> ## 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. # Slightly More Respectable, Still Bad Defeat: Yankees Stuff Mariners 9-6 - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/slightly-more-respectable-still-bad-defeat-yankees-stuff-mariners-9-6/ - Published: 2025-07-10T05:29:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:19:25.000Z - Author: Callaghan Bluechel - Tags: Mariners, Logan Evans, Carlos Vargas, Trent Thornton, J.P. Crawford, Jorge Polanco, Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena, Ben Williamson, Cole Young, Cal Raleigh [Embed from Getty Images](http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2224186630?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) It mattered little that Seattle’s bats came alive for four home runs, because the Yankees pushed nine men across home plate and took game two of the series by a score of 9-6\. Mariners starter Logan Evans took a big step back in his young MLB pitching career as he gave up six runs in less than five innings of work, while the Yankees’ flamethrowing debutant on the mound, Cam Schlittler, tossed an extremely promising first major league game. The loss brought the M’s into acute danger of dropping out of the third wild card spot and did few favors for catcher Cal Raleigh’s MVP campaign. There were some minor bright spots — Cole Young’s first homer, a Polanco moonshot, a Crawford homer, a Rodriguez double, a continuation of Arozarena’s hot streak and some caught Yankee baserunners — but the big story of the day was a tough loss against a team that looks far better than the Seattle Mariners right now. ### Excellent Start for Cam Schlittler, Rough Outing for Logan Evans Cam Schlittler looked more than ready for MLB play, throwing an easy 100 miles an hour multiple times during the first inning on his way to two strikeouts. The rookie should have also struck out J.P. Crawford, but home plate umpire Mark Ripperger gave him a bit of the Julio treatment and Crawford was able to draw a walk on some more than borderline pitches. Unlike the Yankee rookie, the Mariner one looked completely outclassed, leaving just about his entire arsenal out over the plate for the home bats to mash. Jasson Dominguez started it off by slapping a 2-2 curveball up the middle. Evans worked around Aaron Judge, throwing two balls before tossing a cutter right down the middle — and getting very lucky that the Yankee right fielder was given a take sign. Judge walked two pitches later. Then Cody Bellinger got a hold of a changeup low and away and knocked it into the right side hole to bring home Dominguez. Giancarlo Stanton went down 0-2 but took a hanging sweeper the other way for a single of his own, scoring Judge and bringing Stanton to third. The game was getting shades of PSG vs. LAFC with how cornered Logan Evans was. Cal Raleigh went out to the mound to calm Evans’ nerves. This seemed to work. Chisholm grounded out — scoring Stanton and making it 3-0 — before two more quick outs finally got the Mariners out of the bottom of the third. Schlittler looked a little more human in the top of the second, giving up a walk and an infield hit, but the Mariners were not able to put anything threatening together as a double play came between the two baserunners. The bottom half saw more home team traffic, but no more Yankees crossed the plate. Austin Wells got a hold of one and drilled it to right field, bouncing it off the wall — but Dominic Canzone made an incredible bare-handed grab off the wall and fired to second to beat Wells at second by a country mile. That play ended up mattering quite a bit, as a two-out hanging cutter to Jasson Dominguez was sent flying into right center for a double. Evans intentionally walked Aaron Judge, eliciting a rain of boos from Yankee Stadium, before getting Bellinger to ground out to second. ### Middle-Inning Run Trading The Mariners started looking a little better after this. Schlittler was no longer hitting triple digits on his fastball, instead sitting around 96-97 miles an hour. This gave the M’s — who have lagged behind the league’s advances on fastball velocity on both sides of the ball in the 21st century — some opportunity to put together some at-bats. Meanwhile, Logan Evans looked much calmer on the mound, finally keeping the Yankee bats guessing just enough to prevent a ton of hard hits. And so the sides traded solo homers in the middlegame. Seattle got one back at the top of the third. Schlittler went down 