Athletics Fall to Mariners on Late Homers

J.P. Crawford of the Mariners scoring against the Athletics.

Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images

March 27, 2025

Mariners 4, Athletics 2

Luis Severino was terrific in his Athletics debut, but a pair of eighth-inning homers surrendered by offseason acquisition Jose Leclerc gave the Seattle Mariners a come-from-behind 4–2 victory Thursday night at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Athletics – Mariners Game Summary

Tyler Soderstrom gave the Athletics both of their runs on a pair of solo homers, but it was not enough for the Athletics to eke out a victory over the Mariners, who also defeated them in the final three games of the 2024 season. Those three games, like this one, were at T-Mobile Park.

Logan Gilbert hurled seven strong innings for the Mariners, allowing one run on two hits while walking none and striking out eight. The lone run he allowed came on the first of Soderstrom’s homers. Trent Thornton could not protect the lead, giving up the second Soderstrom homer, but the Mariners bailed Thornton out with their eighth-inning clouts. Randy Arozarena tied the game with one out in the eighth on a no-doubt homer to left off Leclerc. After Luke Raley walked, Jorge Polanco deposited a paint-scraper to center that gave the Mariners their third and fourth runs. Andres Muñoz pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save.

What Went Right for the Athletics

Starting Pitching

Luis Severino showed why the Athletics gave him such a nice contract this past off-season. He tossed six scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out six despite walking four.

Tyler Soderstrom

Soderstrom, as mentioned earlier, had the only runs and only RBI of the night for the Athletics thanks to his pair of solo homers. He is the third Athletics player to have multiple homers on Opening Day, joining Jason Giambi (2000) and Khris Davis (2017). Soderstrom, however, is the first of the trio to do so on the road.

What Went Wrong for the Athletics

Defensive Miscues

A throwing error by catcher Shea Langeliers while attempting to gun down Ryan Bliss, who was stealing second, put Bliss on third in the bottom of the fifth with the Athletics protecting a 1–0 lead. Severino escaped without allowing a run. The miscue in the bottom of the seventh, however, helped the Mariners tie the game. Langeliers allowed a passed ball with runners on first and second and nobody out. Bliss, the runner on second, was barely retired while attempting to score, and that only came after a replay review. Furthermore, the player who retrieved the ball near the backstop was not Langeliers but third baseman Gio Urshela. On the same play, partly due to the long run made to field the ball, J.P. Crawford reached third. That set the Mariners up to tie the game on a sacrifice fly to center by Victor Robles.

Late-inning Relief

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A pair of walks to start the seventh by Tyler Ferguson is what put the runners on first and second to begin with. The eighth inning, however, was what sealed the Athletics’ fate. Leclerc, after striking out the dangerous Cal Raleigh, allowed a homer, a walk, and another homer to quickly turn a 2–1 lead into a 4–2 deficit.

Quick Outs against Gilbert

Gilbert only took 83 pitches to get through the 23 batters he faced in his seven innings. That was an average of 3.6 pitches per plate appearance. By comparison, Severino took 99 pitches to navigate the 25 batters he faced across his six innings. That was 3.96 pitches per plate appearance, which rounds to 4.0.

Quick Hits

This is the Athletics’ fourth Opening Day loss in the past five seasons, dating back to 2021. The previous three losses came to the Houston Astros (8–1 in 2021), the Philadelphia Phillies (9–5 in 2022), and the Cleveland Guardians (8–0 in 2024). Their 2023 victory came against the Los Angeles Angels (2–1 score). … The Athletics are now 3–9 all-time against the Mariners on Opening Day. … Max Muncy made his major league debut Thursday night. At the age of 22 years and 214 days, he is the seventh-youngest Opening Day starting second baseman in Athletics franchise history and the youngest since Shooty Babitt in 1981 (22 years, 31 days).

Looking Ahead

Thornton notched the win in relief, with Leclerc suffering the double-whammy blown save-loss combo.

The Athletics (0–1) and Mariners (1–0) will play Game Two of their four-game series Friday night. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs will start for the Athletics against Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo. First pitch will be at 6:40 pm Pacific.