Mariners suffer late meltdown vs. Guardians, fall out of first place in AL West

Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times on Jun 28, 2026

Published in Baseball

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CLEVELAND — Julio Rodríguez sprinted to first base, knowing there was a chance to beat out the slow roller he had just bounced toward the right side of the infield.

Meanwhile, Victor Robles jogged home from third base, while watching hopefully that his potential run would count.

When second baseman Travis Bazzana stumbled trying to field the ball quickly on the run and was unable to make a throw, Rodríguez was safe at first and the run scored.

The players and coaches in the Seattle Mariners dugout threw their hands up in celebration, some of it genuine and some of it tinged with sarcasm.

A milestone had been reached. The impossible dream had come true.

For the first time since June 12, the Mariners had scored more than three runs in a game.

Had it been a home game, they might have played “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang with a drop of confetti and balloons.

One slight problem: scoring four runs doesn’t guarantee a victory.

And the Mariners, who have been creative in finding new and unique ways to lose games, blew a three-run lead in the eighth inning with a full bullpen self-immolation.

If you were ranking defeats this season, Sunday’s disastrous 6-5 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field might have been one of the worst of the season.

Up 4-1 going into the eighth inning, the duo of right-hander Michael Rucker and left-hander Josh Simpson — not usually pitchers used late-inning leverage situations — combined to give up five runs in the eighth.

With the loss, the Mariners dropped the series to Cleveland and finished 2-4 on the six-game road trip. They dropped below .500 at 42-43 and also fell out of first place in the American League West. The Texas Rangers, with their four-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, moved ahead of Seattle in the standings.

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