SEATTLE – After golfing a grand slam into the bullpen beyond left field, Randy Arozarena received high-fives and helmet taps in the Mariners’ dugout. The 30-year-old outfielder had just sliced Seattle’s deficit to 5-4 in the eighth inning Wednesday, rousing 20,556 fans from a malaise at T-Mobile Park.
But despite his series-saving swing, something was missing.
“I was trying to find it,” Arozarena said after Seattle completed a 7-6 win over the Houston Astros, “but I didn’t see it.”
Arozarena repeatedly lifted an imaginary trident instead, given that the team’s golden, 30-pound home run trophy was nowhere to be seen.
Sometimes, as they say, the jokes write themselves. Given that the Mariners hit .121 (11 for 91) with runners in scoring position in the 12 games before Wednesday’s, you could speculate they simply forgot where the trident was. Or, considering that average is better than just three teams in the past quarter-century with the same sample size, maybe they figured a celebratory trophy was no longer necessary.
The truth, of course, is not quite so comical. After Arozarena delivered a walk-off walk an inning later, he was awarded the tardy trident during a postgame interview. Sharp singles by Donovan Solano and Miles Mastrobuoni and a two-RBI double by Julio Rodriguez in a three-run ninth keyed the comeback as well.
For a team with seven of its past eight games decided by one run, this is the difference between wins and losses. When the margin for error is microscopic, it’s the thing that matters most.
If the M’s hit in critical moments, they win. If they don’t, they won’t.
Take Seattle’s first series win:
On Monday, Jorge Polanco poked a two-run single in the eighth inning of an eventual 4-3 win.
On Tuesday, the Mariners went 1 for 19 with runners in scoring position in a demoralizing 2-1 defeat in 12 innings.
On Wednesday, Arozarena erupted, Rodriguez doubled and the trident (finally) arrived.
“We’ve talked about it all along: It’s little things,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said Wednesday. “It was a walk today that won us a ballgame. There’s a lot of little things that can come up, and that’s why we need everybody one through nine to contribute. We got that today, no doubt about it. We’ll come back here on Friday and do the same thing with one through nine.”
But which names will slot next to those numbers? The Mariners announced Thursday that starting second baseman Ryan Bliss will likely miss four to five months with a torn left biceps. That’s after right fielder and leadoff hitter Victor Robles was sidelined for an estimated 12 weeks with a dislocated shoulder last weekend.
Earlier Wednesday, Wilson quipped: “Injuries are always difficult. I always say it’s never a good time for an injury.”
Particularly when you manage the 2025 Mariners.
When you captain a boat that wasn’t built to overcome icebergs.
Wilson also added that “baseball’s a game of adjustments. We have to adjust, and we will make adjustments and keep moving.” But Seattle’s ownership group and organization has not afforded this team the resources and available talent to adequately adjust.
Case in point: starting pitcher George Kirby’s shoulder injury and Emerson Hancock and Luis F. Castillo’s combined 19 hits and 12 earned runs allowed in just 7⅔ innings in three starts in his vacated slot. Or Polanco’s sore side and Seattle’s other uninspiring options – Mastrobuoni, Solano or Dylan Moore – at third base. Or Bliss’ torn biceps and the forced rotation of Mastrobuoni, Moore and Leo Rivas at second. Or Robles’ dislocated shoulder and the shaky time share between Luke Raley (Seattle’s opening day first baseman) and Dominic Canzone in right field. Or the continued call for Rowdy Tellez – who has one single and one walk in 23 plate appearances – to flounder at first.
Considering their pieces, what productive adjustments can the Mariners really make?
Which pile-drives home the previous point. With plus starting pitching, erratic offense and mounting injuries, the line between wins and losses is precariously thin. The Mariners put themselves in this position. If you’re waiting for a 10-0 win, you’ll be waiting for a while.
None of which means the Mariners can’t tiptoe across a tight rope to safety on the other side. But an exclusive diet of one-run margins is exceedingly dangerous, and it requires Seattle to hit in critical situations.
On Tuesday, they didn’t. On Wednesday, they did.
“The whole first part (of the game), they just kept making plays and we felt like we couldn’t find any holes in the defense,” said Rodriguez, whose ninth-inning double was just his third hit in his last 23 at bats. “But thankfully, later in the game they started to fall. There were a few walks here and there and Randy kept coming up big. I think it’s going to happen. We’re going to get those big hits and we’re going to keep driving runners in.”
Through 13 games, the Mariners’ batting average with runners in scoring position (.129) ranks dead last in MLB. Seattle sits 21st in runs (44), 22nd in hard hit rate (38.8%), tied for 28th in batting average on balls in play (.240) and 29th in batting average (.200).
Collectively, this team needs to find its trident.
The cavalry isn’t coming. Julio insists the hits and wins still can.