Mariners running an interesting lineup out vs Phillies lefty

The Seattle Mariners are shaking things up a bit in their lineup with a left-hander on the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale.

Why MLB Network’s Amsinger believes Mariners will win AL West

To start, trade deadline acquisition Taylor Ward is back in the leadoff spot for the first time in two weeks as Seattle faces Jesús Luzardo, a tough southpaw who is 11-5 with a 3.23 ERA and is tied for fourth in MLB with 194 strikeouts this season.

Hitting second is Randy Arozarena, who had been manning the leadoff spot ever since being thrust into the role Saturday when Brendan Donovan was scratched just before a game. Arozarena went on to hit leadoff and walkoff homers against the Cubs on Saturday, then led off with another homer Sunday.

Patrick Wisdom, who was recently called back up from Triple-A Tacoma, will hit fifth and fill in at first base for Josh Naylor. The 34-year-old Wisdom leads the Pacific Coast League with 32 home runs despite playing just 69 Triple-A games, which is only a bit over half of Tacoma’s 127 games this year. Wisdom is 5 for 41 (.122) with a home run and a double in 16 games with Seattle this year.

J.P. Crawford will hit sixth in his second game back from the injured list, and this time will be at shortstop. He played third base in his return Tuesday night. Weston Wilson will start at third and hit seventh Wednesday against the Phillies, his former team.

Switch-hitting rookie Brock Rodden, who has mainly played shortstop since being called up earlier this month, will hit ninth and start at second base in place of Cole Young. That means Young is lined up for his first day off all season, as he has played all 133 of the Mariners’ games to this point. The 23-year-old Young has cooled off recently, slashing just .135/.210/.216 for a .426 OPS over his last 20 games.

Jhonny Pereda gets the start at catcher in the day game following a night game, with Cal Raleigh serving as the designated hitter and hitting out of the cleanup spot. Raleigh has four home runs in his last two games, and has a .438/.550/1.375 slash line for a 1.925 OPS with five homers over his last five contests.

Bryan Woo will start on the mound for Seattle for the first time in 10 days. The Mariners skipped his last scheduled start and called up Kade Anderson, the top pitching prospect in baseball, from Double-A to start in his place last Saturday. Woo (9-8, 4.10 ERA) has a 1.00 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, 15 strikeouts and no walks in three starts in August (though he has hit four batters).

Here’s the full Mariners lineup for Wednesday:

Let’s have some phun. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/ZacAgV8Qvm

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 26, 2026

The Mariners are looking to complete a surprising three-game sweep of the Phillies (73-60), who entered the week as the hottest team in baseball with a nine-game winning streak. Seattle has now won two straight series and three of its last four series, but the M’s haven’t swept an opponent since the Los Angeles Angels from June 29-July 2.

Here’s how the Phillies will line up behind Luzardo:

Series finale in Seattle#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/H9Koa8FDD0

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 26, 2026

The Mariners (64-69) enter the day in third place in the AL West and just 2 1/2 games behind first place Houston (66-66), as well as three games back of the American League’s final wild card.

MLB Standings: Division | Wild Card

Mariners Radio Network coverage on Seattle Sports of Wednesday’s 1:10 p.m. game begins with the pregame show at noon.

The M’s will be off Thursday, then start a six-game road trip that goes through Toronto and Boston on Friday. The series in Boston stands as the last three games on Seattle’s regular season schedule against a team that enters Wednesday with a winning record.

Seattle Mariners news and more

• With Cal Raleigh now on the list, here’s every Mariners 3-HR game ever
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• Seattle Mariners: Details emerge on what landed Brendan Donovan on IL

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