Mariners Breakdown: M’s pick up much-needed series win after manager change

After a disastrous 1-8 road trip that ultimately resulted in manager Scott Servais being relieved of his duties on Thursday, the reeling Seattle Mariners were in desperate need of a series victory this weekend.

Drayer: Servais reflects on time with Mariners, looks to future

The Mariners came through, taking two of three from the San Francisco Giants to gain some much-needed positive momentum under new manager Dan Wilson. Seattle rallied for a stunning 6-5 win on Friday, suffered a 4-3 loss on Saturday and then bounced back for a 4-3 win in Sunday’s series rubber match.

Here’s a look back at the series and where things stand for the M’s.

Standings update

The Mariners (66-65) are 4.5 games behind the first-place Houston Astros (69-60) in the American League West and 6.5 games out of the AL’s final wild-card spot. The Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals are tied for the second and third wild-card spots, while the Boston Red Sox are 4.5 games out.

A stunning comeback win

It would have been difficult to script a more dramatic managerial debut for Wilson.

Seattle once again looked lifeless at the plate for most of Friday night’s series opener, trailing 5-1 after mustering just two hits through the first seven innings. But the Mariners suddenly exploded in the eighth, stringing together six consecutive singles and four runs off Giants reliever Tyler Rogers – who had given up a total of just two hits over his previous 9 2/3 innings.

Jorge Polanco kickstarted the inning with an infield single, Mitch Haniger followed with another single and then Justin Turner, Josh Rojas, Leo Rivas and Luke Raley delivered four consecutive RBI singles to tie the game a 5-5. It was the first time since June 23, 2023, that Seattle had tallied six consecutive hits.

Rivas then came again in the 10th, lining a walkoff single up the middle to give the Mariners a stunning comeback victory. It was Seattle’s ninth walkoff win of the season, which is the most in the AL and tied for the second-most in the majors.

Rivas, who has been filling in for injured shortstop J.P. Crawford, has been swinging a hot lately. The 26-year-old rookie is batting .400 over his past eight games, with 10 hits in 25 at-bats.

Woo continues his strong run

Prior to this month, Bryan Woo had yet to complete seven innings in any of his first 29 starts since reaching the majors in June 2023.

That was largely due to Woo having landed on the injured list three times — once with forearm inflammation, another time with elbow inflammation and most recently with a hamstring strain — since making his MLB debut. As a result, the club has wanted to proceed cautiously while building up his workload.

So for Woo, this month has been a major step in his development. The 24-year-old right-hander has now completed seven innings in three of his past five starts, while allowing a total of just six earned runs over that span. His latest seven-inning outing came on Sunday, when he gave up just one earned run and four hits in seven brilliant frames, while totaling seven strikeouts and no walks.

Woo finishes the month of August with a stellar 1.59 ERA and 0.68 in 34 innings. During that span, he has 31 strikeouts and just three walks.

For the season, Woo has a 2.05 ERA and 0.81 WHIP in 87 2/3 innings. Though he hasn’t pitched enough innings to qualify for the MLB leaderboard, he has the best ERA among all AL pitchers with at least 80 innings.

Up next

The Mariners host the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game set beginning Monday. The Rays (65-65) are fourth in the AL East, but they trail Seattle by just a half-game on the fringes of the AL wild-card race. It will be outfielder Randy Arozarena’s first time facing Tampa Bay since Seattle acquired him in a trade-deadline deal. The Rays’ pitching staff ranks 12th in ERA, while their offense sits at 28th in runs per game.

After the Tampa Bay series, the Mariners hit the road for three games against the Los Angeles Angels (54-77), four games against the Oakland Athletics (56-75) and three games against the St. Louis Cardinals (65-65).

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Mariners vet on Scott Servais being let go: ‘It was a shock’
• Dan Wilson steps in at manager as Mariners try to save season
• Edgar Martinez returns as Seattle Mariners hitting coach
• Seattle Mariners Roster Moves: Key reliever headed to injured list
• What Seattle Mariners’ decision to let Servais go says about this season

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