2-0 to J.P. Crawford and then left a slider in the center of the zone. Crawford turned on it and sent a line drive to right. In most ballparks, it wouldn’t have been more than a double – but it was the visitors taking advantage of the short porch as the ball went over the fence a couple rows back down the line. New York responded in kind in the bottom half. After Evans knocked the door off Stanton with a running sinker at the top of the zone, he went up 0-2 to Chisholm, looking much more relaxed. But Evans’ next three deliveries were balls and his 3-2 was a sinker that didn’t sink, right over the plate. Chisholm drilled it well over the fence to dead center. Although Evans got the next two guys to pop out, the Yankees’ lead was back to three runs. And it went back to two runs with one out in the top of the fourth. Schlittler fell behind 2-0 to another Mariner, this time Jorge Polanco. The Yankee rookie threw him a fastball middle-in, 97 miles an hour. Polanco whipped his bat through the zone and smashed a bellowing drive down the line to right. It flew about ten feet fair of the pole and landed high on the second deck. The rest of the inning went quickly in both halves and Schlittler easily dealt with the M’s in the top of the fifth. The Yankees chased Logan Evans in the bottom half. Cody Bellinger cracked a one-out single. After Stanton struck out again, Jazz Chisholm came up to bat. Once again, Evans went up 0-2, but once again, Evans started missing his spots. Then he hung a curveball right in Chisholm’s wheelhouse – and it was in the right field seats before five seconds had passed. Carlos Vargas came in from the pen to get out of the inning. But once again, the Mariners responded in kind. The top of the sixth opened with Julio Rodriguez getting a double – he now has one in three straight games – and after Raleigh struck out, Aaron Boone went to the bullpen and brought in Jonathan Loásiga as Arozarena came up to the box. The reliever’s first pitch was a sinker that didn’t drop. Instead, Arozarena drilled it high and deep to right, well over the wall for a two-run shot. Six to four. ### Bad Mistakes in Bottom of Sixth, Cole Young Prevents Complete Embarrassment Hoo boy. That bottom of the sixth. From hanging breaking balls to fielding mistakes, it had some True-to-the-Blue staples. It started off with Austin Wells cracking a double down the left field line to lead off. After a Volpe flyout, Oswald Peraza hit a soft — if slightly knuckling — liner to center. A tailor-made lineout. But Rodriguez seemingly slowed down as he approached the ball. It fell into his hands anyway … and then right out. Wells only got to third, as he was expecting a catch, but Peraza made it to second. Instead of two away and a man on second, it was second and third, one out for Jasson Dominguez. “The Martian” got a 0-1 cutter at the top of the zone and whacked a hard grounder through the infield. Wells scored, but the ball went out fast enough for Canzone to hold Peraza at third. Then it was Judge to bat, once again getting “M.V.P” from the crowd. The first pitch was well out of the zone. Then he took a breaking ball down the middle before fouling off two pitches on the corner. Once again, the Mariner pitcher gave out a breaking ball right over the plate. Judge smacked it down the left field line and it rolled into the corner. New York easily scored two on the double. Nine to four. A meeting on the mound was called and Vargas settled down for the next two batters, but the damage was done. The Mariners got two of those runs back in the top of the seventh. Ben Williamson found a hole with one out, cracking a grounder pretty much where Judge just had in the previous half inning and ended up on second base. Cole Young fouled off a couple good 0-2 pitches and then got a curveball at the bottom of the zone – and hit a line drive to right field that cleared the wall. It was his first MLB home run. Perhaps a porch job, but it made the score into a relatively respectable 9-6. Aaron Boone went to Luke Weaver to get two quick outs in the seventh and a quick eighth, while Trent Thornton threw two quick innings in relief for the M’s. The highlight of the final innings for Seattle was a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play in the bottom of the eighth: Jasson Dominguez got a good jump and was thundering down the basepath on strike three to Judge, but Raleigh fired a perfect strike to Young to get him out by a hair. Yankee closer Devin