Sizzling Randy Arozarena, Mariners Grind Out 3-2 Win Over Royals
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Randy Arozarena continues his hot streak, cracking a game-tying home run in the sixth inning of Seattle’s 3-2 win against the Kansas City Royals. Credit: Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo. [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. – Rebounding from a tough loss on Tuesday, the Seattle Mariners took game three of their home series against the Kansas City Royals and have guaranteed at least a series tie in their four-game set in the last homestand before the All-Star break.
Logan Gilbert went 5 1/3 innings, struck out seven, walked three, and gave up one run on three hits, getting a no-decision as Seattle had not scored by the time he came out of the ballgame. The Royals went ahead in the first inning and held the M’s offense down through the first five, but a Randy Arozarena home run and some impactful small ball brought the team up 3-1 after seven. Despite Matt Brash giving up his first run of the season out of the pen, Seattle held on to win 3-2.
Royals Held to One Run Early, Seattle Scoreless Through Five
Gilbert and Royals starter Noah Cameron both kept the opposing offenses off balance to start the game. Gilbert recovered from a shaky first inning to put together a good start while Cameron worked through the Mariners mostly flawlessly, only letting two runners reach base before the fifth. Although the M’s loaded the bases in the fifth inning, the Royals went to the bullpen and kept their 1-0 lead going into the last third of the ballgame.
Tonight’s game opened with some excellent defense from both sides. Jonathan India hit a scorching ground ball between Ben Williamson and J.P. Crawford, but Williamson grabbed the ball on a dive, snapped to his feet, and threw to first in time to beat India by a step. Then it got dangerous: Bobby Witt Jr. slapped a single the other way and stole second on Gilbert’s first pitch slider to Vinnie Pasquantino, who ended up working an eight-pitch walk.
Maikel Garcia popped out to left, but that brought up famed Mariner-killer Salvador Perez. Perez watched a first-pitch slider go by but then got a fastball an inch up out of the zone and crushed a low line drive to left. The hit was hard enough to work against Perez, as Arozarena grabbed the ball on the bounce off the wall and fired into the infield to keep Pasquantino at third and Perez at first. Jac Caglianone hit a broken bat flyout to right for out number three.
J.P. Crawford led off the bottom half with a groundout to third and Julio Rodriguez struck out on a middle-in slider for two quick outs. Arozarena got an infield hit on a sharp grounder up the middle, but Donovan Solano’s grounder that direction on the next at-bat was much slower and got picked up by India, who threw to second for a fielder’s choice.
Gilbert settled in for the second, striking out the side. First he made quick work of Drew Waters with two perfectly placed sliders followed by a splitter down and away, and then he faced long at-bats against both Freddy Fermin and Kyle Isbel but got Fermin swinging on a high fastball and froze Isbel with a heater at the knees.
Seattle went even faster in the bottom half, as Polanco popped out to start the bottom of the second and Mitch Garver grounded out on a swinging bunt before Dylan Moore struck out on a slider up in the zone, continuing an ugly stretch for the veteran utility man.
In the top of the third, Gilbert acrobatically evaded India’s leadoff soft liner, which harmlessly ended as a groundout to second, but Witt worked a nine-pitch walk. He tossed a hanging 0-1 slider to Pasquantino in the next at-bat – and the Royals first baseman crushed it, but it went foul, and Gilbert got him to chase a splitter down and away before Garcia flew out to right for the third out.
After Williamson flew out to left and Cole Young struck out to begin the bottom half, Crawford drilled a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner down the left field line for a two-out double for Seattle’s first man in scoring position. But Rodriguez popped out to second on the very next pitch.
The fourth was a quick inning for Gilbert, as Perez grounded out to third while Caglianone and Waters struck out swinging. Arozarena got a 2-1 hanging slider at the top of the zone but missed the barrel by a whisker, flying out to the warning track in left center. Solano popped out to Caglianone over the dugout and Polanco struck out swinging to end another quick inning for Seattle.
Fermin began the fifth with a single up the middle, a foot past Crawford’s diving effort. Isbel bunted him over to second. India went up 2-0 on the next at-bat, but Gilbert got back in the count and got him to chase a high slider for the second out. Pete Woodworth came in for a meeting on the mound as Witt stepped into the box. But Gilbert was starting to miss some of his spots – getting into the 90s on his pitch count – and walked Witt on five pitches. Dan Wilson brought in Gabe Speier in relief, and the bullpen lefty fanned Pasquantino on a slider.
In the bottom half, Garver became the first leadoff Mariner to reach base, hitting a ground ball down the left field line. Garcia grabbed it but his throw to first drew Caglianone off the bag. Moore struck out - again - but Williamson drew a four pitch walk to induce a meeting on the mound as Cole Young came up to bat.
Balls and strikes interchanged, the count going to 3-2 on a badly missed fastball up and in – and Young flew out to left. Crawford grounded a 1-2 curveball up the middle and India made a run-saving diving stop, but the ball fell out of his glove and Crawford reached to load the bases for Rodriguez. Kansas City manager John Quatraro brought in John Schreiber on the mound, and Rodriguez harmlessly flew his first-pitch slider out to center field to end the inning.
