Emily Klesick chats about the Mariners sweeping the Astros, the massive vibe swing in the series, and how Ichiro once again contributed something vital to the team. Photo courtesy of the Seattle Mariners.
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen such a contrast of morale in a fanbase in the span of a week.
Last Wednesday, the Mariners’ game ended in a sweep by the Rangers, with the team held to just three runs across those three games, and they continued their losing streak to a grand total of five. While much of the fanbase still landed somewhere in the “it’s early” camp, much of the conversation centered around the fact that the offense had been completely stymied by two teams who, on paper, should not have done so. The Angels are the unfortunate favorites to be last place in the AL West in 2026, and the Rangers, while having several elite members of their starting rotation, have a bullpen that the Mariners should have scored some runs on. Heading into the off day on Thursday, I think that I, along with most fans, hoped that there would be some sort of “come to Jesus” talk on the plane ride back to Seattle.
Thursday was profoundly quiet on social media. It seemed as if fans were unsure of what to say about this team that was supposed to be the “best in the West”. Do we really believe that it’s just too early in the season to panic? Are we seeing a repeat of years past, when our roster looked excellent on paper but failed to execute? Would we ever win a series, let alone another game? I don’t think anyone had much hope heading into the series against Houston.
In a funny and unfortunate turn of events, the unveiling of Ichiro’s statue outside of T-Mobile Park went about as “Mariners” as one could expect. Surrounded by watching fans, the shroud was pulled away to reveal the statue, but with one glaring problem: Ichiro’s bat, held in his famous pose, was bent completely over.
Onlookers giggled awkwardly as Ken Griffey Jr. laughed and said, “It wasn’t me!” It wasn’t long before the bat was replaced and the statue was as expected, but M’s fans were quick to say that this moment was a perfect representation of the season thus far: all hype with disappointing results.
However, just a few hours later, the Mariners executed a marvelous win over the Astros. Tastuya Imai, Houston’s starter, was chased out in the first inning after surrendering three runs on one hit, four walks (including a hit batter that walked in a run), all on 37 pitches. He only managed to get one out before being pulled and replaced by Steven Okert. Throughout the game, the Mariners would go on to draw six more walks, eight more hits, and score six more runs. Every single batter in the lineup came across home plate to score a run at some point in the game. Randy hit a massive three-run homer in the fifth inning that helped catapult the M’s to a 9-6 win, and suddenly, the question began to circulate: Did Ichiro sacrifice his bat to fix the Mariners’ offense?
The next day, the Mariners had a rough start as Castillo gave up an uncharacteristic ten hits and seven earned runs in just over three innings. It seemed that the M’s struggles were going to continue, and the day before had been a fluke. Other than a two-run homer from Cal Raleigh in the first, the Mariners’ offense seemed to fall flat. Then, in the fifth inning, the floodgates opened as the M’s pushed five runs across to tie the game 7-7, with a Julio two-run homer to cap the inning off. Headed into the bottom of the ninth still tied 7-7, Astros’ closer Bryan Abreu walked the bases loaded before J.P. Crawford came up to bat and walked it off with a game-winning single. A walk-off win after a massive comeback? The vibes were immaculate.
The following two games were much of the same for the Mariners’ offense. Coupled with incredible pitching from Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, the Mariners won those two showings 6-1 and 6-2, respectively. Monday’s game was made all the more special as Josh Naylor hit his first home run of the season in the first inning and then hit another one in the third, pushing across five of the Mariners’ six runs.
It would be tempting to credit much of the Mariners’ success in this series to just how awful Houston’s pitching was. Over the course of their road trip, they had to send three separate starting pitchers back to Houston due to injuries (Tatsuya Imai included), and their bullpen ended up handling the majority of the innings in these four games. That said, the M’s have certainly failed to capitalize on opportunities like these before, but that was not their story here. They took full advantage of the situation before them and are now just one game back of .500, a very different picture than last Wednesday.
After the absolute crickets from the Mariners’ offense over the previous week-plus, suddenly the M’s are making up for lost time and absolutely raking. The whole team’s slash line from this four-game series was .289/.422/.477/.899. A whole team OBP of .422?! It’s hard to believe how much has changed for this team in just four games, and against a division rival no less.
This team, and this fanbase, desperately needed those four wins. The players needed a heavy jolt of adrenaline and confidence to remember just how talented they are and how this season will only be a success if they tackle one game at a time, leaving the full-season expectations at the door. The fans needed a reminder of what we’ve known all along: that this roster, at this time, in this city, is something truly special. The vibes went from the valley to the mountaintop over the course of Friday to Monday, and I feel like this tweet from a dear friend of mine sums it all up:
So here’s to moving into the rest of the season with the first 17 games behind us. And a huge thank you to Ichiro for sacrificing his bat to save our season. Your contribution will be talked about for seasons to come, and we couldn’t be more grateful!
