Randy Arozarena belts grand slam, Logan Gilbert shines as Mariners rout Blue Jays

Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times on Jul 4, 2026

Published in Baseball

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SEATTLE — A player born and raised in Cuba, who represented Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, ignited a sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Park into raucous chants of “USA! USA! USA!” after smashing a grand slam against the only Major League Baseball team from Canada on the Fourth of July.

To quote many a MLB player and manager — “That’s baseball.”

Randy Arozarena’s second-inning grand slam off Toronto starter Shane Bieber gave the Mariners a sizable lead early and starter Logan Gilbert did the rest, tossing seven-plus scoreless innings to lead the Mariners to an 11-0 shutout of the Blue Jays.

After being held scoreless in the series opener, the Mariners scored 11 runs on 11 hits with Dom Canzone adding a two-run homer in the fifth and Cal Raleigh smashing a three-run blast off the upper-deck facing in right field in the sixth.

Any sort of fireworks metaphor would’ve been fitting.

It was a serious bounceback for an offense that was held scoreless in a 2-0 loss on Friday night.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Arozarena drew the ire of fans and teammates when he decided to challenge a pair of inside pitches in his first plate appearance of the game. He was incorrect on both offerings from Dylan Cease and the Mariners, much to their detriment, played the next eight innings without being able to challenge borderline pitches.

Arozarena didn’t challenge a pitch on Saturday. He didn’t need to, going 3 for 4 with a walk. The only out he made came in the eighth against outfielder Myles Straw, who was brought in to pitch in the blowout. Arozarena grounded out to first on a 44-mph pitch.

With two outs in the second, Cole Young doubled to right-center and scored on Victor Robles’ single to left field. Colt Emerson followed with a single up the middle and J.P. Crawford, who successfully used the ABS challenge on a 2-1 strike call, worked a walk to load the bases for Arozarena.

The veteran right-handed hitter, who has been the Mariners’ most consistent offensive threat this season, has often said that his approach with the bases loaded is to hit a homer. It’s not staying up the middle or working line drives to right. It’s clear the bases in the loudest way possible.

Arozarena chased a first-pitch slider out of the zone for an awkward swinging strike. Bieber came back with another slider. It was below the zone, but stayed over the middle of the plate. Arozarena was able to drive it over the wall in left field for his ninth homer of the season and a 5-0 lead.

He became the second player in Mariners history to hit a grand slam on the Fourth of July. Paul Sorrento hit a grand slam off Dennis Cook against the Texas Rangers in 1996 at Globe Life Park.

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