Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - MARINERS POSTCAST: Seattle Mariners BOUNCE BACK vs Texas Rangers

Episode Date: April 19, 2026

Anders goes live after the second game of the series between the Mariners and Rangers.  George Kirby wasn't perfect but made pitches when he needed to.  The offense still isn't hitting home runs, but found ways to get runs across today.  At times the bullpen looked shaky, but got out of multiple jams, and allowed the offense to add on in the 6th and 8th innings for the win.   Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everyday...   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!   5-Hour ENERGY The funfetti flavor is BACK on https://5hourEnergy.com or Amazon, crack open Confetti Craze 5-hour ENERGY®️ shot today!   Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast   Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.   FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get two-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oh man, these guys don't make it easy on us, do they? Mariners win. This one finally stopped the skid 7 to 3 over the Texas Rangers. They finally score some runs against the Rangers bullpen. And I think a really good offensive day. Vote for your unsung hero today. We'll talk about it next on the Mariners Postcast. This is the Mariners Postcast.

Your instant game reaction for the Seattle Mariners. part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on, everybody? Anderson Hurst with the Mariners Postcast with you guys. Appreciate you tuning in today. Mariners win this one seven to three over the Texas Rangers, although it should not have even been that close, and it felt closer than that at the end of the day, which was crazy.

But good day from the offense. You only get one home run, but you score seven runs. I think that's a big kind of development for this team. They have had trouble hitting a lot of home runs in the early portion of the season. That's how they scored most of their runs last year. If they can find ways to push runs across the board against a good Rangers pitching staff like today, when they do start to hit home runs, this offense is going to take off. Just an overall good day.

George Kirby was good, not as efficient as we've seen him early on in the season, but gets his job done, gets out of a couple jams. That's a good Rangers team. I think that's going to be the kind of team you're going to be battling down to the wire for that American League West spot. Let's start with, let's start with George Kirby. Good stuff today. He got himself in a couple jams, and I think this is the thing that I feel about George Kirby. He's really good when he's in cruise control, right?

When he's kind of going and he has everything going his way, you know, he has a couple run, he's not getting, you know, jipped on calls. He doesn't have to really battle any adversity. He's always been really good at that way. And he can throw strikes and just pump it in there every single time. Where he gets into trouble is when he gets, A, frustrated, or B, when he has runners on base and he's kind of like, he can't really just pipe it down in the zone every single time. That's when he gets a little bit stubborn and feels like he can still get it by the best hitters

in the biggest moments, and sometimes that hasn't been the case. I think this is a good example of why he's still developing. Today, you know, in the fourth inning, they load the bases with one out. Duran flies out to shallow center field, and then Higash Yoko flies out to Julio. But that also included a George Kirby failed challenge, which was, I think, the first failed challenge by a Mariners pitcher or first challenge in general, by a Mariners pitcher this year. If you guys have seen another one, please correct me. But I think that was the first time I've seen a Mariners pitcher challenge in 2026. So that was pretty fun. Of course, it was George Kirby.

Did we expect it to be anyone else? I don't think so. And of course, he was wrong because he was just frustrated. He wanted to get the call and he didn't. And they've wasted both their challenges in the fourth inning. The Mariners end up getting a couple runs in the bottom half of that inning. Rosa Raina singles really reaches on there. And then Canzone singles home. both Randy and Rayleigh to make it 3-0 at that point. That ended up being kind of the, not the dagger, because Texas would end up getting a couple runs later on the game, but that kind of set Seattle up for having the game script go their way.

And that's another thing I want to talk about today, is it feels like this was one of the first games in a while, where Dan Wilson kind of had the exact buttons he wanted to push go his way. whether that's bullpen decisions, whether that's not having to pinch hit anyone, which was, you know, we've had those controversies in the last week or so. But it worked out well because you had a lead from the bottom of the first inning when Julio singles in JP after the lead off double. And, you know, you're able to kind of play the script correctly as you kind of normally in your head.

When you're down to run, down by two runs trying to get back in the game, you don't know if you're trying to save guys for later, trying to, you know, don't know exactly when the high leverage situations are going to be when you have an early lead is it's a lot simpler of a map to get to the end of the game. And that's where I think Dan Wilson actually thrive today. We'll talk about it later, but I actually think his bullpen decisions were fantastic. Offensively, this is the big one for me, guys, is this is the way the Mariners need to kind of structure their offense moving forward.

I know they've been a very home run heavy team. And that's why offensively they were as good as they were last year. You're not going to get 60 home runs from Cal. I don't think you're going to get 20 home runs from Randy. You might still get close to 30 from Julio. We'll see if he kind of figures things out. He's still hitting the ball hard right now. I'm not worried about him.

