Preview: Mariners Look to Cool Off Sizzling Brewers in 3-Game Set
One of the best teams in baseball is coming to Seattle to round out the opening homestand of the second half with an interleague series that will serve as another huge test of the Mariners’ mettle.
The visiting side is the Milwaukee Brewers, who are currently tied for first in the National League Central with a 59-40 record. The Brew Crew have been propelled to the top of the division by an elite pitching staff. The team as a whole has an earned run average of 3.66, the fourth-best in the NL and the seventh-best in baseball. The starting pitching is even better, with a 3.42 ERA collectively.
Each game of this series at T-Mobile Park will feature a marquee pitching matchup.
July 21: Brandon Woodruff (1-0, 2.61 ERA) vs. George Kirby (4-4, 4.50 ERA). Woodruff, coming off a brutal injury journey after hurting his shoulder in 2023, has looked like a massive return to form in his two starts in 2025, giving up just three earned runs in 10 ⅓ innings pitched and striking out 18 batters while not walking a single hitter. Kirby, also recently off a (much less serious) injury, has had some struggles this year, but has also had starts where he has looked as good as ever.
July 22: Jacob Misiorowski (4-1, 2.81 ERA) vs. Logan Gilbert (2-3, 3.39 ERA). Misiorowski is another pitcher who has started helping the Brewers recently, but in his case, it is because he got the call to the show on June 10 after excelling in Milwaukee’s minor league system. He has continued blowing the doors off opposing batters in the Show, with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks over 25 ⅔ innings pitched. Gilbert remains one of the stalwarts of the Mariners rotation, and has put together some solid starts — but has not racked up the innings he did last year.
July 23: Quinn Priester (8-2, 3.33 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (7-5, 3.21 ERA). When a pitcher with an ERA well under four is the easiest opponent your team will face in a series, you know you are dealing with a premier rotation. He might look a little more human than the other two Milwaukee studs, but he still has a quality arsenal that can give his team good stretches of shutout ball. Castillo, meanwhile, has settled in recently, especially at home, where he hasn’t given up a run in his last two starts.
“Milwaukee is a team coming in pretty hot, and it’s up to us to get this thing started off right for us,” manager Dan Wilson said before Monday’s series opener.
In particular, Woodruff’s return seems to have galvanized the Brew Crew. Milwaukee hasn’t lost a game since July 5, and since then, it has been 10 consecutive wins. For the Mariners, this adds some pressure to perform as the season goes through the dog days of summer.