Speier worked an easy 1-2-3 sixth, getting Garcia to fly out and whiffing Perez and Caglianone, so it was back to the Mariners in the bottom half.
Mariners Put Together Three Late Runs to Win
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mariners started the slow process of mounting a comeback. Arozarena led off, fouling off a well-placed fastball with two strikes and working a full count. Then Schreiber hung a sweeper right down the middle and the red-hot slugger torched a high line drive to dead center and cleared the wall by a good 15 feet for his fourth home run of the series. The game was tied at one apiece.
After that, pinch-hitter Luke Raley grounded out to first and Polanco grounded to second for two quick outs. Mitch Garver singled to right, and as Canzone came on to pinch-hit for Moore, the Royals pulled Schreiber and brought on left-hander Angel Zerpa. Canzone tapped an accidental bunt to Zerpa for the third out.
Carlos Vargas came on for the top of the seventh. After Waters led off with a groundout, Fermin walked, but Vargas got Isbel looking and India swinging.
Williamson led off the bottom half with a double to the gap in right center. Young then cracked a ball up the middle, but Zerpa snagged it on the bounce, displaying more great defense. He went to second, looking to nab Williamson, who had strayed dangerously far from the bag, but the Mariner third baseman rushed back in with a dive and Young was safe at first. Crawford laid down a beautiful bunt along the third base line to move the runners over.
Rodriguez again swung on the first pitch, sending a sharp grounder to third. The ball took a bad hop, hit Garcia’s glove, and flew up into the air. By the time the Royals recovered it, Williamson had scored, Young was at third, and Rodriguez was at first. Then came Arozarena, who sent a fly ball to center. Nowhere near leaving the ballpark this time, but well deep enough to score Young from third. Raley struck out to end the inning, but the Mariners were now up 3-1, a lead they wouldn’t fully relinquish.
Wilson brought on Matt Brash to pitch the eighth, but the flamethrower immediately ran into trouble. He got Witt into a 2-2 count and threw a slider just down and away off the corner, but the hitter caught up to it and shot it into right field for a single. Pasquantino knocked it past Young on the first pitch to set up first and second, nobody out. John Rave came on to pinch-run for Pasquantino and Garcia cracked a flyout to deep center that brought Witt to third.
Now the ever-so-clutch Perez stepped up to the plate, first and third and one away. The first pitch was a ball and Perez took a mighty hack at the next delivery, missing on a slider away. But Brash hung his next slider in the top outer corner of the plate, and Perez lined it into center to score Witt. Pete Woodworth visited Brash on the mound. Brash settled down and whiffed Caglianone before getting Waters to ground out to third.
Kansas City made some defensive shifts going into the bottom half – with Rave moving to right field and Caglianone going to first – and brought on right-hander Taylor Clark to pitch. The Mariners went 1-2-3 without a whimper.
Andrés Muñoz came in to close the top of the ninth and got the job done. Fermin popped out to second to start the inning off. Then Isbel came to bat and took the first three pitches for balls. Muñoz found the strike zone on the next delivery and got a foul ball after that to get to a 3-2 count. Isbel fouled off 98 at the top of the zone but flew out to left on the next pitch. The hard-throwing closer blew a 101 mile an hour fastball past India and then spotted a slider for strike two. India fouled away the next pitch, a slider at the top of the zone.
But Muñoz’ next slider was perfectly placed at the bottom of the zone and India was way out in front of it, allowing the Mariners to hold on for a one-run win.
Key Runs Manufactured For Win
This year’s Seattle Mariners are typically a home run hitting ball club. When they hit homers, they can crush teams with big offensive showings. When they don’t, they often can endure a long stretch of lifeless innings.
Today, although one of the runs came on Arozarena’s sixth inning bomb, the difference in the outcome was made by a seventh inning rally where multiple players came together to manufacture runs. As always, it was a game of inches. Williamson was nearly thrown out at second after taking an early break on Young’s ground ball up the middle. But the risky play ended up working in the team’s favor. Since Williamson made it back to the bag, there was no time to try and get Young at first.
Then Crawford did exactly what he had to do. The Mariners aren’t much of a bunting team, but this was the perfect situation to try to move the runners up. Rodriguez was on deck and had lifted it in the air his last two at-bats. And Crawford executed his bunt perfectly, laying it right down the third baseline. If it weren’t for Maikel Garcia playing in and getting a good jump, there’s a very real possibility he could have beat out the throw and loaded the bases.
Rodriguez’ hit in the ensuing at-bat, again, showed how it is a game of inches. If Garcia had fielded the ball cleanly – which would have been difficult, but possible – then there would have been no movement by the runners on the simple force out at first. The ball took a very good break for Seattle, rising up in the air for a good couple seconds and letting all the runners make their bases safely.
