Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - MARINERS POSTCAST: Seattle Mariners CLINCH SERIES with win vs. Houston Astros

Episode Date: September 21, 2025

Anders and Chris break down the middle game of the three-game set between the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros. George Kirby was phenomenal. Big Dumper aka Cal Raleigh passed Ken Griffey Jr. Other players did good things, Carlos Vargas isn't one of them, but they came up with enough outs for a MASSIVE win to take a two-game lead in the AL West. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Trade CoffeeRight now, Trade is exclusively offering our customer 50% off your one-month trial at drinktrade.com/LOCKEDONMLB. OpenPhoneStreamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/lockedonmlb Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin' and get crackin' with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! Supply HouseJoin the TradeMaster program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code S-H-5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com! Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at monarchmoney.com/lockedonmlb for 50% off your first year. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. 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.

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 just happened? What just happened? Okay. So many motions running through. The Mariners win the series.

They win this game. Victor Robles with catch of the year easily. Oh. Chris, anything more than that? No, no, pretty boring game. You like to see a little more excitement. You know, just a really routine game with a routine fly ball to end it. It's fun to see.

By the way, I was just going to say real quick. Minnie's going to have the podcast with us for a little bit. Yes, that's fine. Because the screams that I let out scared the ever-loving crap out of her. Thankfully, didn't scare the actual crap out of her because, you know, I don't want to pick that stuff up. But I don't think I can do this, Anders. I don't think I can handle this.

Wow. Is that the greatest catch in Seattle Mariners history? That's the greatest catch in Seattle Mariners history. It's not the most impressive catch in Seattle Mariners history, but when you consider the situation, when you consider the context, and then when you consider how quickly he gets up with that baseball, by the way, horrible base running mistake from that guy. Where are you going? Two-run game.

It's a two-run game. Why are you getting a- What? I'm super happy. I'm super happy that he screwed up. This is phenomenal. This is so fun. Thank you guys so much for tuning in.

I expect us to get, even on a Saturday afternoon when there's a certain football game being played right now, I expect us to have a pretty massive crowd, and I get it because your Seattle Mariners are now two games in front, of the Houston Astros and technically, technically three. Three, because they own the tiebreaker now, no matter what happens tomorrow. The tiebreaker, no matter what happens tomorrow. Such a big win.

This is a massive win. I think if you drop this one and then go into Sunday needing to win, I feel really iffy about those prospects, especially how today played out. George Kirby was phenomenal. You get some awesome offensive production. Great at bats up and down the lineup today. some questionable bullpen decisions we will definitely get there definitely will but i'm just going to

zoom out for just a second because in my eyes right now this is officially the changing of the guard in the american league west i think the mariners are officially now the big boys okay they and i realize it's not in the playoffs and you kind of have to beat them into playoffs to do it but the houston asteros might not go to the playoffs guys no this might have just been the of the dragon and now you are the big boys. That's what it feels like to me. And that catch at the end just sealed one of the games, one of the best marriage games I've ever watched in terms of just pure adrenaline

and just big moments and everything. So, oh, man, let's start with the start. George Kirby just, he was him today. He was him. That's all I can say. And I talked to Anders a little bit about this over text message in our group chat. that I wanted to bring this up. George Kirby's statistics are not great.

He came into this one with an ERA of like 4.4, something along those lines. Definitely not what Seattle Mariners were signing up for to begin the year, right? What George Kirby has done with basically having to reinvent himself in 2025, it's incredibly impressive, guys. His arm slot, and Angie Mentick was one of the first people on this.

Credit to her for talking about this. his arm slot has dropped like three degrees and that's like five or six it's a huge amount of in every inch that drops there and let's be mature guys um it's big it's much harder and especially somebody who relies on throwing strikes as much as george kirby has in the past he's become stuff over command yes stuff is the reason why that george kirby has been so freaking good over these last two starts. And I know he doesn't generate a ton of swings and misses today. Seven, he was in command of everything, everything.

