Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - MARINERS POSTCAST: Seattle Mariners HOLD ON over Kansas City Royals in SERIES FINALE

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

Anders and Chris break down the finale of the three-game ruckus between the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals. Luis Castillo has been phenomenal. The offense has not, but they may do just enough to clinch the series win. Dan Wilson may need to win Manager of the Year just from that challenge. Here we go! 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. Oh, bad. I like it. I could execute a little bit better, but with more practice, I could happen. It's tough. For those who are just listening to us, I just did the La Piedra, the rock symbol.

But yeah, what a huge start from him in a massive game for the Mariners. They win the series. They win the game, 2-0 over the KC. Royals, just a much-needed win for your Seattle Mariners. I think this more than makes up for last night's loss, especially like if you were to tell me you win two out of these three games heading into Houston. I would sign up for that every single day of the week. I realize that last night was pretty frustrating. but wow, just you needed this win going into Houston.

And I know they said it on the broadcast that you now have a share for first place. You're in first place because you own right now the tiebreaker over the Houston Astros. So theoretically you have one game ahead of them due to the tiebreaker being in the Mariners favor. So yeah, massive win. And it starts with the start with Luis Castillo. The offense wasn't great, but you didn't need it a ton today because of how good the pitching was. So Chris Crawford, I ask you, what was your initial reaction to this game? Just had to have it.

I mean, it's so funny, too, because it's amazing what, like, just one loss can do, one loss. It talked about it at the very beginning in my short little thing that, like, you can't win every game. You're not going to win every single game that you play. It would be kind of boring if you did. But the mood changed, right? Like the move changed from this team can't lose to, oh boy, oh boy, they better win tomorrow. And they did. Thanks in large part to La Piedra, who was just fantastic today.

The bullpen was awesome. And we'll talk about it. But my unsung hero is pretty easy for this one. It may not be the guy you're thinking of. But, man, what a huge win. you are now back in controlling your own destiny time and it sets up, I cannot remember a bigger series than this one coming up. I really can't.

This is not a playoff edition. This just might be the biggest series in Seattle Mariner history. Yeah. And I think I agree with you, especially recently, at least in the last 20 years, let's say, like 25 years you could say. So, yeah, I think this is a huge series for the Seattle Mariners. But let's react to this one first. This is a big win for me.

I think this can, this is one of the unsung wins of the season. You know, we do unsung heroes and stuff. This is an unsung win for me because I think everyone's going to be looking ahead of that Houston series and rightfully so, as you just pointed out, it's a massive series. Everyone's going to be kind of looking at last night being like a missed opportunity. You have, I think officially, well, depends on what happens over the weekend. I think you have officially exercised the we can't win on the road demons because this team. right now would not have won this game if it was in the previous two road trips,

if that makes sense, right? Sure. I think it was massive to bounce back after last night and kind of be like, nah, yeah, you know, obviously we weren't going to win out, but we're still going to, you know, win the majority of our series moving forward. So that was a huge kind of like, yeah, just that was one game. We're still who we are at this point, and that's a really good baseball team that's in first place in the AOS.

But it starts with the start, Chris Goughford. So let's do that. Let's start with Luis Castillo. How good was he? I know, do you only get like three strikeouts? He only had three strikeouts. He only generated five swings and misses. And yet he was as good as I've seen him in a while.

And that includes, guys, this is now three straight. Excellent starts. And again, you know, your mileage may vary. You may disagree. I thought that the panic over Luis Castillo was way overdone. but it's sure nice to see results that back that up, right? There was so much weak contact today. I believe you're retired 14 of the last 15 hitters that he faced.

He just had him off balance throughout the game. And you don't have to generate a ton of swings and miss. It's nice if you do. It's easier to be a dominant starter if you're going to generate those strikeouts, if you're going to generate those swings and misses. But you don't have to. You can still have success in this league with plenty of weak contact. And the Kansas City lineup, you know, it's a pesky one.

I'm so glad we don't have to play this team ever again. Well, not ever again. They'll probably play in 2026. I have a lot of hearing about that. They're pesky. I do not like facing them. No, sir, heck no at all. And he was excellent.

Just he felt in control of the game. I was a little irked, just a little, that he didn't get a seventh inning. But I do we understand why you went there, especially with the freshness of your bullpen and your bullpen was outstanding today. Again, yesterday, a little bit of a blip in that, again, point. There's really just one guy, but yeah.

