Good, Bad, and Ugly: Cole Young, Mariners Bounce Back in 5-4 Win vs. Twins
If there’s anything that even resembles a must-win game to end the month of May, it was this one for the Seattle Mariners, and thankfully, they did just that.
Seattle was able to hang on and snap a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday to even the series with at a game apiece.
Let’s break down the good, bad, and ugly from that 11-inning victory over Minnesota.
Good?: Bryce Miller Returns
First, it’s great that Bryce Miller felt well enough to return to action Saturday after missing two weeks while dealing with his elbow issue. That being said, the results for Miller’s return to the mound were mixed at best. He gave up three runs while working four innings, and while all three came in the second inning, it’s fair to say that he didn’t have his best command in this one.
That’s not a real surprise after a two-week layoff, but the concerning thing for me is that this looked so much like his other starts in 2025. During the second half of the 2024 campaign, you could argue that Miller was the best pitcher on the Mariners; particularly down the stretch. That version hasn’t shown up at all in 2025, and based on his comments about this being a lingering issue throughout the season.
All that being said, I still put Miller’s return in the “good” column because we don’t like seeing players hurt, and there’s at least a decent chance he rounds into form in the summer months.
Bad: Another Blown Save
Neither Andres Munoz nor Matt Brash were available Saturday, so the Mariners had to turn to Carlos Vargas for the save, and it didn’t work out. He allowed a three-base error on a chopper hit by Byron Buxton, and then Trevor Larnach poked a single through the drawn-in infield to tie the game at 4-4. That blown save meant Seattle had to play another extra-inning game - their third in a row - and do it after their starter went just four innings.
But…
Good: The Bullpen
The bullpen has gotten a lot of guff in 2025, and justifiably so. The bullpen’s effort Saturday, however, deserves a ton of credit. Even Vargas deserves to be acknowledged for not giving up another run in the ninth, and if he just holds onto the baseball, this game doesn’t reach extra innings. But all of the relief corps who worked during the win deserve some flowers, as the kids like to say. Gabe Speier, Eduard Bazardo, Jackson Kowar, Vargas, and Collin Snider all combined for seven innings while allowing just that unearned run and striking out nine. All of that with your two best options unavailable.
The bullpen is still an area that needs to be addressed, in my humble estimation, but this was a heck of an effort.
Ugly: A Fire Alarm Delay
This didn’t look fun.
The Twins-Mariners game is currently in a fire alarm delay pic.twitter.com/QggniKxc5q— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 1, 2025
I’m just glad I wasn’t in the stadium to hear it.
Good: J.P. Crawford, Cal Raleigh, and Julio Rodriguez
Crawford’s results as of late have not been ideal, but he ended May with a bang. He went 3-for-4 with a walk during Saturday’s win, and the biggest hit was a two-run homer off of Jorge Alcala in the seventh inning to turn a 3-2 lead. That was just his sixth extra-base hit in the month of May, and it was wonderful to see him take advantage of a mistake.
Raleigh’s homer wasn’t a mistake, unless you consider just pitching to Big Dumper a mistake in general, which, that’s fair. He got a pitch near his eyes, but was still able to bang it out of the park with a runner on to tie Shohei Ohtani for the MLB lead with 22 round trippers. That pitch was the highest off the ground of any homer for the Mariners in Statcast history (established 2015) and it’s no surprise it was Raleigh who pulled it off.
Rodriguez did have a couple of strikeouts in key moments, but he was able to pick up a couple of hard hit singles, and made arguably the biggest play of the game until the last one. A bloop single landed in front of Rodriguez in the 10th, and he threw and absolute hose to nail the runner at the plate and keep the game tied. If the throw would have been even a second later or off line, the run probably scores, and Seattle doesn’t win. But Rodriguez wasn’t going to let that happen.
When Seattle gets star performances from these players, they’re going to win a lot of games. But neither was the hero tonight. Nope, that honor goes to:
Good: Cole Young Walks It Off
Young was making his MLB debut, and it was an inauspicious first game for quite some time, if we’re being honest. He was 0-for-3, but then he was able to hit a blooper between second and right for his first-ever MLB hit in the ninth inning. He also drew a walk two innings earlier, but his big moment came in the 11th. After Leody Taveras bunted the zombie runner to third, Young was able to get just enough on a fielder’s choice to first base, and Miles Mastrobuoni scored the winning run.
Sure, the ball wasn’t hit hard. Sure, Young didn’t make really any loud contact during his first game. Do you think he or his family in the stands care? They do not, and neither should you. Picking up a game-winning RBI in your first ever MLB game — in a contest where you got your first hit earlier — has to feel sensational.
The Mariners needed this one, and seeing one of their top prospects do it in his first ever chance is pretty darn cool.
