Seattle Mariners lose fifth straight as Red Sox rally for 9-8 win in 10 innings
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 31: Roman Anthony #19 of the Boston Red Sox slides past Cal Raleigh #29 of the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning at Fenway Park on August 31, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Paul Rutherford / Getty Images)
The final day of August 2026 is a new low for a Seattle Mariners season that has crashed and burned.
Randy Arozarena was a triple shy of a cycle with a 4-for-5 night, driving in four runs, and Cal Raleigh hit his sixth home run in his last seven games only to have the Boston Red Sox rally for a 9-8 win in 10 innings.
Julio Rodríguez's fielding mistake in the ninth inning allowed a Roman Anthony triple off Andrés Muñoz to put the tying run 90 feet away with no outs. Ceddanne Rafaela's sacrifice fly drove in Anthony to force extra innings before Trevor Story's bases loaded drive into center field handed Seattle a fifth straight defeat.
By the end of the night, the Mariners will likely be six games behind the Houston Astros and four games back of the Texas Rangers in the AL West race as their playoff hopes are dwindling rapidly.
The backstory:
The Mariners scored four runs in the sixth inning off Boston starter Payton Tolle and reliever Tyron Guerrero to take the lead.
Arozarena's fourth hit of the night, a single to right field, drove in Cole Young and Weston Wilson to tie the game at 5-5. Dominic Canzone's two-run double to left field drove in two more runs for a 7-5 lead.
Raleigh's 20th home run of the season came in the seventh inning to extend the advantage to 8-5.
But this is the 2026 Mariners and nothing good seems to last.
A two-out double from Story in the bottom of the eighth off Eduard Bazardo cut the lead to 8-7 heading to the ninth.
Canzone hit a lead-off triple into the center field triangle at Fenway Park as the Mariners looked to add to their advantage and give Muñoz some breathing room. But Alec Gamboa would get Rodríguez, Raleigh and Josh Naylor to all ground out and leave Canzone stranded on third base as the lead remained at one.
Then to lead-off the bottom of the ninth, Anthony lined a ball toward Rodríguez in center field. Rodríguez attempted to dive for the ball and then looked like he thought better of the attempt, but it was too late. The ball landed in front of Rodríguez and skipped behind him all the way to the wall deep in center as Anthony had a look at an inside-the-park home run before holding at third.
Muñoz responded well, getting a strikeout of Mickey Gasper. However, Rafaela's sacrifice fly to left was deep enough for Anthony to beat Arozarenas's throw home to tie the game at 8-8. Muñoz struck out Wilyer Abreu to end the inning, but the collapse was already in motion.
Seattle couldn't score in their half of the 10th inning, and a well-executed bunt by Nick Sogard put the winning run on third. The Mariners intentionally walked the bases loaded hoping to create force outs at all bases, but Story's single into center field was all that was needed to sink the Mariners.
George Kirby allowed five runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts over five innings for Seattle.
By the numbers:
The Texas Rangers beat the Sacramento Athletics 8-1 on Monday, and the Houston Astros were up 6-3 over the Chicago White Sox in the seventh inning (at the time of publishing). Those results would put Seattle six games back of Houston and four back of Texas in the AL West race.
The six games back in the division would tie a season-high. The Mariners were also six games back after a 10-7 loss to the Astros on August 14, which was another loss after holding a late lead in 10 innings.
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The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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