The stakes have rarely been this low.
The Mariners finished a sweep of the Rockies on Thursday with a 6-2 win in Seattle. Eugenio Suárez swatted a two-run home run early to give the Mariners a lead they
would not relinquish. Emerson Hancock was excellent in an abbreviated outing; the bullpen kept things painless behind him. It was the Mariners’ first win in quite some time that didn’t mean much in the standings.
The regular season largely wrapped up before first pitch. The Tigers beat the Guardians 4-2, guaranteeing the Mariners a first-round bye in the playoffs. Having clinched the AL West Wednesday, after a months-long chasedown of the Astros, the list of things left for the Mariners to accomplish in 2025 was limited.
Immediately after clinching, Dan Wilson flipped the switch. Cal Raleigh moved from catcher to DH in the starting lineup, and the reserve squad slowly subbed in throughout the game. Wilson noted the bye puts them in a good spot.
“We’re in a position to get some guys some rest who we think need some rest,” he said postgame. “The trick is to be ready, and then to stay ready during that week. … We’re going to talk about that and get some planning down and be ready to go.”
Low-stakes baseball didn’t look much different. Geno got the Mariners on the board in the second inning with his 49th homer of the year, tying a career-best mark from 2019. Rockies’ starter Bradley Blalock threw 1-1 slider that hung over the plate, and Geno didn’t miss, barreling it into the bullpen in left. Geno later picked up a pair of singles in the middle innings, going 3-for-4 on the day with three RBIs. After a slow start following the trade deadline, he now has a 104 wRC+ in Seattle.
The Mariners’ lineup would add on three runs in the fourth and another run in the fifth, giving them a comfortable lead the Rockies never challenged, even after picking up stray runs late. The Mariners finished the day with 10 hits, six walks and a .374 wOBA. Despite not playing their A-squad throughout, they maintained their September surge.
As did Emerson Hancock, who got the start in place of a Bryan Woo. Hancock didn’t allow a run or walk while striking out seven in four innings. While his length was limited, having shifted to the bullpen at the beginning of the month, it was arguably the best start of his career. He picked up 10 whiffs on 51 pitches for a career-best 19.1% swing-and-miss rate. All six swings he got on his sweeper generated a whiff.
Hancock began the season as a starter but struggled before being sent to minors (and the bullpen) in July. Since returning as a reliever on Sept. 1, he’s posted a 2.08 ERA and 2.56 FIP in six relief appearances. He said the process of working out of the pen has given him a bit of perspective on what he needs to prepare for a game — something he called on Thusdaay.
“It felt good to go through that whole routine [as a starter]. The whole day I just felt less anxious. All I’ve ever known is the starter routine, like the whole day, it’s a whole build up. And as a reliever, you don’t have that time. So in a way, you’re creating trust and confidence in yourself to say, ‘I can throw six pitches and I can go in the game.’ And today it was like, I’m just gonna warm up to get loose, and I’m gonna throw a couple off the mound. It was crazy. I threw like 10 and I was like, all right, I’m ready to go.”
Hancock is unlikely to get a start in the playoffs. Kate Preusser reported Tuesday that the Mariners have “zero plans” to place Woo on the injured list for pectoral tightness that cut his last outing short. But Hancock could still make the playoff roster as a multi-inning option out of the pen. His outing Thursday was a confidence builder and a cap to a season of transformation. It began with a disastrous outing in March, and it ended Thursday with his best ever start in a pinch.
“You just can’t be stuck in one way. You have to be open to many different avenues. So if it’s like, alright, here’s a spot start, you’re starting today— sure, I’m ready to go,” Hancock said. “I can’t say that at the beginning of the season, would I have had the confidence and belief to be able to make those adjustments and change on the fly? I don’t think I would. …. This process, it teaches you to be okay with that and believe in yourself with confidence.
“I’m just trying to go out and do my job, and that’s all I want to do.”
Of the 704 games the Mariners played this decade heading into Thursday, all but 13 were spent clawing for something just out of reach.
- The 2020 season, strange as it was, didn’t end for the Mariners until game 57 (out of 60) due to the expanded playoffs. All but three games mattered in the standings.
- The 2021 season came down to the final day. They were eliminated in the middle innings of game 162.
- The 2022 season ended with Cal Raleigh’s walkoff homer in game 156, snapping the playoff drought. They played six games in purgatory while 16 back of the Astros in the AL West.
- The 2023 season ended with a devastating loss in game 161. They played one final game, to a 1-0 win.
- The 2024 season ended following game 159. They underscored their “almost” season with a three-game sweep of the A’s.
The Mariners began September with four consecutive losses in what was surely the darkest days of the season. At best, they appeared set for a make-or-break final series with the Dodgers and the familiar gnashing that’s marked years past.
If they win the last three games of 2025, they will tie April 2001 for the best month in franchise history. The Mariners have nothing to lose.
