SEATTLE -- The Mariners spent most of Saturday afternoon looking stuck in neutral, then suddenly found a jolt when they needed it most.
Cole Young delivered the biggest swing of the day, launching a three-run homer in the seventh inning off Logan Webb to tie the game. Then Julio Rodríguez finished it in the 10th, lining a sacrifice fly to left field that brought home automatic runner Victor Robles and gave Seattle a 4-3 win over the Giants.
It was Rodríguez’s first game back since July 2 after being sidelined with a concussion, and his return came in a game the Mariners badly needed to turn around. After a 1-5 road trip through Florida going into the break, Seattle had opened the second half looking flat, and through the first 14 innings of the stretch they had managed just one hit after totaling only two singles in a 7-0 loss the night before.
Young’s homer changed everything. Before that swing, the Mariners had been held in check by Webb, but the inning opened with Randy Arozarena getting hit by a pitch and Josh Naylor drawing a four-pitch walk. Young then punished the right-hander for his 12th homer of the season, erasing a three-run deficit in one shot.
That deficit had been built against Bryan Woo, who gave up two solo homers in the sixth. Rafael Devers sent a towering drive that just cleared the left-field wall and foul pole, and Willy Adames followed with an opposite-field pop.
Seattle’s comeback finally gave the offense the spark it had been searching for, and the finish belonged to Rodríguez. Colt Emerson’s sacrifice bunt moved Robles to third, setting up the walk-off chance, and Rodríguez cashed it in with the sacrifice fly that ended the game.
In Other News...
Former Mariners Outfielder Finally Reached A Breaking Point In Oakland
Cade Marlowes path through pro ball has already taken him from Seattle to a second organization, and now the former Mariners outfielder is back on the market after using an opt-out in his minor league deal with Oakland. It comes after a productive stretch at Triple-A, the kind of run that usually keeps a player in the conversation for a call-up and gives a club a reason to keep him close.
For Seattle fans, Marlowe is still easy to remember from his 42 big league games over two seasons, a brief stint that included a memorable ninth-inning grand slam against the Angels before he was designated for assignment and later chose free agency. Oaklands decision not to bring him up leaves his next step unsettled, but it also puts a familiar name back into the kind of limbo that often defines the fringe of a major league roster. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Prospect Felnin Celesten Is Forcing His Way Back Into Focus
Felnin Celestens season has gone from promising to impossible to ignore, and now the Mariners are rewarding it with another jump. The 19-year-old shortstop has moved up from High-A Everett after putting together the best offensive stretch of his pro career, the kind of performance that has pushed him back onto major prospect lists and put his name squarely back in the organizations long-range conversation.
Celesten is expected to make his Double-A debut soon after the teams day off, which will be the next real test of how much of that production carries with him. For Seattle, the appeal is obvious: a young middle infielder who is trending the right way again and forcing evaluators to take a fresh look at him, even as the tougher competition in Arkansas will tell the next part of the story. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Just Sent Another Top Prospect Up With Celesten
The Mariners kept the prospect pipeline moving this week by adding another pair of names to the next stop on the developmental ladder. Outfielder Jonny Farmelo and right-hander Lucas Kelly are headed to Double-A Arkansas, joining Felnin Celesten after both spent time turning heads at High-A Everett.
For Seattle, the timing matters as much as the move itself. Farmelo has been one of the organizations more closely watched young hitters, while Kelly has given the AquaSox useful innings in relief, and now both get a tougher test in Little Rock. It is another sign that the Mariners are willing to keep pushing their better minor league talent together, even if the next level is where the real evaluation begins. [Read more 🡒]