Guy, and, you know, that guy I still trust an awful lot. So it's not, I don't want to go too bonkers here, but Luis Castillo was just phenomenal today. and, you know, some people are bringing it up. I think Castillo did enough today, and it's so weird to say, the guy you'd be battling had a 14 strikeout effort in his last start. Yeah. But I think right now Castillo's probably that third arm in the rotation.

And in plus. And look, Ty and Colby, make sure you tune in for them. They'll have a bunch of talk about this type of stuff. It's because George Kirby can add something in the bullpen that Luis Castillo cannot. I agree. My thought process here in a three-game series. In a four-game series, you're starting. 04. That's happening. The Mariners aren't going to go with three games rest for anybody.

They're just not going to do that. But in this first wild card series, and it may not be that wild card series because the Cleveland Guardians want to help the Seattle Mariners right now. Appreciate that, guys. Right now, I think it's probably Wu Gilbert and Castillo. Yeah, I think I'm with you. There are some matchups and, you know, maybe there's something with Home Road, but he just did this on the road in Kansas City. So it's not like he's, He's massively better. I mean, he's better at home. I think every pitcher is in the Mariners rotation.

We did that exercise earlier too. It's not just him. It's every Mariners pitcher that's better at Team Mobile Park. Shocking. But it's just one of those like maybe you can play around us. Maybe there's a team you face that George Kirby has a better, you know, match up with. I don't know.

I just in terms of confidence, I think I'd go cast to you as well over George. Kirby. So like I'm with you there. And I just, I love the way he pitched today. He kind of knew, and it's worth pointing out that the angels in the, the Royals, are like two polar opposite teams that get kind of similar results offensively. They're not great. They're probably both below average offensive teams.

But the Angels are all, like literally all or nothing. They're strikeout or home run versus Royals are the pesky contact hitting team. So having three strikeouts, I guess only three strikeouts versus them, I don't think is a big deal. He knew exactly what he needed to do to get the win today, and that's exactly what he did. Go six innings, only three hits, no walks, three K's, just efficiency, dominance, consistency, however you want to put it, Castillo was awesome today. It was great. It was great. And then the bullpen was phenomenal after he leaves, too. Bizarro, you know, looked fully fresh. I would have considered having Bizarro throw another

inning there just because, you know, he only threw the nine pitches, but, you know, I'm fine with giving Bizarro rest, considering how overworked he was in the middle of this season. Gabe Spire was excellent. And then Andres Munoz, I know he gives up a couple of base runners. That stuff is as good as I've seen Andres Munoz have. And that is a compliment to be sure. The strikeout he had on Bobby Wood Jr. And then Michael Garcia with the most defensive swing, I think I've seen all year against the Seattle

Mariners, who, that was nasty. That was nasty. And, you know, again, being honest, when I saw Adam Frazier was up next, the Adam Fraser Revenge tour, I was a little bit nervous about. Oh, but he put him to work, or put him to bed real quick. That was an early night, night time for Adam Frazier. And, man, if you get that version of Mooney over these next 10 games, you are going to be just fine.

And you've gotten this version of Mooney for the overwhelming majority of 20. There's been some hiccups because it's life. We all have failures, guys. Anders is the only person who's never made a mistake on planet Earth. Not sure about that. Pretty sure. Pretty damn sure. I was looking into it and I can't find a mistake.

And I searched hard before I agreed to do this show. He was just outstanding in that bullpen. Man, it's you could argue Matt Brash is the fourth best reliever on the Seattle Mariners right now. And that is much more compliment to those three names ahead than it is in Ultabresh. Yeah. It gets a little overblown last night. I mean, sure.

I put out that Matt Frash might be a problem on Twitter. I said might, guys. I said might. I didn't like say like he's terrible or you need to demote him or anything. But in terms of confidence, I feel, and this isn't, we're not reacting last night. We're reacting today. So we'll talk about that when it comes up again. But yeah, remember in 2023 where.

where both Castillo and Munoz, and I guess a little bit brash as well, were like really, really good for almost the entire season. And then the last month came and they fell apart. It almost feels the opposite this year where they went through that down like earlier in July, maybe a little early August. And then they're back. They're totally back up now. And it's like that I would way rather have that trajectory than what they had in 2023. That's why I feel so good about Castillo and Munoz at this point. Yeah, I totally agree. They both are clicking at the exact right moment. And I'll go back to my

college basketball conference tournament thing, where it kind of feels okay to give up some stuff, right? Like, it's okay. Get the loss out of the way. Give up those runs now so that you don't do it. It's just like, as a guy who roots for Gonzaga, I wish they would have lost in the conference tournament. They're really good at basketball. And they're, They're fun to watch too. And Mark Few is just totally normal and has never made media feel creepy whatsoever. Question for you. Would you rather go into the postseason not on like a 10 or 11 game winning streak?

