Seattle Mariners Fail to Hold Off Sweep, Lose 11-2 to Philadelphia Phillies
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The Seattle Mariners had a rough end to a rough road trip in an 11-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park.
"Tough day today," M's manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview. " ... A tough one today, no doubt. Offensively, another tough lefty (starting pitcher), and we put up some good at-bats up there. Tried to cut it close there at the end and they were just able to add on and extend the lead. A tough way to end it. We get back home and we're gonna start fresh."
The Mariners had the lead for all of half an inning in Wednesday's loss, which was the amount of time they had the lead for the entire series.
M's center fielder Julio Rodriguez hit a solo home run to left field in the top of the first to put Seattle in front.
JULIOOOOO!! #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/VMMhWBxiTe
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 20, 2025
Philadelphia designated hitter Kyle Schwarber brought home shortstop Trea Turner in the bottom of the first to even the score at 1-1.
It was a bad series, and overall road trip, for the Mariners' starting rotation and the Phillies took advantage of another down day from an M's starter.
Second baseman Bryson Stott hit an RBI double in the bottom of the second to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead and right fielder Max Kepler hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to bolster the advantage to 3-1.
Tschüss@Toyota x #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/6WBV7r0Zsx
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 20, 2025
M's starter Luis Castillo's day was done after the fourth. He finished with two strikeouts, walked two and allowed three earned runs on 10 hits (one home run).
"I think these past two teams we've faced are teams that battle a lot," Castillo said after the game via translator Freddy Llanos. "I think today, some of the pitches, whether they were out of the zone, they were able to hit those for foul. So when the pitches came in the zone, that's when the hits started coming. I think this is a team that just goes out there and battles."
Seattle briefly pulled within one run of Phillies in the top of the seventh after third baseman Eugenio Suarez hit a solo home run to left field.
Philadelphia proceeded to put up eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings for the eventual final of 11-2.
Stott, Turner, Schwarber and first baseman Bryce Harper all hit respective RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh. On Schwarber's single, Stott scored and Turner scored after Mariners right fielder Luke Raley committed a throwing error. The Phillies' lead was bolstered to 8-2 through the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Turner hit an RBI single to cap off a 5-for-6 day and Schwarber hit a two-run homer to right field for the eventual final of 11-2.
And for our 20th hit of the game... Schwarbomb 45‼️ pic.twitter.com/hBc3sNkHxS
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 20, 2025
Seattle fell to 68-60 with the loss, remained 1.5 games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West. The Mariners have the final wild card spot and are half a game behind the Boston Red Sox and 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the wild card standings. The M's finished 2-7 on the road trip.
"It was (a tough road trip)," Rodriguez said in a postgame interview. "But I would say this game is tough. They were a really good team and they beat us, but I feel the key is how we respond as a team. It's easy to go through a time when it's easy, when everybody is playing good and all that. But it's how we respond to this situation, and I feel like every team goes through things like that."
Seattle will have a day off Thursday before returning home for the first of a three-game series against the Athletics. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. PT on Friday.
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