SEATTLE — On Tuesday, the Seattle Mariners fell prey to an explosive New York Yankees offense that had the Bronx Bombers’ two star sluggers Aaron Judge and Juan Soto at the forefront of it.
On Wednesday, the Mariners successfully stifled the prolific offense of the Yankees. But it didn’t matter.
Seattle fell 2-1 to New York on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park. The loss dropped the Mariners to 77-75 on the season and kept them 5.0 games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West and 3.0 games out of the AL Wild Card spot. The Detroit Tigers drew further ahead of Seattle in the Wild Card race and were half a game out after Wednesday (2.5 games ahead of the Mariners).
“Really good ball game tonight. Back-and-forth. Both sides pitched very, very well tonight,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview Wednesday. ” … Kind of a freak scenario there at the end with the bat coming down there. … This is a tougher one to lose. It was a great ball game on all fronts. And tough one to lose.”
Advertisement
Mariners starter Bryce Miller had an amazing start and went six innings with eight strikeouts while giving up one earned run off two hits. He gave up five free bases (four walks, one intentional walk). But despite the atypical number of free passes, Miller kept the Yankees offense in check.
Miller got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the third after he struck out third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. Seattle was down 1-0 at that point after an Anthony Rizzo RBI double in the top of the second.
The Mariners offense continued a poor pattern this season — they wasted their pitcher’s quality start and had several opportunities to tie or take the lead. They left two stranded in the second, two in the fourth, another two in the fifth, two more in the seventh, one in the ninth and one in the 10th. Of those 10 runners left stranded, four were left in scoring position. (two at third, two at second).
Seattle’s 10 left on base on Wednesday brought its total to 21 in the last two games against New York. The Mariners went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Advertisement
Justin Turner eventually tied the game up with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the eighth.
That hit ended up sending the game to extra innings, where Rizzo again made his presence felt with a first-pitch, lead-off RBI double to give the Yankees the eventual final of 2-1.
Seattle still had a chance to win or tie with runners on the corners and no outs in the bottom of the 10th.
Julio Rodriguez was at third with Randy Arozarena at the plate. Rodriguez ran out of the way after Arozarena lost grip of his bat on a swing and sent it flying down the third base line. Arozarena was struck out on the swing. And Rodriguez, way off the bag due to avoiding his teammate’s bat, was picked off at third in a heads-up play between Yankees catcher Austin Wells and Chisholm Jr.
In one play the Mariners went from runners on first and third with no outs, to two outs with a runner on first. Turner struck out swinging the next at-bat after that blunder to give New York the series win.
“Honestly I just saw a bat flying out to my face and I just ran away from it,” Rodriguez said in a postgame interview on Wednesday. “And after that, just kind of a little bit in shock and then I didn’t get back on third base on time. … After I saw the bat, I thought it was going to be a dead play and then they were going to pick up the bat and I was trying to go back to third. But when I got out of the way, I turned my back on the field and I heard (third base coach Manny Acta) yelling ‘Get back to third.’ That’s when I get back to third, honestly. At that moment I wasn’t really thinking about the game. Just trying to get away from the bat coming at me. And yeah, that’s what happened. That was a first for me, for sure.”
Advertisement
Seattle couldn’t afford the series loss. But it happened. If there’s one positive to be taken away it’s that they didn’t lose any ground with Wednesday’s heartbreaker. Except to Detroit.
Any leeway the Mariners had is gone. They have a 2.9% to make the playoffs after Wednesday’s loss, according to FanGraphs. There’s 10 games left in the season. There’s still a chance. But it’s a small one.
It’s already been said this season, but every game from this point forward really is a must-win. And weather it’s still mathematically possible or not, getting swept might as well be the final nail in the coffin.
Logan Gilbert will try and help Seattle avoid the sweep in the season finale at 1:10 p.m. PT on Thursday. Clarke Schmidt will get the start for the Yankees.
MARINERS MANAGER TALKS ABOUT LIVE PREGAME BATTING PRACTICE: Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson spoke on bringing up Everett AquaSox pitchers for a live batting practice session before a game on Wednesday against the New York Yankees. CLICK HERE
Advertisement
ROBLES TO MISS GAME 2 AGAINST YANKEES: The Seattle Mariners will be without one of their best players for a critical Game 2 against the new York Yankees on Wednesday. CLICK HERE
JUDGE, SOTO GET TO WOO, MARINERS: Seattle Mariners starter Bryan Woo let up seven earned runs off nine hits and New York Yankees sluggers Juan Soto and Aaron Judge combined for four hits and six RBIs in an 11-2 New York win on Tuesday. CLICK HERE
Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady
SEATTLE — From my first visit as an adult, I was absolutely smitten with this city with snow-capped mountains and glistening bodies of water visible on all sides.
