Josh Naylor muscled and hustled the Mariners to an 8-6 win.
The Mariners looked sure to blow out the White Sox early on Wednesday. Naylor crushed a two-run home run in the first inning, and Julio Rodríguez padded the lead with another long homer in the second. While George Kirby’s command was spotty at times, he handed the ball off with a comfortable 7-2 lead in the sixth. But the bullpen allowed a trio of homers to deliver what was ultimately another close, high-scoring victory. The Mariners improved to nine games above .500 for the first time this year and are now two back of the Astros in the AL West.
Naylor’s spectacular 450-foot tank into the Hit-It-Here Cafe in the bottom of the first was his second home run in as many nights and his third since joining the club in July. He now has a 137 wRC+ with the Mariners and ranks among the top 50 qualified hitters of 2025.
“I honestly just try to see it in my zone, and if it’s there, I want to take a good chance at it and try to get my ‘A’ swing off,” Naylor said of his homer, which came on a first-pitch cutter left up in the zone. That approach doesn’t always work out, “ but you have to be willing to take a chance and be OK with your result, whether it’s good or bad — as long as the effort level is there and the intent is there.”
Perhaps more impressive than the homers — or at least more surprising — has been Naylor’s work on the bases. After a rocket single in the seventh inning, Naylor stole second. Then he stole third. He now has 10 stolen bases in 12 games in Seattle. The Mariners’ single-season record for stolen bases by first baseman is 11 by Dan Meyer in 1977 (159 games) and Luke Raley in 2024 (137 games). Naylor is nearly there in one-tenth of the games.
The stolen bases for Naylor aren’t a matter of pure speed. His average sprint speed in 2025 is 24.5 feet per second, which ranks in the third percentile — a touch faster than Rowdy Tellez and a touch slower than Donovan Solano. Naylor said he studies pitchers from the bench to pick up their timing and tendencies. He wants to capitalize on situations and shift the pressure from those hitting behind him to the opposing pitcher.
“People don’t understand the value of 90 feet sometimes,” he said.
Dan Wilson praised Naylor’s focus and willingness to do the little things to win: “He sees the game in a different light and takes advantage of the things he sees.”
It wasn’t all Naylor on Wednesday. The Mariners in the second inning sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs to take a 7-1 lead . They went walk, single, walk, single before Julio obliterated a hanging slider 435 feet — just short of the left field bleachers.
The Mariners on the day picked up eight runs on eight hits and six walks, though it often felt like more. They hit the ball hard, moved runners over, and put constant pressure on White Sox pitchers. It was another game carried by the deepest and perhaps best lineup in MLB at the moment.
It was also another game with an occasionally shaky but ultimately effective starting pitcher performance. Kirby struggled to find the zone at times, especially after sitting longer than normal while the Mariners’ offense poured it on. He allowed a pair of singles and a pair of walks in the top of the third; he escaped having allowed just one run but needed 30 pitches to do so.
“I went up to Cal and I was like, let’s have a quick inning here, and of course it wasn’t,” Kirby said. “I would have liked to get out of that inning quicker, but I’m glad I bore down. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”
Some of Kirby’s misses were not misses at all. He got 19 whiffs on Wednesday — tying a season-high — including five on his knuckle curve. It’s a pitch he wants to look like a strike but never quite land for one. He was pleased with how he executed it against the White Sox.
“I’m really just focused on not throwing that pitch in the zone whatsoever,” he said of his curve. “I’ve been working at that pitch a lot, trying to get that to be a swing-and-miss weapon. I’m kind of thinking of the dirt as the strike zone for that pitch. I’ve been freaking hammering it every week in bullpens.”
Despite the rough patches, Kirby worked through six innings, allowed two runs on five hits, struck out nine, and generated a bunch of weak contact. It was another “new look” Kirby outing. The pitcher once singularly focused on throwing strikes appears to have evolved. While his walk rate has doubled from a year ago, the “stuff” looks more effective than ever. He’s been a top 15 starting pitcher since his first few starts of 2025. It’s tough to argue with the results.
It’s easier to argue with the results from the bullpen on Wednesday. Eduard Bazardo took over for Kirby in the seventh. He allowed a double and then back-to-back homers to create a save situation from a once-secure lead. That required Andrés Muñoz in the ninth, who allowed a leadoff homer followed by two consecutive walks. Muñoz set down the next three batters to finish off an 8-6 win.
What looked like an early blowout wound up being a close, uneasy, slog of a win — but a win nonetheless. The Mariners moved to nine games above .500 for the first time this year. They are two games back of the Astros in the AL West.