And Arozarena’s sacrifice fly was the kind of productive out that has often eluded the Mariners. Speaking of…
Arozarena Still On Fire
Arozarena is still white-hot. He was 2-3 with a home run – his fourth in three games – and had two RBIs. The two times he did not reach base in a plate appearance, he still sent out fly balls to the outfield. His aforementioned sacrifice brought home the deciding run, but his other fly ball is notable. It was a hanging slider at the top of the zone, one of Noah Cameron’s few mistakes in the early game. Arozarena got under it by a hair and it landed in Drew Waters’ glove about eight feet from the wall.
The second time Arozarena got a hanger, he didn’t miss it at all. Sweepers aren’t supposed to go down the middle with no movement, and Arozarena showed all 24,752 fans in attendance why that is the case. Isbel climbed the wall in center, hoping against the odds that it would die out in the air and give him the chance at a highlight-reel robbery – but no dice for the Kansas City center fielder.
In the series, Arozarena has six hits in 11 at-bats (.545 batting average), eighteen total bases (1.636 slugging percentage), seven RBIs, and five runs scored. He now has a five game hitting streak going back to June 28 against Texas, during which he is slashing .526/.524/1.158 – yes, his batting average is higher than his on-base percentage in this period, since he’s had one walk and one sacrifice fly, and with a batting average over .500, that means his on-base is lower – with 10 hits, eight RBIs, and five runs scored.
Gilbert Throws Strong Outing, Chased Early by High Pitch Count
Gilbert started the outing a little shakily, hitting a lot of the plate with his fastballs and missing location on his sliders, and Perez made him pay for a high heater out over the plate with his RBI single. But after that, the ace settled in. He generated some incredible swings and misses from Royals hitters in the second, third, and fourth on all three of his pitches.
However, the Royals made him work. In the second, both Fermin and Isbel fouled off a solid amount of edge-of-the-zone breaking balls to keep their at-bats alive, and he racked up a high pitch count early, throwing 65 through three innings. The fourth was quicker, with Gilbert throwing 12 pitches that inning, but after the runner reached second in the fifth, he began to miss his spots. He worked back into the at-bat against India, striking him out on a fastball at the top of the zone, but then walked Witt, consistently missing down and away.
Gilbert observed that the Royals put up good at-bats throughout his entire outing, but noted that he’s not very used to being chased from games early as he did tonight. It has been a tough year in that department, as Gilbert is averaging around five innings per start for 2025 after averaging about 6.1 innings per start in 2024, a year where he led all of MLB with 208.2 innings.
“Obviously, we always try to be aggressive and get ahead, stuff like that,” Gilbert said. “I feel like I’m getting to two strikes, having deeper counts and more strikeouts this year, so that might contribute a little bit. Obviously, the walks weren’t great tonight.”
Gilbert said that he is going to focus on the positives for tonight, such as his well-located slider and the fact that he held his opponents to just one run, while more neutrally approaching his shortcomings. He says that this is something that he likes to do to keep his mentality good.
“It’s so easy to get frustrated, especially with my standard, so I have to be careful to just look at the positives and then look with a neutral eye of things to work on, without being ‘this was bad, this was bad’ – ‘cause you can go in a dark place,” Gilbert said.
With this start, Gilbert has started 10 games, thrown 50.1 innings, given up 19 earned runs (3.40 ERA), struck out 74 batters, and walked 11 (6.37 SO/BB) while giving up 34 hits. He has a stellar WHIP of 0.894.
Bullpen Finishes Game Strong
Seattle’s bullpen had a very strong evening. Four relievers combined for 4.1 innings pitched, gave up one run (2.08 ERA), struck out seven batters, and walked one. Speier, Vargas, and Muñoz all had stellar outings, with Speier in particular putting out a potential fifth inning fire before any runs could come home and getting three quick outs in the following frame.
“We had to dip into the bullpen early tonight and these guys all delivered,” Wilson said. “And Gabe being able to go back out there in the sixth and get through that inning was huge, that kind of set us up for the rest of the game.”
Carlos Vargas pitched well, getting two strikeouts although conceding a walk, and got the win after the Mariners scored twice in the bottom half of the seventh. But Matt Brash had an unusually tough outing, giving up his first run in his twentieth appearance in 2025. Still, Brash worked out of the jam with only one run given up and his team still had the lead.
“I thought he made some really good pitches to come away with just the one run,” Wilson said regarding Brash. “He was gonna give up a run eventually, and that was the first one tonight, but he continues to throw the ball really well.”
And then Muñoz was his usual lights-out self to end the game. Not only did he hit a high of 101 miles per hour on his fastball, but his slider was on point, and all the Royals could muster against him were two weak flyouts and a game-ending strikeout.
On Deck
With Seattle’s win tonight, they move to 45-41 on the year, seven games out of first place in the West behind Houston. The M’s are in the third wild card spot, 2.5 games ahead of both the Angels and Rangers in what is becoming a tight race.