The decision to move here when my wife was accepted to Seattle University was probably one of the easiest and most fortuitous choices I’ve ever made. I loved the city’s topography, how people went outside no matter the weather and even the weather itself. I would often feel as if I was living someplace I would have chosen to vacation.
But it was soccer that made me feel like part of the city myself, like I had found my new home. I’ve often talked about how watching the Sounders win their first U.S. Open Cup at the George & Dragon was my first real introduction to the team. A few months later, I started working at Sounder at Heart. That summer, I experienced my first World Cup in Seattle. We showed up to a bar at 6 AM to get a spot for the USA-England match, and barely even got in. Bars all over town were packed, even when the USA wasn’t playing.
It was then that I started imagining what it would be like for the World Cup to actually come here.
Advertisement
Although the United States’ 4–1 loss to Belgium on Monday wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it to end, I can safely say the Seattle World Cup experience exceeded even my lofty dreams.
Picking one highlight from the six games is almost impossible as every game surprised me in different ways. In the immediate buildup to this tournament, the shine had seemingly started to wear off. Actually getting the World Cup was feeling like a pyrrhic victory, one of those “careful what you wish for” achievements. All anyone could talk about was ticket prices and corruption. Empty seats and unsold hotel rooms felt inevitable. I believed the mood and narratives would change once the soccer actually started being played, but my expectations had been massively re-set.
Once the games began, I immediately realized just how powerful the World Cup can be, especially in a setting like this. The crowd for Egypt-Belgium – Seattle’s first-ever World Cup match – was a near sellout, and it was then that I appreciated the power of the diaspora. I saw Egypt fans with tears in their eyes as they saw their compatriots gathered by the Great Wheel. Their march to the match was pure joy, filled with chants, giant flags and pharoah costumes. The match, itself, was a bit underwhelming – a 1–1 tie – but everyone seemed so happy. That set a standard that was probably exceeded in each game.
The only way stories like this are possible is through the support of readers like you. Support independent soccer journalism by becoming a subscriber to Sounder at Heart.
Advertisement
Join
The Bosnia & Herzegovina fan march was genuinely awe-inspiring, as it seemed to go on forever. I swear there were 40,000 people wearing BiH’s blue, yellow and white and they were all singing ‘Ljiljani’ once it was over. The atmosphere for Iran-Egypt was absolutely electric, and I honestly felt like the stadium might explode when Iran scored what seemed to be a late game-winner only for VAR to overturn it.
My favorite memories from this tournament, though, will likely be tied to the way Seattle really came alive for the two USA matches. To see an American downtown flooded with soccer fans is not something I ever thought I’d see, and for it to happen twice in my hometown only made it more special.
Advertisement
For the Australia match, I came into downtown from my home in Wallingford on a rental bike, traveling along the newly refurbished waterfront before 8 AM. There were already massive crowds gathered.
For this match, I chose to arrive on the Link Light Rail. It was the first time I used it to get to one of the World Cup games, but I wanted to experience what it was like to emerge from Pioneer Square station with hundreds of thousands of others.
Three hours before kickoff, Occidental Square was already packed as thousands of people watched the final moments of Spain-Portugal on the Brick Park big screen. Virtually every bar was already at capacity, with lines snaking out the doors. Inside the stadium, the north pavilion was already teaming with activity and lines to get into the various pro shops snaking through the concourse.
A short while later, I caught up to the USA march to the match. Led by horse-riding Civil War re-enactors, the march took 20 minutes to pass through the intersection of 1st and Main. As it passed, sections of fans broke out into impromptu “U-S-A” chants, sang other American Outlaw standards, played instruments and held a wide variety of signs. My favorite was probably Captain America punching out a Smurf (which were created in Belgium). There were others with Clint Dempsey, Grant Wahl, Weston McKennie and John Denver. They wore eagle costumes, dressed as Founding Fathers, and flag-inspired soccer shirts … so many stripes. I swear I didn’t see a single frown.
Joe Towner / PNWMF
Given the size of the crowd inside, I have to assume that the vast majority of those in the march weren’t planning to attend the game in person. They just wanted to be part of this intoxicating energy, equal parts hope, anticipation and FOMO. City officials said 25,000 fans participated in the march, 10,000 more than took part in the one before USA-Australia. Some estimates have suggested there were as many people downtown as there were for the Seahawks’ Super Bowl prade that pushed into seven digits. Hard as that is to believe – that a soccer match could attract a crowd like that – my eyes told me it was at least possible.
