WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Mariners exercised more of the resilient mojo on Wednesday afternoon that’s come to define their 2025 season so far, rebounding from a five-run deficit to stun the A’s with a 6-5 victory at Sutter Health Park.
Doing so also secured their ninth straight series win -- their longest such streak since they won 15 in a row during their historic 2001 season -- and advanced the club to eight games above .500, a mark that they didn’t reach until June 4 of last year. They also built more cushion atop the American League West vs. the second-place A’s, with their lead now at three games.
New addition Leody Taveras had the big breakthrough with two outs in the eighth inning, with a game-tying RBI single to the opposite field, then he scored the go-ahead run on a booming double into the right-center gap from Dylan Moore.
“It's almost like a broken record,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said, “just how well these guys keep fighting and come back.”
Those moments were microcosmic to Seattle’s overall offensive success in what’s been one of the sport’s most surprisingly promising developments this season.
They get the late-innings breakthrough
Taveras is the newcomer, but he quickly grasped the approach of not letting the moment become too big -- especially after two strikeouts earlier in the afternoon.
In a 1-2 count and batting lefty, Taveras punched a 96.8 mph fastball over the plate and away to the opposite field, which allowed Miles Mastrobuoni to race home after pinch-running for a Randy Arozarena walk then stealing second base.
“A great at-bat,” Wilson said. “He got a pitch that he was looking for that was maybe a little bit higher in the zone. And instead of trying to do too much, just stayed with it.”
The Mariners now have 16 RBIs that either tied the game or pushed them ahead in the eighth inning or later, extending their MLB lead in that category. Entering Wednesday, only the Braves had more than 10.
Moreover, they were able to overcome an uncharacteristically shaky start from Bryan Woo, who gave up all five runs after entering the day with just three earned runs total in seven career starts vs. the A’s. In doing so, the Mariners are now 9-6 when the opponent scores first.
They get the big homer
The Mariners now have 51 homers this year, fourth-most in MLB, after Rowdy Tellez went yard in the sixth inning, playing just miles away from where he grew up in Elk Grove, Calif. He actually played in this ballpark before, but as a high schooler and not in Triple-A.
Tellez’s homer was just as timely as it was impressive. In a full count and with two runners on, Tellez pummeled a low-and-in cutter from Mitch Spence and sent it 399 feet and onto the right-field berm.
“There's really no panic right now, and I think that's big for us,” Tellez said. “Everybody's leaning on each other and trusting each other. Everybody is putting together good at-bats.”
Doing so coincided with Woo finishing the day strong, working around a leadoff walk to Lawrence Butler a half-inning later to strike out three in a row while reaching a career-high 100 pitches. The Mariners also advanced to 21-8 in games when they homer, compared to 1-6 when they don’t.
“It's just relentless,” Woo said. “It's playing nine innings of baseball. We get down early. I got punched in the mouth, and they come back and just kind of chip away, chip away.”
They’re creating consistent traffic
All three of their walks on Wednesday came around to score, as the Mariners extended their MLB-high tally in that category with 156. Not coincidentally, their .340 on-base percentage is MLB’s second-highest, and after leading MLB in strikeout rate the past two seasons (26.3% combined), they’re K’ing only 21.6% of the time, 14th-best.
“The good at-bats just were very contagious,” Wilson said.
Their breakout has been exactly one full month now, dating back to April 7, when they were coming off a sweep in San Francisco and fell to 3-7. Since then, they lead MLB with 153 runs scored (5.96 per game). Last year, they ranked 21st with 4.17.
Zooming in on Wednesday’s big moments while zooming out on how their season has gone so far paints a clear picture to why the Mariners continue to win.