Two of the hits shouldn't have been hits. Just should not have been hits. And I don't know. It's just, it's so impressive to see what he's done. And by the way, if the C, yeah, thank you, Agent Michael Scarne, every inch. Don't mention it. We don't need it for the audio listeners. Sorry, Zippix. If the Seattle Mariners play the Houston Astros in the postseason, you're certainly

starting George Kirby. Yeah. That guy dominates the Houston Astros. Dominates Houston. It was a terrific effort. Had no issue pulling him, by the way, six innings, 100 pitches, up by six runs, you go to the bullpen. That's absolutely the right call by Daniel Wilson.

Talk about some other calls. Yeah, let's go through that sequence. because I think you said it best about George. He was just awesome tonight. And really quick on him before we move on. I think this opens up the discussion once again for the playoff rotation in terms of a three-man. And I think you're in the moment where I think if you're pitching at home, it's Luis Castillo. And if you're pitching on the road, it's George Kirby.

To me, that's how I would play it at this point. Maybe you play a little matchup base. But hey, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. It's a good point to have. It's obviously going to depend on Brian Wu, right? That's actually 100% true. Yes. Yeah.

And for those who missed it, by the way, they announced that he has, I believe they said, a minor pectoral string. Yeah. And he's day to day. They don't know if they're putting him on the aisle yet. We're all day to day, to be fair. And I don't believe the Seattle Mariners when they talk about injuries whatsoever. Yeah.

But this is also why being that number two seat is going to be massive. Yep. Because you have a chance to get Brian Wu at a much better version of himself. at the very least, assuming that this is actually minor. And again, don't believe anything you ever hear about injuries. Yeah. So let's talk about after George Kirby. He gets through six, pretty dominant.

You go to the seventh. And honestly, I was okay with Vargas to start the inning. I put this out on Twitter. I was like, hey, you're up 6-0. He's a guy that induces a lot of soft contact, get some quick outs and just get your nine outs now. the fact that he loaded the bases with the bottom of the order and then was allowed to face the top of the order with the bases loaded, that's the biggest issue for me. It wasn't that you decided to use him in the seventh inning.

It was not having anyone ready because it's not like they could just flip the switch. They had Bizarro warming after he hits Cam Smith to load the bases. He can't run right out there right away, especially after pitching for two straight days. the issue was not having anyone ready when he got those two first guys on. So that was my issue. I don't know how you evaluate that. A hundred thousand percent, as boring as it is, completely agree with you. Because, yeah, you're up six nothing.

That's the time to use your fifth or six best reliever, right? And you're face to the bottom of the order. This was a reminder that Carlos Vargas can't be a high leverage guy for you, right? And, you know, I will point. out as some of you brought up this was a very Houston homer a very Houston Homer and it's an out in 27 ballparks 27 parks the two of the three are janky left fields and then Toronto's just kind of a little short porch there um it's also a pitch though that you're asking for a little bit of trouble there 94 on the inner part of the plate and they put it out painia hits fastballs really well he does

and I the issue with though is not the home it's what happened before the homer, right? And this is where my biggest issue was, if you are going to have Edward Bizarro available, which, by the way, we can talk about, I think it's a mistake. I thought after throwing that many pitches and that many innings, he was clearly not nearly himself.

The fact that he got out of that without giving up a run. Crazy. Why not have Bizarro get that one out? And then you can go to a Hancock or a Jackson or a Caleb Ferguson or a brash, right? We got to talk about that, too. I mean, that's, that's, is that confidence in Edward Bizarro, or is that no confidence in Matt Brash?

That's my ultimate question. It's probably both, but one of them has to be more than the other. One of them, and I think it's actually confidence in Bizarro because of how good he looked, and I think Goldsmith brought it up against that pocket of, of hitters. He looked so good there. My counterpoint to that would be those hitters saw Bizarrook. Zardo yesterday. Yes.

It's really interesting that Matt Brash isn't used in this. Now, some of that also has to be like, you know what? Mooney's 100% available now. We know he can't pitch on Sunday. We need to have Brash for the night thing. That's fair. Tomorrow. But boy, oh boy.

