Mariners vs Dodgers: Can Seattle's Power Surge Carry Into Game Two

Coming Back For More After A Shootout

Tuesday's series opener was the loudest game either club has played all season. Seattle hit five home runs, two from Dominic Canzone and one apiece from Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Rob Refsnyder, and needed every one of them in a 7-6 win that snapped a 12-game losing streak to Los Angeles dating back to 2021. Canzone's tiebreaking two-run shot in the eighth inning was the difference, but the game turned into track meet almost from the first pitch, Shohei Ohtani leading off the bottom of the first with a 432-foot home run of his own.

Two clubs rarely play the same kind of game in back-to-back nights, and that is the real question hanging over Wednesday. Was Tuesday a genuine crack in a Dodgers lineup that has otherwise been excellent, or a one-night outlier from a Mariners offense that came in averaging far fewer runs than it produced. Both starters tonight, Emerson Hancock and Eric Lauer, have been considerably more stable than the two who combined to allow 13 runs on Tuesday.

The Pitching Reset

Emerson Hancock takes the ball for Seattle at 6-4 with a 3.16 ERA across 105.1 innings, arguably his best season since debuting in the majors. He replaces Luis Castillo, who started Tuesday's shootout, and gives the Mariners a considerably more conservative approach on the mound, a pitcher who has quietly turned into one of the better values in Seattle's rotation this year.

Eric Lauer goes for Los Angeles at 5-5 with a 4.83 ERA, and while the ERA is not eye-catching, the shape of his season has been better than the number suggests, four quality starts in eight outings since arriving from Toronto, and three earned runs or fewer in every one of his last eight appearances. Lauer is walking into a lineup that just hit five home runs off a different Dodgers pitcher, but he has not been the kind of arm who gets hit in bunches this season.

Two Very Different Trajectories

Los Angeles is 67-40 and running away with the NL West, 11.5 games clear of second-place Arizona, the kind of cushion that lets a team treat a single home loss as a footnote rather than a crisis. The Dodgers have also dropped three of their last four, including two of three to the Mets over the weekend, a small stretch of shakiness that has not remotely threatened the division race but is worth tracking against a Seattle lineup that just found its power stroke.

Seattle's picture is tighter and more urgent. The Mariners are 53-55, third in the AL West at 2.5 games back of Texas, in the middle of a stretch that saw them lose three of four in Texas before Tuesday's outburst. Cal Raleigh's home run came inside a season that has otherwise been a batting-average slump, he is hitting just .166 with 11 home runs and 36 RBI, a reminder that Seattle's offense has been streaky and matchup-dependent rather than consistently dangerous. A game like Tuesday's does not erase months of inconsistency, but it does show the ceiling is still there when the Mariners connect.

Injury Report & Lineup Notes

Seattle Mariners

Lineup Notes

Rob Refsnyder started Tuesday off the injured list and delivered a two-run home run in his return, a positive early sign for a bench that has needed the depth.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Lineup Notes

Tuesday was the Dodgers' first home game since the All-Star break; Ohtani and Max Muncy both homered in the loss, so the middle of the order has not gone cold.

Advanced Stats & Style Profile

The Dodgers' division lead is built on depth, not on any single stretch of games, which is exactly why one loss to a scrappier Seattle lineup means little in the standings even as it snaps a long head-to-head streak. For the Mariners, every game carries more weight with three teams separated by 2.5 games in the AL West, and a series win over the sport's most talked-about lineup would be the kind of result that changes how the rest of the West views this team down the stretch.

Keys To The Game

Mariners Keys

Prove Tuesday wasn't a mirage. Seattle's offense has been streaky all year; doing real damage against Lauer, rather than feasting on one shaky Dodgers start, would say more about where this team actually is in the AL West race.

Dodgers Keys

Get length from Lauer. Los Angeles has dropped three of four, and asking a taxed bullpen to cover for a short start after Tuesday's 13-run game is the surest way to make this a genuine losing streak instead of a blip.

Final Thoughts

The standings still favor Los Angeles by a wide margin, and nothing about one home run barrage changes an 11.5-game division cushion. But Seattle came into Dodger Stadium in the thick of a real playoff race and left the opener with a signature win, the kind of result a team fighting for a wild card spot needs more of down the stretch. Hancock and Lauer both point toward a calmer game than Tuesday's, though calmer does not necessarily mean the Mariners' bats go quiet. For the rest of Wednesday's slate, see the full MLB Game Previews hub.