What Mariners’ four-game sweep of longtime rival says about them | Commentary

SEATTLE – Was that enough to convince you that the first two weeks of a season are simply a blip, and not a barometer?

Did that four-game flogging demonstrate that “it’s early” is an acceptable justification for a skid?

There are multiple ways baseball teams can respond to a 4-9 start devoid of offense: They can slowly rediscover their form over the next several weeks until a sustainable model has been established. Or they can announce their return with the flair of a WWE wrestler strutting out of the tunnel.

The Mariners chose the latter.

Monday’s 6-2 win over the Astros was the exclamation point of an already emphatic sentence. It capped a four-game sweep in which Seattle (8-9) outscored Houston 29-16.

The first win was a 9-6 victory in which the M’s logged their highest run total of the season. The second was an 8-7 triumph in which the Mariners rallied from five runs down. The third was a 6-1 smashing that featured a Logan Gilbert gem. And then came Monday, when first baseman Josh Naylor used a two-dinger alarm to awake from his slumber.

It really hadn’t been too pretty for the Mariners’ cleanup hitter, who entered the game hitting .102 (6 for 59 with no extra-base hits) while posting an astonishing -0.7 WAR. Naylor was perhaps Seattle’s second-best hitter (behind catcher Cal Raleigh) in the two-plus months he played here after being traded in July. But despite some hard-hit balls this season, the results were negligible. Not on Monday, though. Not after a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run bomb in the third.

“We all know he’s one of the best hitters in the league. One of the smartest hitters I’ve ever seen in my life,” Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford said. “We all know it’s coming.”

The Mariners were a popular pick to win the American League pennant before the season based on what they did in 2025. They held a Game 7 lead over the Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series before a George Springer home run kept them from going to their first World Series.

Still, all the key pieces were returning. All those offensive cogs – such as Raleigh, Naylor and Julio Rodríguez – to supplement what might be the best starting rotation in MLB. So that 4-9 start felt like a Louisville Slugger to the guts of the die-hards dreaming of October bliss. But now? The Mariners everyone was expecting are back.

“No doubt the first couple weeks were a little rough, but we’re such a good team that you just gotta keep believing in that and keep telling yourself that,” said Mariners pitcher George Kirby, who picked up the win Monday after allowing two runs in 72/3 innings. “And this series, the hitters have been incredible. They were drawing walks and getting hits and home runs, and I think we’re capable of doing that every night. And I think everyone knows that.”

Yes, the Mariners are still waiting for Raleigh – who went 2-for-5 Friday but has just two home runs this season – to resemble the man who’s averaged 41 long balls over the past three seasons. And yes, Rodríguez slugging .288 through 17 games is well below what fans were hoping for.

But this sweep of the Astros – the longtime gatekeepers of the AL West – was an announcement as much as it was an annihilation: The road to the division crown goes through the Mariners (even if they are currently in third place).

“It feels good to get these four, and I think the key now is to build on the confidence and momentum,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “Huge runs all around. Four games is not easy, but we can’t stop there – we gotta keep rolling.”

Make no mistake, there are still going to be down stretches this season that will reunite a lot of foreheads with palms. That’s the nature of this sport. Nothing is guaranteed – particularly good health, which is as fundamental to success as talent.

But right now, the Mariners’ performance is matching expectations. Little reason to think that won’t continue.

Some might have felt like the Astros, given their decade of dominance, would have compounded the Mariners’ early struggles. Not so much. They don’t dictate the terms anymore. The M’s are the last team to win this division – and they own it till someone else takes it from them.