanco, who found the barrel of the bat and lofted a high fly ball to right. Rave slowly jogged back to the wall as he tracked it, the ball drifting further as the crowd’s roar grew higher. He eventually climbed the wall and watched it land a few rows back into the crowd. Seattle took an early 1-0 lead with the big fly.
Although Raley followed up with a first-pitch double to deep center, the next three M’s quickly went down in order to send it to the top of the fifth. There, the Royals got a man 90 feet away once more, as Fermin was hit by a pitch and went to third on a single by India. By this point, Evans was leaving some hangers in the middle of the plate due to fatigue, and Pete Woodworth came out to the mound. Evans calmed down after this and got Witt to harmlessly fly out to right for the third out.
The M’s went softly in the bottom half and Evans came back out for the sixth, though Casey Legumina was warming in the bullpen. After two quick outs, Perez tattooed a sweeper left over the plate off the left field wall and Dan Wilson immediately walked out and brought in his reliever. John Rave worked a walk but Loftin lofted an easy fly ball to right, and the Royals once again left a runner in scoring position. Lugo pitched around a Luke Raley single to end the sixth inning with a one to nothing score in favor of Seattle.
“Lugo, you gotta tip your cap at some point, he got into tough situations and was able to pitch out of them,” manager Dan Wilson said after the game. “That’s the kind of guy he is, he’s going to mix it up, keep you uncertain in the box.”
Royals Plate Three in Seventh
Fermin flew out to center to begin the top of the seventh. But then Legumina began to lose control. It started innocuously, as he essentially hit his spots against Kyle Isbel but three straight borderline calls went the other way, perhaps as makeups after home plate umpire David Arrieta gifted Legumina strike one under the zone. His fourth ball was well offline, however, and he lost control of a 1-2 count to walk India.
Wilson brought on Carlos Vargas from the bullpen with Witt coming up to the plate. The Royals’ shortstop took one off the plate and then lined the second pitch into center field, scoring Isbel from second and bringing India to third to tie the game.
Then the Royals pulled ahead. With the infield in, Pasquantino chopped a skipper to first. At normal depth, it would have been an easy play for Raley, but the ball zoomed past the Seattle first baseman and into right field, allowing India to score easily. Witt rounded third and ran home while Canzone put everything into his throw to the plate. The throw beat Witt by a good distance, but Witt shimmied around the tag and nicked home plate with his right arm.
Wilson offered some insights into that play – that ended up being the difference – from his perspective as a former catcher.
“It’s coming in from right field, so it’s a difficult tag. You can’t see the runner at all in that. [Witt]’s slide was where it needed to be,” Wilson said. “That is a very difficult play, and Cal did what he could do to make the play.”
Although Vargas then walked Garcia, he buckled down and got two quick outs to keep the score at 3-1. Ben Williamson sent a soft liner into right for a single to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but Cole Young struck out looking on a running sinker that beautifully painted the corner of the plate. Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro took Lugo out on a good note and sent out Lucas Erceg, who quickly sat down Crawford and Rodriguez.
Eduard Bazardo came out for the eighth and pitched the first three-up, three-down inning since the third. Raleigh came to bat to lead off the bottom of the inning, serenaded with “M.V.P” chants. But it was another popout from the catcher and Arozarena struck out after him. Polanco got a ground rule double and Quatraro pulled Clarke for Carlos Estévez, who got Raley to fly out as once again the Mariners left a runner on base.
Trent Thornton threw a quick top of the ninth and so it was down to the bottom third of the order – Canzone, Miles Mastrobuoni (pinch-hitting for Williamson), and Young – to get something going.
Ninth Inning Comeback Attempt Falls Short
Canzone understood the assignment. On a 2-2 count, Estévez hung a slider down the middle. The Mariners right fielder got all wood as he scorched a line drive out to dead center that just cleared the fence. Isbel jogged out to the wall but watched it fly over the wall as the Royals lead was cut to one. Then it was Mastrobuoni. The first three pitches were balls, the next one a strike. On the fifth pitch, Mastrobuoni sent a blooper into right. Rave looked like he had a beat on it, but the ball fell off his glove, and the pinch hitter had a single.
Estévez now faced Cole Young with one on. First, he tried to pick off Mastrobuoni at first – no dice. So he focused on the batter, throwing two quick strikes, then a ball, and then got Young to chase a high fastball for out number one.
Up next was Crawford. The leadoff man swung out of his shoes on the first pitch before taking a ball in the dirt and another one high. Then he got a changeup in the middle of the plate – but fouled it off. Another throw to first. Then another foul ball, this time on a 98 mile an hour fastball.
