George Kirby and the Mariners are getting a quick chance to make amends.
Six days after Jeffrey Springs carved up Seattle in a 6-2 Athletics win, the two starters are set to meet again Friday. The rematch comes with the same basic lesson still hanging over the Mariners: they let a struggling pitcher settle in, and he made them pay.
Springs entered his last start at T-Mobile Park with a 6.37 ERA and no win since April 14, yet he turned in one of the cleanest outings of his season. He worked seven scoreless innings, allowed just two hits - both singles by Cal Raleigh - struck out six, walked two and finished his night on only 81 pitches. For a pitcher who had gone 0-13 with a 7.60 ERA over his previous 21 starts, it was a jarring reversal.
Seattle, meanwhile, gave Kirby little support in the earlier matchup. He allowed three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings and gave up a home run to Max Muncy, but he still kept the game close enough for the offense to do something with it. Instead, the Mariners waited until Springs was gone before they finally got going - and by then, the Athletics had already built the cushion they needed.
That’s what makes Friday’s game feel so straightforward. Kirby doesn’t need to be perfect, and he definitely shouldn’t need to throw a shutout against a 59-win Athletics team. Not with a starter on the other side carrying an ERA north of six.
Springs, to his credit, had the Mariners off balance last weekend. He mixed speeds well, attacked the zone and made the most of a strong career track record at T-Mobile Park.
The warning signs were there. Seattle just didn’t act on them.
Even so, 81 pitches over seven innings is exactly the kind of night an offense can’t afford to hand away.
The A’s needed that length, too. Their bullpen had already covered 11 1/3 innings in the first two games of the series, so Springs giving them seven efficient frames was huge. This time, Seattle can’t let him cruise through the night at fewer than 12 pitches per inning.
If the Mariners want a cleaner result, the key names are easy enough to circle. Max Muncy is the biggest one after homering off Kirby and later driving in Zack Gelof with a single. That was Muncy’s second homer in as many nights against Seattle.
Henry Bolte is another problem waiting to happen. He doubled home a run against Kirby last Saturday and has quickly become a nuisance once he reaches. He’s batting .277 with a .358 on-base percentage, and if Seattle keeps putting him on, he can start creating traffic in a hurry.
Gelof and Lawrence Butler are also in the mix as potential trouble spots if they get ahead of Kirby. The fix for Kirby doesn’t call for anything dramatic. He just needs better locations and fewer mistakes.
The bigger picture is simple, too. Seattle is 69-78 and five games back of the final AL Wild Card spot with 15 games left.
The elimination number is 10. The margin for another loss like the one they just took is basically gone.
The Athletics already took three of four at T-Mobile Park, and now the Mariners get the same opponent and the same Game 1 pitching matchup almost immediately.
If that favorable September schedule is going to matter at all, Seattle has to start cashing in against teams it should beat.
In Other News...
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For a team that needs more from the middle of its lineup, that creates a real problem at first base. Naylors power production has faded badly in the 2026 season, with just 10 home runs in 137 games, and the Mariners are left trying to reconcile what they expected from the spot with what they have actually gotten. It complicates both the offense and whatever they had in mind for the position beyond this year. [Read more 🡒]
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Nothing has been decided, and there is no official change on the horizon, but the possibility of a reset is hard to ignore when a season starts feeling like a referendum. If Seattle does move on, the next manager will likely need to bring a firmer strategic presence and a clearer command of the game, because the Mariners seem to be weighing not just results, but whether the current approach is the right fit for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
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Hopkins has flashed a fastball that has touched 102 mph, and the results in relief have been much better than what he showed as a starter, with his ERA and WHIP both moving in the right direction. For Seattle, Arozarena has been a productive bat since arriving, but the bigger picture still tilts toward Tampa Bay, which has already locked up a playoff berth while the Mariners have spent the year fighting for ground in the standings. [Read more 🡒]