But the bottom of the lineup is doing its work, guys. Luke Rayleigh is one of your best hitters right now. Cole Young had another good day. Dom can's own a three-hit day, including a Dumb. double and a big two RBI, as I mentioned there, in the fourth inning. So like the bottom of the lineup is going. And I'm curious what you guys think of with lineup construction because, A, you want your better hitters to be hitting at the top of the lineup.

But you also, if guys are succeeding in a certain position, you don't want to mess with that. Cole Young in the nine hole, I think is perfect for what he's doing right now. He's not necessarily a guy that he's developing. quickly that I think he's all of a sudden atop the line of hitter. He's not. He still has a six-something OPS at this point in time. But I think being in the nine hole has been good for him to kind of figure out

how to get things going a little bit. And not having the pressure of hitting in front of or behind a lot of the big guys has been good for him. But it's funny because the big guys have been Luke Rayleigh, Dom Kanzone and Randy at Rose Arena early on in the season. And then Cole Young as well. So yeah, I think definitely this is a good, this is one of those wins where I feel a lot better about the Mariners. There are certain wins where you just kind of feel like you luck into it a little bit. A couple of Houston games felt that way.

This was a game where I think this showed me that this Mariners team can still kind of climb out of the funk they're in right now. I'm not saying they're completely out of it just yet. But games like this offensively, you only hit one or a one, it was a solo shot. And yet you score seven runs. that tells me that once the home runs start happening a little bit more, and they will, this team can hit a lot of home runs, and they'll start to come in bunches. But if you can consistently, and they talked about it on the broadcast today, team at bats, it's so important to just keep the line moving, take your walks, put the ball in play when you need to,

but the biggest thing for me is work the pitch count. I can't tell you how many times I saw a 10 pitch at bat, a 9 pitch at bat from a guy. And that is so much more effective than those, even if you get an out, then those, you know, one, two, three pitch up at that's where you're, you can be uber aggressive. And still, you know, maybe you get a hit out of it, but sometimes you ground out in a certain situation. But you're giving, when you're doing that, you're giving the opposing pitcher quick out so they can be efficient. They don't have to go into their bullpen. It has such a domino effect, not just on the game, not just on the series, but on the entire season as well.

So that's where I think today's game really gave me a good jolt of confidence about this Mariners offense climbing out of the funk. They're not completely there yet. Don't get me wrong. Of course, another reason for that is because it feels like the Mariners are missing some mistake pitches right now. They're fouling them off instead of hitting them 400 feet. But that is better than the alternative, which is striking out on those.

pitches, which, you know, I felt like they were doing earlier this year. So they'll get, they'll just make those slight adjustments. They'll get to that point. But I like the battle that's in the offense right now. When we come back, we're going to talk about the bullpen and kind of the mapping out with Dan Wilson. Because I think this is one of his better managed games in 2026. And there may be some disagreement there, but this, this definitely seemed like it helps

to get the lead. But I feel like this was one of those times where he made the right calls and the right decisions. And of course, you know, Wilcox not helping you out there in the ninth inning, but they end up finishing it off. Let's get a quick break. We'll come back and discuss, you know, how the Mariners get from, you know, early lead to getting the win, because we've, we've seen some issues with that in the past. All in the Mariners postcast, we'll be right back. MLB season is back and you can feel it. Fresh starts, big expectations in that first crack of the bat, whether it's a breakout rookie or division race that goes down to the wire.

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Welcome back to the Mariners Postcast, Anderson Hearst, with you. We're breaking down a mariner win finally, seven to three over the Texas Rangers. It's their first win in four games against the Rangers this year after getting swept in Arlington earlier this year and then losing yesterday, of course. So big time to get off. My fault, I accidentally muted myself there. It's a big moment to kind of get off to Schneide against. one of the better teams that you're probably going to be facing up against in the AL West.

So let's talk about kind of the bullpen and how this game kind of mapped out. You take the 3-1 lead, like I said, in the fourth inning. Top six, you get Jock Peterson's strikeout. George Kirby's still in the game, has about 90 pitches at this point. Josh Young-Homers kind of getting iffy about whether you want to keep George Kirby in there. He keeps him in for Evan Carter, which I think was okay, but then Ezekiel's around. who for some reason, he's a kind of utility guy that plays here and there, has George Kirby's number. It's wild. And that's when Dan takes out George Kirby. I think the exact moment to take

out George Kirby, and it may have come a surprise to a lot of you. But I actually think putting in Matt Frash in that situation was exactly the right thing to do. You only have a 3-1 lead at that point. You already have a guy on base. And that could easily have got. gotten dicey early. And albeit for some later in the game stuff, that I think was the biggest moment in the game and you went to your kind of, without a better term, fireman. He puts out the fire, Matt Brash. And, you know, he only gets the one

out because then you go to Spire in the next inning. But I actually think this was a perfect moment to use Brash. Number one, he, more than any other reliever and the Mariners staff, has more comfortability coming in with guys on base. And he can get that strikeout. He can get that soft contact. And that's exactly what he does to get, he got Shioca in that moment.