A game that should not have been close because you were the better team for overwhelming majority of it ends up being close. On the other side of the spectrum, just real quick. That's also why you buy Build 6-0. That's also why it's important to tack on when you have these type of leads because a lot of times a grand slam basically eliminates you from having a chance to win. A grand slam and they still needed two more runs. So there's my shiny optimism from all of that.

I mean, and I completely agree with that. Let's talk about the offense because at the end of the day, that's kind of what won you this game is your offense and what they did earlier in the game. So we'll get to that after some love to our sponsors here. Just a quick thank you to everyone who's tuning in. We're the Mariners Postcast, Anderson Hurst, Christopher Crawford, to my left. We're talking Mariner baseball. We go live after every single Mariner game.

If you're here new, please like the video. Please subscribe. We're happy to kind of break down the Mariners game that was. And boy, this was a good one. We'll be right back after a couple messages from our sponsors for today. Chris, can you actually do yours first? Sure. I didn't pull mine up real quick.

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with five hour energy shots get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in store or online at five hour energy dot com or amazon today welcome back to the mergers postcast anderson hertz christopher crawford with you uh man this is probably one of the most fun games to break down with you guys that we have done uh if you are new though 648 with us with us in the stream today. Really appreciate all y'all hanging out with us. This is an awesome community. Come and hang out every single day after the Mariners game. We like to think it's the best place to find a Mariners post game show. So myself, Christopher Crawford, like to break down what you just saw. And boy, Chris Crawford, we just saw one of the best Mariners games of the year. Victor Olbe was an awesome catch.

George Kirby, just dominant. But let's talk about the offense. So like, what can you say? I'm just going to open it up to you. What do you think about the offense today? How'd they look? Really good at bats. Really good at bats for the overwhelming majority of the game. Boy, that sixth run ends up being huge. And boy, it's fun to see Falunco get another double, even though it was self-inflicted. And I do believe that was Jake Myers, who made that mistake.

It was. Same guy who had the base running error. I will tell you there is a little bit of a difference between that type of dive and a dive when Randy makes it. You're kind of trying to save the game, right, in that situation, compared to where Randy's dive was like. in the first inning and it was a no scored game. So a little bit of break there, but it's still a benefit for the Seattle Mariners.

There's so many guys who have good days today. Honestly, outside of the very top of the order and the very bottom of the order, and I know Crawford ends up drawn a walk, everybody was good today. Julio, that walk in the first inning, I think, is massive because it keeps the inning going. He steals second base and then that double from Suarez, who looks phenomenal right now, Dare I say back?

Dare I say back? He looks so much better swinging the stick right now. I was actually surprised that ball wouldn't have gone out in any parks, by the way, the double that he hits into center field because maybe somewhere that could have gone out, but nope. Josh Naylor had one of the best at bats of the year. By the way, the sexiest thing a person can do is bat flip a basis loaded walk. It is absolutely the number one turn on in any relationship is just bat flip a walk.

It is beautiful. It is. that was such a good at bat. And oh, by the way, there's a new record holder for the Seattle Mariners. Yeah, let's talk about that. Cal Raleigh now has 57 home runs the first time. Anyone has ever said that about a Seattle Mariner in one season? Just put in perspective how awesome that is.

You can't. We could do a 45-minute show, and we could not put it into perspective, guys. this is such a special thing. I believe that was the first time he's gone opo as a right-handed hitter as well. Really? I could be wrong there. But that's a tough place to go opo.

Right field is not the place where you usually see the ding-dongs in Houston and just a terrific swing on that bat. And he's still drawing the walks. He's still patient. Even in the strikeout in the first inning, he works a three-ball count. He's such a special baseball player

and he's the MVP. He's the MVP. I know Aaron Judge had another monster game today. He's great. Cal Raleigh is the MVP of the American League and the Seattle Mariners. Where they are without this guy. Real quick, because I know I'll forget it. Goldsmith made another great point today about Jorge Polanco. The Houston Astros wanted Jorge Polanco. They wanted him really bad. And the New York Yankees wanted Jorge Polanco. But ultimately, Seattle upped their offer and he comes back and no one was excited about it. And I understand why he was terrible last year. Where the hell are the Seattle Mariners without Jorge Polanco? Where the hell are they? Because Jorge Polanco has been such a stabilizing force minus