Williams sat the M’s down in order in the top of the ninth, so the game ended with a 9-6 final score. ### Consistent Inconsistency This team’s weakness is supposed to be its offense — and its strength, its pitching. The reverse was (somewhat) true today. It seemed to be opposite-land for much of the game, and yet it seemed so predictable all the same. What gives? *Exempli gratia:* Julio Rodriguez’s recent selection to the All-Star Game raised eyebrows in Mariners world. In a bizarre twist (at least, bizarre to those who aren’t familiar with the tendencies of terminally online Mariners fans), there was a big section of the Mariner fanbase that was up in arms about a Mariner going to the All-Star Game. The entirely reasonable (unless you think DRS and OAA are fake stats) defense of his selection hinges on his, well, defense. He has performed at a very strong defensive level throughout the 2025 season, in the 97th percentile of Outs Above Average according to Baseball Savant. Today’s game seemed topsy-turvy for him in regards to defense, his sixth-inning error costing the Mariners a run. Now, it must be noted that Carlos Vargas was serving up meatballs that entire inning, so it’s not like Rodriguez’s error was the deciding item. But it was discouraging, especially after he cracked a double for the third straight game. But this inconsistency just seems a feature of the Mariners. You can’t rely on anyone for anything. Sometimes Rodriguez plays like an All-Star center fielder, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes Logan Gilbert or Luis Castillo pitch a gem, other times the shells rain down like Verdun. Sometimes the bullpen looks like 2022, other times like 1997\. Sometimes Cal Raleigh can wallop a slider two inches off the plate into the upper deck; other times, he can’t stop popping out on meatballs down the middle. Sometimes Luke Raley or Jorge Polanco or Donovan Solano or Dominic Canzone hit a bomb out of nowhere, other times it’s as quiet as church mice from the bottom of the order. ### Judge Looked MVP-Caliber, Raleigh Did Not Which brings us to the MVP chase. If yesterday was something of a wash between the two knights, tonight a blow was struck through Raleigh’s armor. The production at the plate tells a lot: Judge: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K Raleigh: 0-4, 2 K And here, consistency plays a big role. When Aaron Judge gets a meatball in the middle of the zone, the best-case scenario for the opposing pitcher is that he was given the take sign. The second-best case scenario is that the screaming line drive he crushes happens to be directed right at somebody. That’s not the case for Raleigh. He’s a very good hitter (fantastic by Mariners standards) and is on pace for the best overall hitting season (with by far the most homers) any catcher has ever had – even if he returned to career pace, he would still hit 50 by the end of the season. But it’s night and day when compared to a generational great like Judge. The utter terror that Judge strikes into opposing pitchers is absent from the eyes of Raleigh’s opponents, and nights like tonight are why. He got some good pitches to hit, but didn’t do anything with them other than miss them or pop them up. Now, he played a fantastic game on the other side of the ball. Most obvious were the three runners he gunned down at second, showcasing a Molina-esque cannon from behind the plate. It won’t be long until that Molina effect settles in where he will get fewer catches at second because fewer runners try to best him. But he also went out to the mound at key times during the game – and this was a key factor that kept the Mariner pitchers just strong enough to prevent a second straight embarrassing blowout. But despite his excellent defense, this game shows why, as of now, it’s still an uphill climb for Raleigh to win the American League Most Valuable Player award. ### On Deck The Mariners will try to avoid getting swept by the Bronx Bombers in the third game of the set tomorrow – with Bryan Woo facing off against Yankee starter Marcus Stroman – and will then go to Detroit to face a Tigers team that is not only atop the AL Central but carries the best record in Major League Baseball. After that will be the All-Star Break. The big thing from the league to keep track of today is that, with their 10-2 thumping of the generationally hapless Colorado Rockies, the Boston Red Sox (49-45) have now tied the Mariners (48-44) for the third wild card.