Mariners are seeing what Brendan Donovan can mean for lineup

When Brendan Donovan came up to the plate for the third time Wednesday night, he already had two hits and two runs under his belt, helping give the Seattle Mariners an early 7-0 lead against the Brewers a day after they’d suffered a record-matching 22-0 drubbing in Milwaukee.

Early offense helps Mariners bounce back against Brewers

Donovan had already done his part. But there was more he could do, especially with Brewers reliever Grant Anderson having needed just eight pitches to get two outs after being called upon in the third inning.

Seattle’s leadoff man quickly went down 0-2 in the count. But then he watched a sweeper miss low. And he fouled off a fastball. And he kept that going until finally on the 10th pitch of the plate appearance, Anderson missed the outside corner with a sweeper to issue a two-out walk to Donovan.

The next Mariners hitter, Randy Arozarena, may have gone done on a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning, but Donovan single-handedly made sure Anderson’s pitch count more than doubled – and guaranteed that the Brewers had to go back into their bullpen and use another arm in the fourth inning rather than letting Anderson go a second frame.

That’s the sort of thing that may not seem like a big impact in the immediate moment, but it sure can add up over the course of a series. And it’s the sort of thing the Mariners have lacked this year with Donovan, the 2025 National League All-Star and Seattle’s biggest offseason addition, having missed 80 games due to core injuries.

The 29-year-old Donovan made his return from nearly three months on the injured list on Aug. 4, but it wasn’t until Seattle put him back in the leadoff spot Saturday in Houston that he really started to make his presence felt again. Donovan went 3 for 5 with three RBIs in that 10-5 win over the Astros, keying a crucial bounce back from what was – to that point – the worst loss of the Mariners’ season the night before when they gave up five runs in the 10th inning and lost 10-7 to their AL West rivals on Christian Walker’s three-run walk-off homer.

Then on Wednesday, Donovan did it again – because Tuesday’s 22-0 shutout had taken the mantle as the new worst loss of the season for Seattle. Donovan led off the game with an infield single and came around to give the M’s the lead, did the exact same thing in the second inning to help Seattle take a commanding 7-0 lead, and ultimately reached base four times as the M’s held off the team with best record in baseball for a 7-5 victory.

In the first four games after returning to the No. 1 spot in the Mariners lineup on Saturday, Donovan has hit .400 (6 for 15) with a double, three walks and a .500 on-base percentage. And the Mariners have won three of those games – all on the road, and all against teams currently leading their division.

Mariners manager Dan Wilson seems happy to have Donovan back where the team planned to have him all along going into the season.

“What he does at the top of the order is he gets on base,” Wilson said after Wednesday’s win. “Whether it’s walking, he just puts up good at-bats. I think he had a 10-pitch at-bat at one point tonight. He finds a way on with the bat, he finds a way on with a walk, and makes things happen at the top of that lineup.

“And when you got the guys behind him like he does, you’re going to score some runs there, and that was the case tonight in those first two innings. It was huge.”

Donovan is back atop Seattle’s lineup and playing third base for Thursday’s 11:10 a.m. contest as the Mariners look to clinch the series win in Milwaukee. Catch Mariners Radio Network coverage of the game on the Seattle Sports app and Seattle Sports 710 AM.

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