Mariners Should Be Thankful MLB Spared Them From the A’s Madness in Las Vegas

The Mariners did not need any part of The Athletics’ desert slugfest.

Jun 13, 2026; Summerlin, Nevada, USA; Athletics pitcher Elvis Alvarado (37) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the ninth inning at the Las Vegas Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

The Athletics got their Las Vegas preview. And good for them. The crowd filled the minor league ballpark. Casual fly balls turned into home runs. The whole thing had weird midseason novelty written all over it.

And the Mariners must be thrilled that they had nothing to do with it. The A’s just wrapped their six-game regular-season stay at Las Vegas Ballpark, the temporary sneak peek for a franchise living in between Sacramento and its eventual future on the Strip. It was part baseball series, part relocation ad, part desert home run derby.

The Athletics went 4-2 during the Las Vegas homestand while scoring 47 runs. They hit 20 home runs. The opener against the Brewers finished 15-14 in 12 innings with 11 combined homers. The finale against the Rockies somehow got even crazier, with Colorado hanging 23 runs on them in a blowout.

If you were watching from the couch, it had to be entertaining. If you were one of the teams trying to survive it, that couldn’t have been much fun.

The Mariners Didn’t Need Their Pitching Staff Dragged Into a Desert Slugfest

Seattle’s path to winning still starts with pitching. Though, in recent weeks that sounds hard to believe given the struggles some of their pitching has faced. If there was any place that could absolutely kill any momentum from the mound, this past stretch in Las Vegas probably would’ve gotten that job done. 

The A’s turned it into an offensive showcase, and that was probably the point from MLB’s perspective. Sell the market and show off the future. Let southern Nevada fans get a taste of regular-season baseball before the new stadium opens. There’s nothing wrong with that.

But if Seattle had to throw that group into a hitter-friendly Triple-A park in June, that would have been asking for trouble.

Not every scheduling break announces itself. But this one kind of did.

Leaving Las Vegas at 4-2 helped The Athletics hang around in the AL West, too. The Mariners are still on top by one game, but The Athletics and Rangers are both sitting right behind them, with the Astros four games back. That makes Seattle’s ability to stay afloat even more important.

The Mariners have been hit hard by injuries and still managed to keep their grip on the division. Now, with Cal Raleigh back, J.P. Crawford nearing his return and Brendan Donovan eventually coming behind them, Seattle could be in a much better position to fend off the rest of the AL West as the season moves along.