Mariners are useful idiots, walk off series finale 5-4

Apr 22, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor (12, left) celebrates with center fielder Julio Rodríguez (44) after hitting a walk-off RBI-single against the Athletics during the ninth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images We’ve had the good (not enough), we’ve had the bad (too much), now welcome to the weird of the Mariners season. Logan Gilbert was shaky but shaken, the defense (non-Cole Young edition) was porous and also game-saving, the bullpen was fine and also not fine but also still kind of fine, the offense was good and then bad and then good again.

The 2026 Mariners! They’re fine, probably. “Just a regular Wednesday,” quipped Dan Wilson postgame, and if Dan Wilson is making a joke, you know this game was wacky.

It certainly started off weird. Logan Gilbert loaded the bases in the first through a series of events that were mostly not his fault: two unchallenged strikes to Nick Kurtz that resulted in a walk, a 70 mph exit velocity lollipop on a curveball that dropped for a base hit; and then this, the latest entry in “you never know what you’ll see when you come to the ballpark” [derogatory]: Your browser does not support the video tag. Download the video .

As those of you who read Short Relief over the years know, the rule is that a player cannot field a ball with anything other than a glove or a bat, because baseball is designed by men with tiny minds. However, umpires also have some discretion in declaring a play dead, and it feels like if a ball gets lodged in a player’s jersey to the point where he must disrobe to retrieve it, it seems fair to call that play dead instead of a base hit , much like if I made a cake and then a bird fell out of the sky and died in the cake it seems fair to call that a ruined cake and not dessert . “I’ve never seen a ball go in someone’s shirt before.