Yes, 100%. Yeah, absolutely. The exception to that is the, I remember the Colorado Rockies, you know, had that like 15 game winning streak and they just dominated. But then they got their ass kicked in the World Series. Yeah, they did. So I would prefer them to not have to carry, like, I don't want them to win their, this is so tough. How do I say this the right way?

If they have to win the next 10, nine games, then fine, okay? But if you can get away with winning the division going 8 and 1 or 7 and 2, I'm pretty okay with that too. Yeah, yeah, I think it's not as much a drop-off. I'll put it that way. Like I will, of course, take a nine-game winning streak to end this season. Like, there's no, there's no doubt about it. But I won't be worried if they go seven and two guys.

Exactly. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, no, there's silver linings to take out of this. And it's just a massive win going into a huge series in Houston. Let's give some love to our sponsors. Then we'll talk about some meh offense today and then a couple huge moments. Sound good, Chris Crawford.

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because all of it is just put into that one spot, all your 401K information, all of your holdings, all of your, you know, your debt, all of the stuff that you know, your debt, all of the stuff that you know you need to take care of so that you can retire and that you can enjoy your life afterwards monarch money helps do that for you and you can really use enjoy monarch money if you use code locked on MLB at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year that's 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code locked on MLB. Welcome back to the Mariners Postcast Anderson Hurst, Christopher Crawford with you. We of course go live after every single.

mariner baseball game and we're reacting to a mariner win today two zero over the kansas city royals to win the series ahead of a massive three game series against the houston astros uh chris crawford let's just get right to the offense wasn't great today uh i mean you didn't need it but it's still like we can be picky here because we've seen this offense have much better days than today oh yeah much better days and even yesterday and the loss you were a better offense than you were today i I will give credit to Stephen Colick. He was good today. And the Royals won that trade.

I'm telling you right now, Freddie Fermine for Ryan Elgert, who was pitching well for them before the injury. And now Stephen Colick, who has been really good for them and had some good moments for the Padres too. He's going to be a nice little mid-rotation starter for them. The Mariners also missed some opportunities today. Really tough games from Randy and Julio today, which was disappointing. The really disappointing thing is after Suarez. looked so good yesterday. He was so bad today. Hoping that this is just a, hey, if you go four, what was he, four for four yesterday with

a Homer and a couple doubles or whatever, blah, blah, blah. He was really good yesterday. He was really terrible today. But it was everybody. Like, the only guy who I think could say had a great offensive game would be Josh Naylor. He gets on three times. One of those, of course, kind of not meaningless, but a two-out hit. the ninth inning, just a little single. But it still counts, absolutely still counts. And it's great to see him swinging the bat so much better as of late. But the offense struggled today. You're going to have to hit a lot better than this against the Houston Astros going forward. Yeah, and I think where you were going with the Gino thing is, hey, he's saving some hits for Houston.

It's all right. There you go. I'm fine with that. I'm fine with that. Yeah. And I get it. like let's look, let's look ahead a little bit. We don't normally do that on this show. We normally react, but I want to look ahead just a little bit because of how massive this series is. Sure. Real quick. Before we do that. Yeah, okay.

Real quick. Yes. The moment of maybe the entire year is not going to be this moment. But it's really big. The challenge and my unsung hero is Andy Bissell. Andy Bissell, you absolute madman. and if you're not familiar with who Andy Bissell is, he's the guy who's in charge of challenges for the Seattle Mariners.

Holy crap, to challenge that call, I've never seen a positioning challenge call ever. I've never seen it, ever, ever. And for him to know that Massey was setting up in the outfield grass, holy crap. And good for Dan for doing it. Good for Dan for saying, hey, we need to challenge this. and it ends up being huge because it gives you that second run.

