Jose Ramirez strikes again.
Tied with two outs and two runners aboard in the seventh inning, Cleveland’s star third baseman stole Seattle’s Opening Day magic.
How did the seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger barrel that?
Advertisement
Mariners reliever Gabe Speier’s 1-1 slider missed well below the zone, but Ramirez found a way to golf a go-ahead, two-run double to the warning track in left center. Cleveland’s Brayan Rocchio waved his arms rounding third and Chase DeLauter slid home behind him, putting Thursday night’s home opener firmly in doubt: Guardians 5, M’s 3.
The Mariners hit four solo home runs and right-hander Logan Gilbert struck out seven, but Ramirez’s heroics were the difference in a 6-4 loss to the Guardians at T-Mobile Park.
Advertisement
“A tough one tonight,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “They just were able to bunch together a couple hits there in the one inning and put a couple runs on the board, outside of the solo shots.
“(Logan) kept us in the ballgame. Offensively, obviously we saw the home runs and guys stinging the ball. Just weren’t able to create any traffic.”
Cleveland’s DeLauter hit two solo home runs, becoming the sixth player in MLB history with a multi-homer game in his regular season debut. A first-inning blast gave the Guardians a 1-0 lead before an insurance homer in the ninth sent some fans heading for the exits.
Advertisement
Gilbert allowed three runs on five hits, fanning seven without a walk across 5.1 innings.
“The main thing is always attacking and getting in good counts, and I feel like I did that,” Gilbert said. “I had a pretty good mix. I liked what Cal (Raleigh) was doing behind the plate. I had a pretty good feel for everything.
“Obviously, a couple mistakes and they took advantage of those.”
Seattle third baseman Brendan Donovan, acquired in a February trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, homered in his first-career Mariners at-bat — hoisting the gold trident in front of a sellout home crowd of 44,938 for the very first time. It marked Seattle’s first leadoff homer on Opening Day in franchise history.
Advertisement
“I got to carry the trident. It’s a lot heavier than I thought,” Donovan joked. “That was a nice surprise.”
New Mariners leadoff batter Brendan Donovan (33) celebrates his solo home run on his first at-bat as a Mariner during the first inning of the opening day game against the Cleveland Guardians at T-Mobile Park, on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Seattle.
Mariners designated hitter Dominic Canzone stung a pair of solo homers in the second and seventh innings. Right fielder Luke Raley added another, knotting Thursday’s opener in the fifth with a solo blast to right.
It wasn’t enough. The Mariners struck out 14 times as Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, and Josh Naylor went a combined 0-for-11 with a walk.
Advertisement
Donovan finished 2-for-4 with a home run and double in his Mariners debut.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee left the game in the sixth inning with right shoulder inflammation, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
World Series aspirations surround the only MLB franchise that’s never been there. The Mariners’ magical 2025 postseason ended eight outs shy of the Fall Classic, cut short by Toronto Blue Jays hero George Springer’s three-run blast in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
Advertisement
But Seattle knows they possess the pieces to get back. The Mariners boast the sport’s best catcher in Raleigh, feature the homegrown star Rodriguez in center field, and retain the entirety of last year’s starting rotation. They re-signed Naylor to a five-year contract in November, a trade-deadline acquisition and integral piece of last year’s playoff run, and welcomed Donovan into the mix less than two months ago.
Thursday night began with the unveiling of a new banner suspended over the right-field view level: 2025 AL West Champions.
“It’s a reminder of what we did last year, and the type of season we had, and the way this team came together,” Wilson said Wednesday. “All of those things are wrapped up in that banner.
Advertisement
“But this is a brand-new year. It’s a new season. It’s a time where we start looking forward to what’s ahead of us. It starts (Thursday) night. The banners are great to remember what was, but we’re concentrating on what’s ahead.”
ROBO-UMPS DEBUT AT T-MOBILE PARK
When home plate umpire Lance Barksdale rang up Steven Kwan on a 1-2 cutter in the third inning, Cleveland’s left fielder disagreed.
Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert knew it was strike three, casually strutting off the mound before the call. Catcher Cal Raleigh knew, too, tossing the baseball to third baseman Brendan Donovan for a typical game of Around the Horn.
Advertisement
In years past, players may have barked at the official. Maybe the argument would have escalated into an ejection, or perhaps Guardians manager Steven Vogt would have exited the dugout to offer Barksdale his own thoughts.
Not in 2026.
The future is now, when the robots decide who’s right.
Kwan tapped his helmet, signaling for an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) review. It was the first such challenge in T-Mobile Park history.
MLB implemented the new system this season after several years of testing in the minor leagues, giving teams two challenges per game (challenges are retained if the umpire’s call is overturned). The process takes only 10-15 seconds, with results shown on jumbotrons across the league.
Advertisement
In Kwan’s case? The All-Star would’ve been better off trotting back to the dugout. The video board confirmed what Gilbert and Raleigh knew all along — that the right-hander’s cutter had caught plenty of the strike zone.
Raleigh opted not to use one of Seattle’s two remaining challenges on a called strike three at the plate in the eighth inning. Expect him to be more aggressive with the ABS system as the season marches on, particularly late in games.
“You’ve got to be smart (with challenges),” Raleigh said last month. “You’ve got to put the team first, obviously, and understand when to do it.”
Advertisement
CRAWFORD, MILLER PLACED ON IL
The Mariners began their 50th season without their starting shortstop.
J.P. Crawford (right shoulder inflammation) was placed on the 10-day injured list ahead of the team’s 26-man roster cutdown, lifting utilityman Leo Rivas into the Opening Day lineup. Crawford began a throwing program at the team’s spring facility in Peoria, Ariz., and the injury is “progressing the way it should,” manager Dan Wilson said.
Right-handed starter Bryce Miller began the season on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain and remains in Arizona, Wilson said. Miller made one spring start on Feb. 26 and felt discomfort in warmups on March 11.
Advertisement
“The next step is getting some hitters in the box, and that ramps things up a little bit more,” Wilson said of Miller. “Once he passes that hurdle, then it’s getting a chance to get in games, whether that’s down there, whether that’s up here remains to be seen.
“He’s progressing… in a way that we were hopeful for. It shouldn’t take him too long.”
SHORT HOPS
– Only four MLB teams have won 85+ games in each of the last five seasons: The Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Advertisement
– Julio Rodriguez’s 112 career home runs rank second in MLB history among centerfielders through their first four seasons, trailing only Joe DiMaggio (137), per Mariners PR.
ON DECK
Right-hander George Kirby and the Mariners host Cleveland in the second of a four-game set on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
Here’s a breakdown of the remainder of Seattle’s series with the Guardians at T-Mobile Park:
Friday: RHP George Kirby vs. RHP Gavin Williams (CLE), 6:45 p.m.
Advertisement
Saturday: RHP Bryan Woo vs. LHP Joey Cantillo (CLE), 6:40 p.m.
Sunday: RHP Emerson Hancock vs. RHP Slade Cecconi (CLE), 4:20 p.m.
