SEATTLE — It’s only March, with 157 games to go, so it’s a little much to be overly excited about one game.

You can also say that, despite the win, the Mariners left a lot of meat on the bone so to speak with plenty of traffic on the bases but just two runs to show for it.

Two things can be true, and yet, the Mariners just showed why they’re such a special team.

The Mariners got a dominant performance from Luis Castillo in his first start of the 2026 season — not allowing a run in six innings of work while striking out seven Yankees batters.

The M’s continued to get production from newcomer Brendan Donovan and 2nd baseman Cole Young, who drove in the Mariners first run of the night.

Now, the talk of the first series was about if the M’s middle of the order could get rolling. With everything else working in their favor, it would seem to be a sign of the World Series contender that so many expect.

Enter Cal Raleigh.

Given a day off by manager Dan Wilson, even the Mariners skipper admitted before the game said, “anything’s possible” when it came to Raleigh potentially getting a late pinch-hit at bat. After all, he seemed to be heating up with his first two hits of the season over the weekend.

That moment came in the 7th, but Raleigh struck out.

But just like we saw with that special 2025 Mariners team, this club just keeps grinding and finds ways to stay alive.

You saw it brewing when Leo Rivas hit a single to get aboard in the 9th, then Donovan moved Rivas to third with a base hit of his own.

Enter Cal Raleigh (again).

This time, the Mariners leader and masher of 60+ home runs came through in the clutch like he always seems to with a laser beam of a base hit down the right field line.

Ball game over.

It was one clutch moment, but it was a microcosm of what makes this Mariners team special.

It’s a collective effort with so many different players stepping up.

It’s about lights-out pitching that will almost always give you a chance.

It’s about timely hits that always seem to come at the most opportune time.

It was one night, a game in late March with temperatures hovering in the 40s.

But it was an absolute statement from the Mariners of what might just be in 2026.