one month, one month in this offensive lineup. And I just don't think you can say enough good things. My unsung hero, by the way, is Julio because of three things. Number one, the walk, the hit that also scores a run that puts you up six to nothing. Also on that catch from Robles, and I just watched it again, Julio does the right thing and lets Polanco take control of, or excuse me, Robles take control of that baseball. Julio was not going to get to that. There's not many that he's not going to get to,

but he let the right fielder make that play. And that's the reason why you end up winning this game, because that ball would have dropped, two runs would have scored, everyone is sad. I don't think I would have even shown up, Anders. I'm just letting you know. I honestly think I would have made something up about like, I've got gout or something like that and let you go solo,

because I don't think I could take it. Yeah. But Julio Rodriguez played a fantastic baseball game today. A bunch of people did, but that one might get lost in the shuffle from everybody else. I'm going to go unsung moment, and it's a whole inning. It's the top of the fifth inning for the Seattle Mariners. Oh, okay, great.

Let's roll through this because it was three zero at that. point. It's still kind of hanging in the balance. It seems like. Randy Rosarena grounds out. Cal Raleigh works the walk. Julio singles right after that. Gino strikes out. So you got first and second two outs. That's when Jorge hits the single. Cal Raleigh to third. He doesn't get waived. He actually originally does get waived, but it was a good decision by the growing to stop him. Yeah. Because then you got the bases loaded for Josh Naylor. And he works, like you said, probably the app bat of the year just in terms of, and that's what Chase's Valdez gets you up to 4-0. And then Lost in it all is the pinch hit decision by Dan Wilson.

Love this to go to Dom Canzone and singles home, what was it, Julio Rodriguez at that point, to make it 5-0. That in my head is what won you this game. Like literally it did too, because like five runs versus four is what Houston ends up getting. But still, that, those two runs were so big at that point in the game. So master. You felt so much more comfortable and that allows, you know, you're not, the goal is not to give up a grand slam, the most obvious point ever. But like, that allows that not to mean as much.

Exactly. It drove us nuts when it happened. But it's still like, you're still winning. You're still not only winning. You're winning by two runs. The one moment that I would say is. just a little bit bigger, but I love that call. Sure.

The Gabe Spire pitches to question. Okay. Yeah. Good call. Good call. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. And the scream that I let out, those of you old enough to remember the Howard Dean scream, it was absolutely a Howard Dean. I'm not going to do it now because she'll get scared again. But it was, that's big boy pitching right there. Not a big boy pitching. And you're going to have to rely on him, I think, tomorrow, too. Gabe Spire's got to be high leverage for you.

I'm glad the Mariners didn't sign Christian Walker. I get it. They wouldn't have Josh Naylor right now. But you would have probably. And you know what? You wouldn't have Josh Naylor at all because there's no way they would have been. No, that's my point. Yeah.

It's, um, I still like Christian Walker, but I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying entirely. Um, and Safeco would have been a tough place for him. I don't think. And it's Safeco today.

When you're in first place, it's safe go. Well, speaking of, oh yeah. Anything else to add? Sorry. No, I just wanted to add how nice is it? I want them to win tomorrow. So freaking bad. So freaking bad. I don't know if I wanted to sweep more in my life.

Yeah. How nice is it, though, that you are in total control no matter what happens tomorrow. Nothing can take away that control. Not a thing. But if you want to kill him, if you want to step on that neck, you win tomorrow and it's over. Vince Carter, it's over. It's over. It's done. And I think you pointed this out right before we went live.

This isn't just a massive series win for the Mariners. Yes. This is a devastating series loss for the Houston Astros. They are not in a playoff position right now, guys. Nope. The Cleveland Guardians hold the third wild card now. And they're in a dog fight just to make the playoffs. And even if they do win tomorrow and if they, you know, go on a heater,

if the Mariners are tied with the Astros come the end of the season, Yeah. Mariners own the tiebreaker no matter what. This is, no matter what? This is such a huge win. That roble's catch, man. I just want to go back to that because.