The Overlook Walk’s Salish Steps were packed, just as they were many other times during these magical few weeks. Otherwise vacant storefronts were suddenly impromptu soccer bars. The Historic Triangle Pub was revived, featuring a massive screen and overflowing beer garden just around the corner from the stadium. In the Chinatown/International District — which is one of the downtown neighborhoods that hasn’t benefited as much from the World Cup crowds — hundreds crowded into Hing Hay Park to watch the game. The demand for viewing spots was seemingly insatiable.
Advertisement
The good vibes flowed seamlessly into the stadium. The buzz was overwhelmingly positive, talk of a serious run was on lips all over the park. “Why not US?” wasn’t just an empty platitude spoken by Argentinian head coach Mauricio Pochettino, it was a mantra that turned otherwise uninterested Americans into believers.
Photos by Max Aquino / Sounder at Heart
Seattle, long overlooked on U.S. Soccer’s list of preferred sites, has been dubbed “The Cathedral of Cascadia” by none other than the USMNT’s Twitter account and fans did everything possible to live up to that lofty praise. I’m not one to get emotional about the National Anthem, but when 67,000 people are collectively singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” it’s hard not to get lost in the moment. Somehow, I didn’t even notice the four fighter jets that buzzed the stadium to punctuate the song. At Minute 1, fans broke out the classic “Boom-Boom-Clap”-style “U-S-A.” You’d have thought the USMNT players would have been ready to run through walls.
Instead, they were utterly incapable of channeling that into their play against Belgium. After four matches in which they played with energy and spirit, they came out utterly flat against their most talented opponents to date. At no point did they have control of the match. They were down 1–0 before the match was even 10 minutes old, and were a bit lucky not to be down 3–0 by that time.
The one moment the USMNT had a chance – following Malik Tillman’s wonderful free kick that brought the match level – was almost immediately spoiled when they allowed Belgium to re-take the lead immediately off the ensuing kickoff.
Advertisement
Still, there was hope coming out of halftime. It didn’t take long for that to be spoiled, either. In the 57th minute, goalkeeper Matt Freese came way out of his box and badly misplayed a seemingly innocuous ball over the top, allowing Hans Vanaken to loft an uncontested shot from 35 yards into a virtually undefended net.
There were more “U-S-A” chants and Eddie Vedder even tried to inspire the Yanks by chugging a beer while on the jumbotron during a hydration break.
If there was a shred of belief left in the building, it was slowly and achingly asphyxiated until Romelu Lukaku struck the final blow with a powerful strike off another sloppy turnover in stoppage time. Fittingly, he and the Belgium bench celebrated with a mocking “Trump dance,” acknowledging the role the president insisted on playing after potentially getting FIFA to declare Folarin Balogun eligible for the match despite getting a red card against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The mood in the streets after was obviously a far cry from how the day started. Players spoke about letting themselves and the fans down. There’s an undeniable sense that an opportunity has been missed, that a confluence of events quite like this may never arrive again. That may be true for the USMNT and the greater American soccer scene.
But I’m not sure it’s true for Seattle. Our status as “Best Soccer City in America” is not new, even if it’s not a moniker we’ve tried to trademark. We reguarly brought 30,000 to Lumen Field when most of the MLS was lucky to draw half of that. Although the buzz around the Sounders has diminished a bit over the years, the World Cup crowds were actually smaller than the club’s most popular games.
Advertisement
Updated Seattle/PNW attendance records show World Cup matches occupying slots 6-10 (66,925 for each of final 5). Sounders own top 5. Among those bumped out of top 10: Sounders-Barcelona, DC United-Real Madrid, Man United-Celtic.
— Frank MacDonald (@frankmsounders.bsky.social) July 7, 2026 at 1:12 PM
It’s not that our city has discovered a love for soccer, but maybe this was the catalyst for its reawakening. Sounders leadership has a chance to embrace this moment and make sure it has legs long after the FIFA circus leaves town.
Our local leaders have a similar responsibility. We’ve always known that Seattle is a world-class city and now the world does, too. Our public transit is very good by American standards, but it can be world-class if we will it into existence. We showed how much energy can be harnessed when public space is given back to the people, and not handed to cars. Local businesses showed what they can do when unnecessary and burdensome paperwork doesn’t get in their way.
Advertisement
The World Cup was an event that I think exceeded all expectations, but the aftermath can be even better.
Thanks to Susan for the photo. She called to tell us about a dog stuck on the rocks off Beach Drive near Harbor West (the condos on pilings), and a crowd gathering to figure out how to rescue it from the rising tide. We were away from the desk at the time but after returning a little while later, we heard the situation mentioned on police radio, with word the dog had been rescued, so we didn’t head that way. Then late tonight Susan sent photos, explaining that the dog apparently is known to swim to those rocks and back, but for some reason got stuck this time, “until a paddle boarder and kayaker paddled out to it to coax it off the rocks and back to the shore.”
