Mariners avoid being swept by Guardians in series finale

Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times on Aug 31, 2025

Published in Baseball

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CLEVELAND — Julio Rodríguez wasn’t going to let the baseball beat him to the bag. He couldn’t make the third out of the inning and strand J.P. Crawford at third and Cole Young at second base.

He exploded from the batter’s box as his soft ground-ball off the end of the bat bounced slowly up the middle and was gloved just behind the second base bag by Cleveland second baseman Daniel Schneemann. Already one of the fastest runners in Major League Baseball, he ate up the ground with each step down the basepath, while seemingly finding a little more speed as the first base bag neared.

Unlike similar situations, he didn’t start signaling safe until after he touched first base.

Meanwhile, Young, who was on second base, was running on contact with two outs. And third base coach Kristopher Negron made sure the rookie didn’t think of stopping at third base.

As first base umpire Tyler Jones emphatically signaled safe just after Rodríguez’s foot seemed to hit the base simultaneously as the ball hit the glove of Cleveland first baseman Kyle Manzardo, Young was 20 feet from home.

The Mariners had just scored two runs on a ball that never left the infield. And that play proved to be the difference in Seattle’s 4-2 victory over the Guardians.

With the win, the Mariners avoided being swept by the Guardians in the three-game series.

They will travel to Tampa, Fla., to face the Rays in a three-game series at Steinbrenner Field (the New York Yankees spring training park), starting Monday.

The Mariners got Bryce Miller’s best start in what has been an injury-shortened season. The right-hander tossed a season-high six innings, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

The two runs allowed came on Schneemann’s two-run homer in the third inning.

After getting the leadoff hitter on base in three of the first four innings against Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee, but failing to score a run, the Mariners finally broke through in the fifth inning.

Crawford led off with a single and Randy Arozarena crushed his two-run homer to left to tie the game.

The Mariners bullpen was lights out. Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz each worked 1-2-3 innings.

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