And as good as Munoz is, as good as any closer is, how much more confident are you with a two run lead compared to a run lead? How much better do you pitch knowing that you don't have to be perfect, you know? Giving up a run would have been okay. You're not, it's not the goal. But what a great challenge from Wilson. And shout out to Andy Bissell because I guarantee you 100,000 percent. Andy Bissell has watched Kansas City Royals games and seen Massey set up in that outfield. And he waited for a time where the guy didn't get a hit and said, nope, challenge it now.

We're going to get a free base runner. That was just so freaking significant. And I don't think I would have felt bad if we didn't talk about it a little bit, right? No, yeah. That's a massive moment. Totally agree. And I want an almost unsung moment, the unsung hero you just did. and I think it's actually Dan Wilson pinch running Victor Rovers.

Great call. Yeah, great call. And putting him in motion because that's what allows the double to happen. The first baseman is coming off the bag, then he has to go back across the line. There's no way he makes that play. Great call. Good job by Victor Rolvis to be aware, not just slide in a second knowing what's going. Because we've seen that multiple times.

Oh, yeah, we have. Open to steal, even though there's a hit, they slide because it's just their heads down looking at the base. and all things worked out really, really well for the Mariners there. I've been as critical as anyone of Dan Wilson and just the coaching staff in general, because we don't know what is on who's plate in terms of the coaching staff. They have been really, really good these past couple weeks. No doubt. I don't even have nothing to add because they've been awesome.

And when I say that I criticize a Dan Wilson decision or me, maybe the lack of getting up and being ready to play. I leave it open for being incorrect. And I hope I do get proven wrong. And that's where we're at right now. I'm not at a point where I'm just like, get rid of Dan Wilson. He's terrible. But it's like, prove me wrong.

And that is exactly what has been happening the last couple weeks. And I think you do have to give credit to the entire staff to, right? Like the entire staff. And it's not just, hey, the Mariners have won 11 of 12 games. so we should credit the manager now, right? It's the eye test of the decisions look so much better. This is not a Captain Hindsight thing. This is, I think Dan Wilson becoming more comfortable with making these decisions.

And I also think there's something to, this is going to sound a little patronizing, but I think there's also something to giving Dan the help that he needs. Yeah, trusting his staff, yes. Trusting his staff, right? Like, this has been so fun to watch. And Dan Wilson absolutely deserves the, credit and, you know, there's still nine games to go. And if the Mariners don't finish this off, I have question marks about who should be the manager of the Seattle Mariners. I will. But right now,

he is absolutely the guy for it. And it's not just a case of if you win, you're good. If you're bad, you're not. It's a case of Dan Wilson adapting. Dan Wilson. And if Dan Wilson keeps managing the way that he has, I don't see any reason why the Seattle Mariners don't win this division or at the very least are playing in the postseason. Marin just win this one, two to zero. Win the series in Kansas City did exactly what you needed to do going into Houston in probably the biggest series in regular season series in at least the last 24 years. I'm sorry.

Thankfully, I have a lot going on on Sunday, so I won't really be able to just soul in or the game of baseball. But it's just a massive series. We'll talk to you guys tomorrow, 5-10, first. pitch in Houston. Diken Park as I believe it's Framber Valdez for the Houston Astros. I think they changed it up. I believe it is Hunter Brown. I'm going right now and looking because that is definitely. It is Hunter Brown versus Brian Wu. Ace v. Ace. Let's go for game. This feels like a playoff series already. Honestly, this kind of is the beginning of the playoffs for

the Seattle. Oh, yeah. These are post, these are playoff games. These are winning your end games. These just aren't, they're not officially called playoff games. But these are for, they're just not postseason. They're playoffs. Greg, I completely agree with you. Absolutely. Massive, massive baseball games. Yeah.

Yeah, this is going to be either fun or agonizing or somewhere in between. Probably. Both. Let's hope it's both. I mean, not both, but it's going to be both. We're ready for both. All right. We'll talk to you guys tomorrow.

Really appreciate it. Thanks so much for tuning in. Please like the video if you haven't already. Shout out to my grandpa, who's watching for the first time. Hi. Good to see you. My grandpa. Really appreciate all y'all.

Let's keep the vibes going. Okay, let's go win the series in Houston over the weekend. And then we'll be excited on Monday. All right. Chris Crawford, last word. Go Mariners.