Oh, my God. It's, what are the difference of outcomes if he doesn't get to that? I, I, that's a two run, at least a two run. I have to think so.

And what if that ball gets by him? Yeah. What if that ball gets by him? It might be. It might be. Well, yeah. It's just such a clutch play. And it's why,

Victor Robles has to be in the lineup. Why he has to be in the lineup. The range that guy shows in right field is just incredible. And he was good offensively today, too. He had a, was it one hit or two hits? I can't remember. But he at least got on base once. He got on base once.

He swung the bat totally fine for a bottom of the order hitter. Absolutely. For the bottom of the order hitter, he has been more than adequate with the stick. And he saved your bank in today. He saved your absolute bacon today. He also had a big sack flight today's too. Yeah, that's good point. Yeah, I forgot about that.

I want to say one quick thing before we get out of here. Sure. I've said this the last four or five episodes. We've been as hard on Dan Wilson as anyone. Sure. And even today, like there were some decisions that were not great. The bullpen, the management was a little suspect in some situations. Sure.

These guys look ready to flip and play this weekend. And they look locked. I keep on this square. Lock the F in. They do. And that is a huge testament to the manager. I'm going to rip him when they don't look ready to play. But when they do, like they do today, they know how big this series is.

And the moment doesn't look too big for them. That's screened by Gabe Spire. That just locked in laser-focusedness by George Kirby. Julio with a little dialed down like, hey, let's go. Kind of vibe. I love it all right now. I love how these guys are playing baseball. There's no doubt about it.

And, you know, there's some people who will say, well, how much are you really crediting the manager for grown men being ready to play in the sports? It's a thing. It matters. It's hard to. The big thing for me is it's not like I've wanted to see this team loose, you know, I don't want to, that was the big thing for me. Sure. You got to have focus. You got to be intense. But you can't let the moment be too big for you. And you know what? I'll give some of that credit too to Hollander and Depoto because there's nobody on this roster that you could even kind of say shrinks in a big moment. Not a single one. And that has a lot to do with the guys that they brought in here. So it's credit all around.

Everything deserves credit. I'm willing to give credit to everyone but one person. And that one person knows who he is. It's in spite of him. But Dan Wilson has done a phenomenal job. on this road trip. Phenomenal. And he deserves all the credit in the world.

And, you know, we talked about Cal's record break and home run. He is also a leader that. No doubt. You need player leaders as well. Not just the manager. It goes down the entire pecking order. So I just want to sing the praises because, man, I was a little bit worried that the guys would come in either a little too loose, kind of trying to be like, hey, it's just

another series. They know it's not just another series. Or a little too, like. big the moment's too big for them they're like too hyped you know what i mean they are playing that line perfectly right now it's awesome it's just awesome and oh it just sets up such a fun last week such a fun last week that you know is there part of me that wonders how the hell is this going to go wrong yeah of course that's our mariner's fans we're used to it being a Seattle mariner fan but because of what you did in kansas city and because of what you've done over these last two games

there'll be no one to blame but ourselves. Not a single thing, and that is a very nice place to be. Yeah. Very nice. Mariners win this one. They win the series. Let's go get the sweep tomorrow. Like, as you said, let's stomp on their necks.

Let's end the dynasty. End it. End it. Okay. You have a chance to do that. Like we said, it's not just a big win for the Mariners. You could literally end the Houston Astros. dynasty. So let's do that tomorrow. And I feel like they, they're in the right mindset to go do

that. Now, it's nice to know that you don't exactly have to. You've already won the series. You did the job that you needed to do. You're playing with house money tomorrow. Let's go, let's go make the most of it. All right. Last word, Chris Crawford. George Costanza was always my least favorite Seinfeld character. So let's go beat up on Jason Alexander. All right. Remember Sunday night baseball tomorrow and I guys. We'll talk to you then. a good one go mariners massive win like the video subscribe we'll talk to you guys tomorrow see