> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # M’s Squander Winnable Game in Extras, Lose 2-1 to Athletics - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-mariners-squander-winnable-game-lose-extras-athletics/ - Published: 2025-08-24T07:24:25.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:18:41.000Z - Author: Callaghan Bluechel - Tags: Analysis, Mariners, George Kirby, Gabe Speier, Eduard Bazardo, Andres Munoz, Caleb Ferguson, Randy Arozarena, Victor Robles [Embed from Getty Images](http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2231751949?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) SEATTLE, Wash. — Try and try and try all they might, it seems the engine just cannot get going for these Seattle Mariners. They were only able to muster a single run against an Athletics pitching staff with not much firepower, and it wasn’t a case of being unable to hit with runners in scoring position, either—they just couldn’t find any patch of green. The pitching, on the other hand, did extremely well. George Kirby got through six and the next three relievers worked flawlessly to get the M’s through nine. But just one mistake from Caleb Ferguson was all the difference, as the bats continued sleeping through the bottom of the 10th to secure a sixth loss in seven contests. ### Kirby Notches Quality Start Mariners starter George Kirby bounced back—despite a few struggles—from his rough night on the road in Williamsport. The velocity was up on all his pitches, as were the spin rates, and he managed six full innings of just one run given up. There were some unusual control issues, with three walks delivered and just three strikeouts, but his early innings were filled with weak contact that got the Mariners through the early frames speedily. The second inning was an interesting display from the Mariner starter. Control-wise, it wasn’t his best, as he threw 23 pitches with only five being in the strike zone (though he got some help from inadvisable swings and a couple favorable calls from home plate umpire John Libka). But when it came to athleticism, he shined. With runners on the corners and just one out, Darell Hernaiz put down the safety squeeze, and the ball rolled forward about twenty feet. Kirby rushed in and, foregoing the out at first, shoved the ball to Cal Raleigh at the plate. The Mariners catcher quickly swiveled to apply the tag and keep the A’s off the board with the second out of the inning. A bad defensive play by Cole Young (incidentally the third time in the past week he has slid to his right and been unable to keep the ball in his glove) was followed by a good one by Josh Naylor, and the A’s came up with nothing despite loading the bases. It was back to regularly scheduled programming in the third, as Kirby notched three quick outs on 15 pitches. But the A’s started to sit on Kirby’s elevated fastball in the fourth inning, getting some newfound hard contact. Jacob Wilson rocketed a double off the left center field wall with one out and Julio Rodriguez caught up to another liner in the gap for the second out, but Darell Hernaiz knocked an up-and-in fastball into center for an RBI single and the first run of the ballgame. Although Kirby was surely shakier for his final two innings, he still found a way to get through with no more damage dealt. The fifth saw yet more hard contact from the visitors but no production, while the sixth was made dangerous by Kirby’s lack of control (with Tyler Soderstrom reaching third) but once more the Seattle hurler worked out of it. ### Arozarena Homer Constitutes Entire Offense For much of the game, the Mariners had trouble keeping back on Athletics’ starter Jeffrey Springs’ relatively slow (around 90 to 91 miles an hour) fastball and were very far out in front of the changeup. It continued a long streak of inept offensive games against Springs, who the Mariners had a .167/.219/.283 slash against going into the game (surely even lower by the end). The only piece of offense during the entire game was a Randy Arozarena home run in the bottom of the sixth. The previous pitch, Arozarena had been far out ahead of a 3-1 fastball, but he stayed back and drilled the next one off the manually-operated scoreboard to tie the game. That was it for the Mariners’ bats. In total, the M’s had 37 plate appearances. Four were walks, seven were strikeouts, and just three were hits. Going back to Friday’s game, where the M’s had five hits, no walks, and eight strikeouts in 28 plate appearances, that gives the team a slash line for the series of .131/.197/.328—and a .525 OPS isn’t how you win ballgames. Now, there is an element of “bad luck,” as the batting average on balls in play (BABIP) during those two games has been .095, while the xBABIP was .332\. But then again, it’s not really “bad luck” when all the plays are routine for the fielders, either. None of the expected stats take into account fielder position or hit direction, as one of the assumptions built into the statistic is that hit direction is essentially random or uncontrollable. From a predictive standpoint, this is essentially true … except there’s no good way to tell whether that assumption is itself driving such an outcome. When considering all the time since the All-Star Break, a stark picture gets painted. The team’s slash line in the second half is .219/.291/.389\. They’ve apparently been unlucky during this