The Seattle Mariners may have found their moment to seize control of the AL West division.
Despite struggling below .500 for much of the campaign, Seattle now sits atop their division with a 31-29 record following six consecutive wins. This impressive streak has come while missing power hitter Cal Raleigh, who was batting just .161 before landing on the injured list more than two weeks ago.
The AL West standings remain fluid, with small changes creating major shifts. Seattle’s winning streak featured a complete three-game sweep of the Athletics this past week. Oakland had been leading the division but has dropped seven contests in their last nine outings. Meanwhile, Houston has captured eight of their previous 12 games to stay competitive, sitting just 4 1/2 games behind first place. The entire division spans only 8 games, with the top three clubs separated by merely 2 1/2 games.
Even with Raleigh sidelined, the Mariners rank fourth in the American League for home runs, though their pitching staff has truly powered this recent surge. Seattle has limited opposing teams to two runs or less in five of their past six contests.
The same quintet of starters has taken the mound for 57 of Seattle’s 60 games. Bryan Woo (3.44), Logan Gilbert (3.69), George Kirby (3.77) and Emerson Hancock (2.78) all possess ERAs ranking in the AL’s top 25. While Luis Castillo (5.53) trails the other four starters statistically, Seattle has recently deployed him in a tandem approach with Bryce Miller, alternating between starting and relief duties.
During a 9-2 victory against the Athletics, Castillo delivered four shutout innings before Miller completed the final five frames. In Sunday’s matchup versus Arizona, Miller opened with five innings, then Castillo finished the remaining five as Seattle claimed a 3-2 triumph in 10 innings.
The New York Yankees exploded for 13 runs during the third inning Sunday in their 13-8 triumph over the Athletics. Remarkably, the Yankees managed no hits in the other eight innings combined.
Anthony Volpe joined an exclusive group as just the third player in the past 50 years to record two hits, two runs and two steals within a single inning. Who were the other two players?
Bonus question: Volpe nearly reached the plate three times in the inning, standing on deck when the third out occurred. Who was the most recent player with three plate appearances in one inning?
Jacob Misiorowski dominated with 12 strikeouts across seven innings of two-hit ball — firing 57 pitches at 100 mph or faster — leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-1 victory over St. Louis last Monday. Milwaukee proceeded to complete a three-game sweep of the Cardinals, extending their NL Central lead to 4 1/2 games over St. Louis.
The Orioles faced a four-run deficit with one out and empty bases in the ninth inning Saturday. Toronto failed to record another out, as Jeff Hoffman allowed the next six batters to reach safely before Connor Seabold walked Adley Rutschman with the bases loaded to even the score. Pete Alonso then delivered a game-winning single for Baltimore’s 6-5 comeback victory.
According to Baseball Savant, Toronto held a 99.3% win probability before Hoffman hit a batter and surrendered a triple, single, double and two walks.
The Orioles finished 7-3 during their homestand against Detroit, Tampa Bay and Toronto. This stretch included walk-off victories against each opponent and a three-game sweep of the AL East-leading Rays.
Detroit’s Alan Trammell achieved two hits, two runs and two steals in the first inning on Sept. 20, 1983, against Baltimore. Seattle’s Mike Cameron accomplished the feat in the seventh inning on May 16, 2002, versus Toronto.
Bonus answer: Boston’s Johnny Damon recorded three plate appearances in the first inning on June 27, 2003, against Florida. He collected a single, double and triple as the Red Sox scored 14 first-inning runs.
