SAN DIEGO -- Emerson Hancock transformed himself into a power pitcher on Saturday night at Petco Park, firing the 13 fastest pitches of his entire MLB career, navigating one tense jam after another -- with strikeouts, of all outcomes -- while flashing vibrant raw emotion that he’s never shown at this level.
Basically, he looked like a bulldog -- a fitting personification for the right-hander who played college ball at the University of Georgia.
Yet, Hancock was merely the first in line in a collectively gritty pitching performance for the Mariners, who staved off the Padres for a tense, 4-1 win that clinched the weekend series. The Mariners are now 6-1 in series away from T-Mobile Park this season and have seemingly shrugged off a 1-5 homestand.
“Especially after the last one,” said Hancock, who saw a six-run inning vs. the Yankees sink Seattle his last time out, “I wanted this one for our guys.”
Gabe Speier bailed Hancock out of a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the fifth then recorded a scoreless frame in the sixth amid soggy conditions. Matt Brash looked just like his elite 2023 self when twirling a perfect seventh, headlined by a strikeout on his gnarly new changeup to his first batter.
And Andrés Muñoz, as always, was the caboose, recording his first four-out save of the season -- and American League-best 14th overall -- when called upon to escape an eighth-inning jam, after Casey Legumina notched two big outs vs. Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill.
Muñoz did so against the organization that he grew up in, on the mound where he made his MLB debut and with many of his family in attendance.
Muñoz was seen standing in the dugout for much of the nearly 20-minute top of the ninth, while the Mariners cashed in on a two-run insurance rally via Dylan Moore. Muñoz also descended into the tunnel to throw weighted balls and do plyometric exercises to keep his arm fresh, then he let the adrenaline take over again when retiring the Padres in order.
“The communication has been awesome,” Muñoz said. “They let me know when maybe they're going to need one-plus, and I think that is really important for me.”
This is familiar territory for Muñoz, who recorded more than three outs in 11 of his 60 outings last year, when he was a first-time All-Star. But the Mariners have been extremely deliberate about his usage in 2025, deploying him exclusively in the ninth inning or extras through his first 19 outings, over which he’s carried a 0.00 ERA.
But with an expectedly longer night from the bullpen after Hancock was relieved, and with the chance to build momentum on one of their longest road trips of the year, they went all-in on Saturday to leverage more length from one of the sport’s best closers.
“Most of the time, I know when I am going to get in and I am ready for it,” Muñoz said of the more specified role. “I am getting ready for that inning. And I think that has been a huge difference for me.”
Seattle’s army of arms reached the finish line thanks to booming solo homers from Rowdy Tellez and Cal Raleigh, who each also went deep in the series opener. Raleigh now has 15 this season, trailing only Shohei Ohtani’s 16 for the MLB lead.
As for Hancock, the significant spike in velocity -- and the confidence that came with it -- could be a boon for the third-year right-hander.
“I think a lot of it, too, is just the week-in and week-out preparation,” Hancock said. “Making sure that your body is activated and firing in the right ways. And when you get the ball, you're throwing as hard as you can, as often as you can. And that's something this year that I feel like we've changed a little bit.”
Hancock possessed high-90s heat during his heyday at Georgia, which led him to being the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
But he’d never thrown a pitch at this level harder than 96.5 mph until Saturday, when he topped out at 97.6 mph with an emphatic strikeout to Jake Cronenworth with runners on second and third base in the second inning.
He followed that moment with a 96.5 mph K to Elías Díaz to escape the jam, then he capped his day with a three-pitch, bases-loaded strikeout to the five-time All-Star Machado -- all on heaters approaching 97 mph -- before turning it over to Speier.