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Seattle Mariners Let 10th Inning Snowball in 9-3 Loss to Washington Nationals
Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford argues with home plate umpire Andy Fletcher (center) during a game against the Washington Nationals on May 29 at T-Mobile Park. Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Seattle Mariners Let 10th Inning Snowball in 9-3 Loss to Washington Nationals

Originally posted on Seattle Mariners on SI
By Teren Kowatsch  |  Last updated May 30, 2025 1:50 AM ET

SEATTLE — Fans at T-Mobile Park could only watch as the Seattle Mariners allowed seven runs in the 10th inning en route to a 9-3 loss to the Washington Nationals on Thursday. The loss dropped the Mariners to 30-25 on the season and kept their lead in the American League West at just half a game.

"Always tough to lose in the extra innings," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview. "Good ball game. Our guys really, really fought to the end. ... They were just able to break it open late and that was the difference."

At the start of the 10th, the Mariners and Nationals were tied 2-2. Seattle had used high-leverage relievers Gabe Speier, Carlos Vargas, Matt Brash and Andres Munoz across the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings, respectively. In extras, the Mariners relied on Collin Snider.

Automatic runner Jose Tena moved to third during the first plate appearance of the 10th after a wild pitch. The errant offering set Tena up to score on an RBI sacrifice fly hit by Daylen Lile, which gave Washington a 3-2 lead. CJ Abrams hit a double the next at-bat and James Wood was intentionally walked to set the Nationals up with runners on first and second with one out.

Nathaniel Lowe hit a single to score Abrams. The snowball continued to roll down the hill after that.

Snider committed a throwing error to second on a fielder's choice that loaded the bases for Washington. Luis Garcia Jr. brought home two with a double to bolster the Nationals lead to 6-2. Josh Bell capped the inning with a three-run home run to right field. His knock gave Washington a 9-2 lead.

"It looked to me like there were just some balls that caught a lot of plate," Wilson said. "And give some credit to them, that's a team like we've said that's aggressive. They can make things happen quickly and that's what they were able to do in the 10th."

In the bottom of the 10th, Leo Rivas hit an RBI single to lead off the inning and for the eventual final of 9-3.

The 10th inning was an almost appropriate end to a game that featured various missed opportunities and chaotic moments that led to Seattle's loss.

Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock was pulled in the top of the sixth after he walked two of the first three hitters he faced in the inning. The game was tied 0-0 at that point. Speier relieved Hancock and allowed a two-run double the first pitch he threw to Wood. Hancock was dinged with the earned runs and had a final stat line of four strikeouts, three walks and two earned runs on two hits in 5.1 innings.

"I think, as a competitor, you always want to stay in those situations," Hancock said after the game. "But you also understand we got a really, really good bullpen. That's a great matchup there (with Speier and Wood), it just didn't work out. More times than not, it's going to. It's just, for me, I put us in a tough position there in the sixth. And they were able to capitalize on it."

Seattle had an opportunity to immediately respond in the bottom of the sixth. Leody Taveras and Ben Williamson hit back-to-back singles to give the Mariners runners on the corners with no outs.

J.P. Crawford got the first crack at bringing home at least one, but struck out looking on a pitch outside of the plate. He took issue with the call and was ejected after an argument with home plate umpire Andy Fletcher. Rivas took over his spot in the lineup. Cal Raleigh was hit by a pitch two plate appearances later to load the bases for Seattle with two out, but Randy Arozarena struck out swinging to leave the trio of runners stranded.

The Mariners tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Taveras and Williamson. The latter of the two was left on second to end the inning. Seattle stranded two more in scoring position to end the eighth.

The Mariners finished 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base.

Seattle will have a chance to bounce back with the first of three games against the Minnesota Twins at 7:10 p.m. PT on Friday. Bryan Woo will start for the Mariners and Zebby Matthews will start for the Twins.

This article first appeared on Seattle Mariners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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