time, as the StatCast expected figures are .241/.312/.433\. But once again, they haven’t given opposing fielders very many difficult plays to make. Back to the actual stats, the only Mariner with an OPS over .800 in the second half is Julio Rodriguez at .913, while only three other Mariners have an OPS over .700 since the break: Josh Naylor, Cal Raleigh, and Cole Young. ### Robles Gives in Seventh Saturday night marked the return of outfielder Victor Robles from the injured list. Robles, who slashed .328/.393/.467 in 77 games with the Mariners in 2024, got only 10 games into 2025 before dislocating his shoulder. He was called back up to the major league roster earlier on Saturday and was able to play that night—despite receiving a 10-game suspension to be served at the major league level—due to his suspension currently being on appeal. Fittingly, Robles made an impact in his first game back. In the top of the seventh, with Gabe Speier on as the Mariners’ first reliever in a tied ballgame, the always-dangerous Nick Kurtz stepped into the batter’s box. Although Speier got ahead 0-2, he left his fastball out over the plate and Kurtz lined a ball into the right center field gap. Robles rocketed into the gap, tracking the ball all the way. He might not have needed to dive, but he did so anyway and caught the ball to end the top of the seventh. Although the returned outfielder got a base hit and a stolen base in the bottom of the inning, that opportunity failed to go anywhere. Eduard Bazardo and Andrés Muñoz both worked clean innings in turn, all while the M’s failed to get anything going on their side of the ball. ### Robles Takes Away in 10th With the game still knotted at a single run apiece, it was time for extra innings in Seattle. With Nick Kurtz due up, Dan Wilson tapped Caleb Ferguson to pitch the top of the 10th. First up was Luis Urias, who moved ghost runner Colby Thomas over to third with a well-executed bunt. Kurtz took a big hack at the first pitch he saw but shanked the contact and rolled it right to Cole Young, who eyed Thomas to keep him motionless and flipped the ball to first for the second out of the inning. But with just one strike to go, Ferguson slipped up and hung his breaking ball up in the strike zone to Shea Langeliers. The visiting catcher kept his hands back and shot it the other way down the right field line for a double, and the A’s had a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th. Josh Naylor began the bottom half on second base as the automatic runner and Jorge Polanco came into the game as a pinch hitter for Mitch Garver. Polanco walked (with some very generous help from Libka) and the next man up was none other than Victor Robles. Mariners manager Dan Wilson called for the sacrifice bunt. With a good contact hitter in the on-deck circle in J.P. Crawford, Wilson was looking to get both men in scoring position so a fairly likely single would flip the 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 walk-off win. But the bunt didn’t find any ground at all, instead lofting into the air for a couple seconds before landing in Langeliers’ glove for a completely unproductive first out. The second out came on a Crawford ground ball that by all rights should have been a game-ending double play, but Jacob Wilson bobbled the ball at short and could only get the out at second. Although Cole Young put together an excellent plate appearance and walked the bases loaded, Randy Arozarena grounded into a game-ending force out. ### To Bunt or Not to Bunt? That is the question. Now, when you need two runs and you have two men on with nobody out, it does carry some sense. If you went into that situation with a tied game, bunting would probably be the right choice. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, Crawford is a good situational hitter sitting in the on deck circle. But other factors tilt the decision back the other way. Let’s say Crawford has an unproductive out—also likely—now it’s two away with the game on the line for a slightly slumping Cole Young (he had reached base just twice in the previous five games and started Saturday 0-3 before his late walk). Behind him is Randy Arozarena, who came into the game with a .179/.264/.282 slash line in the month of August. Mathematically, if you get to Cal Raleigh, the game is tied, but he has also been a sub-Mendoza Line hitter in August. That’s not even to mention Victor Robles himself. This is a guy that hit .328 during his half season with the M’s in 2024\. There’s a good chance that Robles—fresh off a diving catch in the outfield and a base hit in his previous at-bat—could have delivered a game-tying knock of his own. All things considered, the bunt probably wasn’t the right move there. Of course, there is zero use in a bunt that gets popped in the air, but that’s a flaw in execution, not strategy. ### On Deck Seattle fell to 69-61 with Saturday’s loss, eight games over .500 and three back of the Houston Astros in an AL West that looks to be rapidly slipping out of their grasp (Houston has won three in a row, having seemingly broken its funk). They are still three games ahead of the Royals and four in front of the Guardians, so there is cushion there—but you must remember that a three game lead means three unlucky days from tied. Logan Gilbert will take the mound on Sunday for the rubber match in this must-win series against the Athletics.