And it may seem weird in a game where your starter doesn't get through six innings that one of your probably best or second best reliever, depending on how you look at it, only gets one out. It was the one out that you needed the most besides maybe the last out, so to speak. And that's what Munoz comes in for. So I think that was a great move by Dan. It kind of showed a little bit of growth for me because I think before he would have gone to maybe like Legamina or Bizarro or something like that. Brash was the right call in that situation.

And it worked wonders because then in the bottom of the six, you get that one run right back, an absolute nuke from Luke Rayleigh. Then you get the Canzone single and you get Yvaldi out of the game and it ends up being 4-1 Maritors at that point. Seventh inning. Spire walks, Seeger, and Berger. So a little bit rough day from Spire. Then Bizarro comes in to walk Josh Smith to load the bases. But then you get Josh Young, who has had a good series to pop up. So again, at the end of the day, I think the process was the right thing to do here. You wanted lefties to face Seeger.

And then you getting Bizarro in there to face Young was the right move. And they end up getting out of it at that point, still with a lot. three run lead four to one and then bottom eight with one out rayly walks canzone doubles young singles in both of them and then leo rivas gets a sack fly to score young that i think i didn't even originally write it down because that made it seven one at that point but it actually ended up making a big difference because it made you know the ninth thing not as scary as it easily could have been obviously wilcox struggles a little bit there's a reason why he's like your sixth or seventh the best option, and that's fine.

That's why you built that six-run lead at that point. And weirdly enough, it's funny how these things work. I bet everyone was like, God, I would have loved to have Andres Munoz, have a rest day with all that he's been going through. It sucks that we had a six-run lead, and all of a sudden we've got to bring in our closer who's been struggling to get the out. It was actually, it weirdly becomes one of the most perfect moments

for Andres Munoz to get a little bit of confidence because he just mose through, I forget who it was at that point. Let me just double check here. Go to the bottom of the ninth inning with Andres Munoz. He comes in and mows through Brandon Nimmo. It's atop the order. That's one of their better hitters right now. So I think that was a great kind of way to get him going a little bit.

Get him some confidence. The fastball looked lively and got a couple swings and misses on the slider too. Let me know who you think your unsung hero was for today. J.P. Crawford had a couple good hits. Dom Canzone three hits today, including a double Cole Young. I think Luke Rayleigh could have also been in there. I threw bullpen in there because they had to get through four in a third inning. So it's good to kind of, sorry, three and a third, excuse me. But it's, you know, those kind of longer stretches end up being, you know, you need to get through that. And I think they did their job more often than not getting out of a couple of jams as well.

I'm going to say Dan Wilson. And I kind of mentioned it earlier with the whole Brash in the sixth inning and then, you know, going to Spire and going to Ferrer and the second time around against the lefties and then having to use Munoz, obviously later, it wasn't ideal. But it ends up being okay. This is the type of game that I was happy to see from him because I think previous versions of Dan Wilson would have gone to a lower leverage guy in that sixth inning when it was

still just a two-run game with a guy on base. I'm happy that he didn't. It was a good spot to kind of go to Matt Brash there. I know he only gets the one out, but hopefully that means he's available again tomorrow. So that's a big one for the Mariners, guys. Offense looked much better. You're still not hitting home runs, which is okay. But I'm happy with the kind of the way they're starting to battle a little bit

against a good pitching staff. Nathan Neuvaldi is a really good starter in this league. And they finally got to the Rangers bullpen. And, you know, George Kirby looked good today. It was a must, I don't know what I'm saying must win. It was a needed win for Seattle to kind of get things going a little bit. Let's hope you can go win the series tomorrow. We'll talk to you guys then.

One o'clock start, as usual, on Sundays. Go Man United. They got the win over Chelsea today, if anyone recognized the jersey. But thanks you guys so much for tuning in. We'll talk to you next time. Go Mariners. Check out Ty and Cope's podcast when you get the chance. And we'll talk to you guys tomorrow.

Have to go.