Good, Bad and Ugly: Mariners Win Thriller Over Astros to Guarantee Series Win
What. A. Game.
It’s going to be hard to describe what just happened, but just trust me when I say the Seattle Mariners were able to beat the Houston Astros 7-6 in 11 innings to guarantee a series win and move within three games ahead of the Astros in the American League West.
Let’s look at the good, bad and ugly from Saturday’s victory.
Mostly Bad: Logan Evans
The line doesn’t look too shabby. Evans struck out five over four-plus innings of two-run baseball; something that will keep you in games and you’ll take from your fifth starter.
That being said, it’s worth noting that Evans was fortunate to achieve the results he did. He allowed six hits, three walks, and saw lots of hard contact either go for singles or into the gloves of Mariner defenders. The metrics suggest Evans has been one of the starters in baseball in terms of “fooling” hitters. Tonight was a pretty good example of him not being able to do so. Seattle needs Bryce Miller back pretty badly, even if he’s only a semblance of the version we saw for most of 2024.
Mostly Good: The Mariners’ Bullpen
Mostly. There were some poor performances tonight. Carlos Vargas was able to induce a big double-play after Evans left to erase the chances for a big inning, but then created one himself by hitting back-to-back Houston hitters and nearly causing a donnybrook. Gabe Speier wasn’t able to clean up the mess, and a 4-1 lead for the Mariners turned into a 5-4 deficit based on their struggles. Matt Brash also hasn’t looked like the usual version of Brash as of late, and he gave up a run in the 10th that gave Houston a 6-5 lead while struggling to throw strikes.
Those are the bad, but there was an awful lot of good. Casey Legumina was fantastic while striking out the side. Trent Thornton breezed through his inning with a strikeout and needed just 10 pitches to retire all three hitters. Andres Munoz did issue a walk, but he struck out a pair and showed a filthy slider in the process. And Eduard Bazaro — perhaps the most unsung hero of this pitching staff in 2025 — was lights out while holding Houston scoreless in the top of the 11th.
So, yeah, some clunkers, but the overall work from the bullpen gets a plus from me.
Beautifully Ugly: Dylan Moore’s Accidental Hit
So, this was weird. A lot of this game was weird. But this was really weird. Let’s set the scene. The Mariners were trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the 10th and facing Josh Hader, one of the better closers in the sport. Working his second inning, Hader issued a walk to Randy Arozarena (who had another terrific game), and Jorge Polanco decided to bunt Raleigh and Arozarena into scoring position. Unfortunately, that put Dylan Moore at the plate, and Moore has been one of the worst hitters in baseball since the end of May. After two not-so-good swings from Moore and a ball on the plate, Hader appeared to hit him in the hand to set up a bases-loaded situation for Dominic Canzone with one out.
But nope. Home plate umpire Nestor Ceja ruled that the ball hit the bat, and while Moore stumbled his way towards first base, Raleigh was able to score the tying run.
A ton of kudos are deserved on this one. First, kudos to Ceja for not calling the play dead. Similar to when an NFL official rules a play a fumble rather than dead, this was the smart call; if he’s wrong, you just place Moore on first base. And he wasn’t wrong, but that was the right decision in process and result. Second, kudos to Raleigh for hustling in instead of just assuming it was a HBP. And finally, kudos to Moore for selling that he was hit and confusing everyone. Me especially.
It was not aesthetically pleasing, and Moore is incredibly fortunate to get the results he did, but it was beautifully ugly.
Good: Cole Young
After Bazardo’s sensational 11th inning, Miles Mastrobuoni laid down a perfect bunt to move Canzone over to third base. That brought up Young, and after falling behind in the count, the rookie second baseman laced a single into right to give the Mariners the win.
That’s the second walk-off hit for Young, and he continues to look more and more comfortable at the plate. Second base is still somewhere the Mariners can upgrade for 2025, to be sure, but it no longer looks like they have to.
Good: All Of This
Simply put, you can’t overstate how big this win is. And you can’t overstate how big of a loss this is for the Astros, either. This is a game that both teams will feel like they should have won, but only one did, and it’s the Mariners. Now you get a chance to sweep Houston with your ace on the mound in Bryan Woo, but even if you fail to procure that win, you were able to take this series and avoided a series loss you flat-out couldn’t afford if you believe the division is real.
This was one of the best regular season games I’ve seen in my (redacted) years watching the Mariners, and it’s very fun to see them come out on top. It was bonkers, but I kinda loved every minute of it.
