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# Good, Bad, and Ugly: Mariners’ Bats Finally Come to Life in 7-2 Win vs. Guardians
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/good-bad-ugly-seattle-mariners-jorge-polanco-bats-come-alive-cleveland-guardians/
- Published: 2025-06-14T06:21:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:59:11.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Mariners, Cal Raleigh, Jorge Polanco, Cole Young, Luis Castillo

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Finally.

After losing eight of their previous nine games to fall under the .500 mark, the Seattle Mariners finally played a complete baseball game to get an 7-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians in the first game of the weekend set.

Here’s the good, bad and, ugly from Friday’s much-needed mid-June win:

### Good: Luis Castillo

Castillo had one of his worst starts of the season in the loss to the Angels in his previous start. He was back in a big way Friday with six innings of two-run baseball with seven strikeouts. Both runs allowed came on solo shots, and it is worth pointing out that Castillo has allowed five roundtrippers over his last two outings. Outside of that, however, Castillo was outstanding, allowing just one other hit and showing off some swing-and-miss stuff throughout the outing.

Castillo now has a 3.29 ERA that is inflated by a couple of clunkers, and has been one of the most consistent, solid options in baseball in 2025\. Remember when the Mariners were talking about trading him? Imagine if this rotation didn’t have his steady presence. It’s not a fun thought.

### Good: The Entire lineup

Simply put, this was one of the best offensive games of the year, even if the Mariners didn’t score as many runs as they did in a few other contests against bad teams. They picked up 16 hits, they drew four walks, and they only struck out three times.  
  
Now, it is worth pointing out that the Mariners did most of their damage against the Cleveland bullpen, as this was a 2-2 game entering the bottom of the seventh. But there were consistent quality at-bats from Seattle throughout this game. Every Seattle Mariner reached twice outside of Cole Young, and Young was able to drive in a run and drove a ball to the center field wall. It was one of the most complete offensive efforts we’ve seen, and it was great to see a game that the Mariners were able to put up a solid number or funs even with Cal Raleigh “only” drawing a pair of walks.

### Especially Good: Jorge Polanco

Especially good applies here because of how important Polanco is to this offense. When he was hitting, the Seattle Mariners were one of the best offenses in baseball. When he faltered, the Mariners were, umm, not. But we’ve started to see life from the switch-hitter over the past few weeks, and it culminated Friday in a game where he homered and doubled.   
  
Lots of Mariners had similiar games and they deserve their plaudits, but I would argue that Polanco’s was the most necessary. If you disagree, that’s fine, but just look at the numbers, folks. When he’s good, the Mariners are good.

### Bad/Ugly: Nothing. Not A Thing

I guess you could say that the bad/ugly is that Cleveland is playing poorly right now, but nope. This was the most complete win since the 9-1 shellacking of the Nationals to open the homestand a few weeks ago, and it was a wonderful reminder that this team isn’t bereft of talent. The Mariners needed this one. I needed this one. We all needed this one.