Atop AL West, Mariners and A’s are creating a ‘scrappy’ rivalry

The often used two-word explanation “it’s early” cuts both ways in baseball. Things not going great? Well, it’s early. There’s time, much can change. Off to a roaring start? Well, it’s early. There’s time, much can change.

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It can be tough to make evaluations with a smaller sample, but impressions can be made. And the early impression with the Seattle Mariners at the top of the AL West after the first week of May is this isn’t the “same old Mariners.”

The same can be said for the team in the second spot three games behind them. The Athletics aren’t the “same old A’s,” either.

Put the two teams together on a field and you can expect to see some good baseball.

“We know what we’re going to see today,” Mariners play-by-play voice Gary Hill Jr. said on the Seattle Sports pregame show Wednesday before a 6-5 comeback win (see video at the top of this post). “We’re going to see an extremely close game. It’s going to go down to the final innings. We’re going to see maybe 200 stress pitches, there’s going to be guys on board.

“Something about this match between the Mariners and the A’s, they have all played out in a very similar fashion. As much drama as possible for a baseball game.”

How did this happen?

The two teams have met seven times this season with all but one game decided by two runs or fewer.

“I mean, eventually if these two teams played another four-game series, each manager would be without half their bullpen by the end of it,” said Aaron Goldsmith, the Mariners play-by-play voice for ROOT Sports. “They’re all down. Yes, we have no one today. I mean, it’s been agonizing. It’s been close the whole time. Every reliever has thrown a leverage inning. That’s all there’s been.”

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While the Mariners being led by offense early has been a surprise, the same really can’t be said of the A’s. Their slow but steady climb has not been masked by the three-year string of miserable records, as the talent is evident.

“We could see it coming because you look at that young core and they’re going to be together for a while,” Hill said, “and they look really talented and really good. This is a a really pesky offense that the A’s have put together and they hit a lot of home runs, which is great.”

Sound like anyone we know? Bryan Woo, who started on the mound for the Mariners on Wednesday, saw it.

“I think it’s two really scrappy teams,” Woo said of the matchup. “Honestly, I think they are two teams that aren’t going to get a lot of attention, but just two teams that know themselves very well, don’t try to go out and do too much, just kind of play really good team baseball. It’s scrappy, it’s relentless, it’s trading blows the whole series. It’s a lot of fun.”

Different look atop the division

Will it continue? Coming into the season it was the Texas teams – the Rangers and Astros – that most predicted would be at the top of the division. Could the Mariners and A’s upend that plan? Pitching will obviously play a huge role in the outcome, and the Athletics’ new home park in West Sacramento, Calif., could also play into it, but the offenses of these two teams are grabbing the early headlines.

One thing to keep an eye on with the A’s, according to Goldsmith, are the strikeouts – or rather the surprisingly lack of strikeouts.

“The A’s have power in their lineup without the strikeout,” Goldsmith said. “That’s the thing that really stands out, how they have basically maintained the same power as they had last year while striking out dramatically less (note: the A’s are fifth in strikeout rate this season compared to 27th last year). Will they hold at five? Maybe not, right? But even if it goes to 15th, it’s still a dramatic improvement from years past.

“So it’s a fun team with fun players, as are the Mariners, which should make this season pretty interesting between these two.”

It already has and should continue. Looking at the division – and yes, it’s early – these are the two teams that seem to moving in a different direction than the rest. And it may not be just about this year.

“The Rangers are having their problems, the Astros have their issues. We’re not sure where they’re at. This is really going to be interesting,” said Hill. “We’ve been talking about the A’s coming for awhile, but this is a year where they can look around and say, ‘Hey, you know, why aren’t we in this mix?’ And I think they’re in the mix. I think they have made that known here at least early in the season that they’re a team to be reckoned with.”

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Seattle Mariners reliever Matt Brash knows he isn’t 100% himself – yet
• Seattle Mariners trade RHP Luis F. Castillo to Orioles
• Leody Taveras addition pays off right away in Mariners’ comeback win over A’s
• Salk: If MLB offense is evolving, Seattle Mariners are on cutting edge
• Seattle Mariners re-sign pitcher who has been DFA’d four times in 2025

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