And then Crawford won the battle, slapping a slow liner over Garcia’s head. The tying run was at second. The winning run was at first. Rodriguez was at the plate, and the infielders all gathered around the mound. Estévez’ first delivery was in the zone and his second was fouled off. “Ju-li-o” rang out across the stadium and the next pitch was a ball.
Then Estévez lost a fastball high over Fermin, who had moved to catcher in the eighth. The runners advanced on the wild pitch and another ball came. The reliever threw a fastball right on the inside corner – maybe a half inch off the plate inside – but Arrieta ruled it strike three. Another meeting on the mound took place as Raleigh walked to the plate.
The Mariners catcher got a first-pitch slider in the middle of the plate but fouled it off. Then Estévez threw him another slider, this time low out of the zone. Raleigh swung and dribbled a slow grounder to first, sealing the 3-2 defeat.
Heart of Order Can’t Get It Done
Combined, the two-three-four hitters of Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, and Randy Arozarena went 0-13 with six combined strikeouts. The only baserunner of the three was Rodriguez, who walked in the first inning.
Even during that walk, Rodriguez still got only weak foul ball contact on a hanging slider, but to his credit, he worked around his slumped timing and got on base. His baserunning was also strong, as he nabbed a steal during the attempted hit-and-run in the next at-bat.
But during his four other at-bats, Rodriguez looked completely lost at the plate. In the third, he fouled off two good pitches but then took a half-hearted weak wave at a breaking ball a foot off the plate and in the dirt. A low and away waste pitch fooled him again in the fifth. In the seventh, he once again missed his chance on a good middle of the plate delivery. Although he worked it full, he couldn’t catch up to the high heat, and was sent back with strikeout number three. Rodriguez’ fourth strikeout came on a pinpoint pitch on the corner, but it was too close to take in that situation.
Cal Raleigh, returning to the lineup after a rare off-day yesterday, was not on his A-game either. During his first at-bat, his best pitch was a cutter at the top of the zone, and although he took a mighty hack, he missed it completely. He ended up striking out with a half-hearted swing on a ball in the right-handed batter’s box.
The catcher’s next three at bats all ended remarkably similarly with Raleigh getting under the ball and popping it up. It seems his swing was off, as some of these swings were on pretty good pitches to hit. In the fifth, it was a cutter middle-up, while in the seventh, it was a hanging slider over the middle of the plate. His last appearance ended in him rolling over a grounder to second on a ball out of the strike zone.
Arozarena, who had been scorching white-hot going into the game, fell back down to earth. In his first at-bat, he sent a fastball up in the zone right to Kyle Isbel in center. That was his best contact on the day. In his second at-bat, he got a hanging slider right down the pipe on his first pitch but waved and missed. He ended up hitting a swinging bunt between Lugo and Perez, but Perez bare-handed the ball, spun around, and fired – all in one motion – to get him by a step. Arozarena popped out on a high breaking ball in the sixth and struck out on a slider low and away in the eighth.
Evans Returns Beautifully
Evans had a strong start in his first MLB appearance since June 10. He went 5 2/3 innings and gave up zero runs on three hits, one walk, and two hit batters while striking out three. Despite leaving some hangers in the middle of the zone, he got enough soft contact to breeze through the first three innings with five groundouts and two strikeouts.
He worked through a bases-loaded jam in the fourth with the help of some more weak contact. Generating a pop up from Salvador Perez was huge and gave the infield defense the opportunity to go back to a neutral position. John Rave’s slow grounder to Crawford looked for a moment like it might be slow enough to allow him to reach, but Seattle’s shortstop made a strong throw to nab him at first with time to spare.
The fifth inning was a similar situation, although the runner reached scoring position with two outs instead of one. Still, Evans got a weak flyout from one of the best hitters in the game in Bobby Witt Jr. and ended the inning with his clean sheet still intact.
His control was interesting to say the least: Evans only walked one batter, but he did give two free passes on hit batters. The first was because of an early release on his cut fastball that resulted in the ball flying for the right handed batter’s box, while the second was a little more unclear. It was a low and in sweeper that had a monster break and went very close to Fermin’s back foot. It was ruled a hit batter on the initial call and then challenged by the M’s, but the angles were too inconclusive for it to be overturned.
Still, Evans left the game having given up zero runs and was in line for the win after nearly six innings of work – all on his first game back from the minors.
On Deck
The Mariners fell to 45-42 on the season after today’s loss. The Angels won today and moved to 1.5 games back of the third wild card at 43-43 while the Rangers did not play and remained at 43-44 and two games back. Boston is next in line, 43-45 and two and a half games back.
Seattle finishes up this week’s homestand with three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend. Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo, and George Kirby will be the three starters on the bump for the Mariners in those games.
After that, the first half of the season finishes with a six-game road trip to New York and Detroit.
