T-Mobile Park- Seattle

The Padres lost 9-6 against the Mariners in Seattle, after a second consecutive middle-innings breakdown. Despite home runs from four different Padres bats, it was a 3-for-4, four RBI night for Jorge Polanco that ultimately unraveled the Padres. Early home runs from Polanco and Cal Raleigh kept the Mariners in the game until a five-run meltdown in the fifth essentially put the game on ice before the Padres could reach the Seattle bullpen. A late home run added to Ramon Laureano‘s impressive August, but inevitably, Andres Muñoz came on and shut the Padres down in the ninth.

JP Sears took the mound on the road for the Padres. With the Athletics this season, Sears faced the Mariners twice, allowing two runs on five hits in both outings. However, he went six and a third innings facing them on opening weekend, but just four and a third in the matchup during July. With the Padres, Sears made his third start with his new team. His last outing was superb, allowing four hits and no runs at home against San Francisco.

For the Mariners, Bryce Miller made his second start back off the injured list, in what’s been a frustrating year. Miller has been on the shelf two different times this season, both due to right elbow inflammation. He made his 12th start of the year, coming in with a 5.87 ERA. His starts have been spotty, as his only real stretch of consistent pitching came at the very beginning of the year.

Cal Raleigh— who just set the record for the most home runs in a season by a catcher on Sunday— picked up right where he left off. In the first inning, Raleigh drilled a low-and-in fastball for his 50th home run. Sears’ momentum from his outing on Wednesday left the building, as the Mariners took the early lead.

Fifty, nifty, Big Dumper blasts ? pic.twitter.com/ZMmtVlplj8

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 26, 2025

San Diego struck back, however, and quickly. In the top of the second, San Diego played power ball, a theme that hasn’t been very common in 2025. Gavin Sheets was the first to tee off against Miller, taking him 404 feet out to right-center, tying the game 1-1. Two batters later, Jake Cronenworth repeated the act. He cleaned out a high fastball out to right field, just getting it out to the corner. Afterwards, Freddy Fermin drew a walk that proved to be key with Fernando Tatis Jr. coming up. For the first time since July 24, Tatis Jr. went deep to center field, joining in on the home run parade. When the dust settled, the Padres owned a 4-1 lead over the M’s heading into the bottom half of the second.

Make it three home runs in the second! pic.twitter.com/yTqBJbM1ty

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 26, 2025

Unfortunately, JP Sears was unable to find a rhythm with a lead behind him. Quickly, Jorge Polanco tagged him with a two-run home run after an error by Manny Machado. The free baserunner cut the Padres’ lead to just a run, with the score now much closer at 4-3.

After the top of the order went down against Sears in the third, it was the same group that caused Sears more trouble. Suddenly, Josh Naylor singled, Mitch Garver walked, and Jorge Polanco singled to load the bases. Then, the Padres’ starter came through with his biggest pitch of the night, on his last batter. Although he gave up the game-tying run, he rolled a double play that kept the Mariners from taking the lead. David Morgan came on to record the final out and succeeded, striking out Victor Robles handily.

With the bullpen being called upon early, David Morgan came out to take care of the complete fifth inning. In what has been a trend with the Mariners, they put more pressure on the Padres. Drawing a hit by pitch and walk, Josh Naylor came through with a massive, two-out RBI single that gave the Mariners a 5-4 lead. However, the damage was not done. With the bases reloaded, Jorge Polanco drew a deep count and drilled a sinker down the line for a two-run double. Quickly, the Mariners grabbed a 7-4 lead, leaving the Padres in the dust with six unanswered runs. Afterwards, Wandy Peralta entered the game in relief of Morgan, but couldn’t stop the bleeding. J.P. Crawford got a first-pitch sinker and looped it into right-center field, just under the sliding Tatis Jr. coming from right. Two runs scored because of to the two-out situation.

Just like the day prior in the loss against the Dodgers, the source of the outburst came from the first pitcher out of the bullpen. On Sunday, it was Jeremiah Estrada relieving Nick Pivetta. Against Seattle, it was Morgan relieving JP Sears. San Diego was now operating out of a deep hole on offense, for the second straight high-importance game.

Although the Mariners added two more hits in the sixth, Peralta escaped the inning unscathed. In turn, San Diego moved within grand slam range in the seventh inning thanks to Ramon Laureano. Against the new pitcher, Eduard Bazardo, Laureano clocked a slider to lead off the inning with a home run. The Padres inched closer, with the score now reading 9-5 in favor of the M’s.

The Padres put up a good fight in the eighth inning, loading up the bases but failing to score. Gavin Sheets was inches from coming up with a three-run homer, but the ball sailed just foul off to the right. San Diego would’ve made it a one-run game with four outs left to play, but it simply wasn’t to be. Laureano struck out to a beautiful sinker from Brash, and the Padres were kept off the scoreboard.

In the top of the ninth, the former Padre, and more recently, star closer for the Mariners, came on to ice the win. However, the Padres did plate a run thanks to an error from Eugenio Suarez, but Muñoz shut the door afterwards. A 99 MPH up-and-away fastball proved too much for Machado, as he struck out to end the game.

San Diego will continue their series against Seattle tomorrow, as two fastball-heavy hurlers will match up. For the Padres, Dylan Cease will get the ball and face Luis Castillo of the Mariners. First pitch will commence at 6:40 once again.

Willy Warren

A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a public baseball media account covering around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X. Willy is set to attend the Cronkite School of Journalism in the fall of 2026 at Arizona State University, where he’ll pursue a major in sports journalism.