Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh, middle, is congratulated by Teoscar Hernandez (35) after hitting a home run as Oakland Athletics catcher Tyler Soderstrom, right, looks on during the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Sep 20, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Seattle Mariners spoiled rookie pitcher Joey Estes’ Major League debut Wednesday afternoon. Estes went 4.2 innings, allowing six runs and six hits. Five of the six hits were for extra bases, two doubles, and three home runs. The Mariners, behind George Kirby’s seven innings, holding the A’s three runs, beat the A’s 6-3 to sweep the three-game series.

The M’s put two runs on the board at the top of the second. With one out, Tye France reached on Jordan Diaz’s fielding error. It was Diaz’s second error of the game. The next hitter, Dominic Canzone, homered to give the Mariners an early lead, 2-0.

Zack Gelof, leading off in the fourth, sent George Kirby’s pitch over the wall in center field to bring the A’s within a run of tying the game. The Mariners still lead 2-1 heading into the fifth inning. 

The M’s big boys put four more runs on the board in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead. Hit by one of Estes’ pitches in the third, Julio Rodriguez exacted a degree of revenge by blasting his 31st home run of the year. The next hitter, catcher Cal Raleigh, who doubled in the first, homered for the 29th time to give the M’s a 4-1 lead. Seattle scored two more.

With one out, Eugenio Suarez doubled. Estes hit first baseman Ty France with a pitch. A’s manager, Mark Kotsay, removed Estes from the game. Adrian Martinez came in to pitch. The first batter Martinez faced, Dominic Canzone, who had homered in the second, doubled to drive in both runners. The M’s led 6-1 halfway through the fifth inning.

With two out in the bottom of the sixth, the A’s rallied to make it a 6-3 game. Seth Brown singled for the second time, and the A’s best power hitter this season, Brent Rooker, sent George Kirby’s 97 mile-per-hour out of the park. For Rooker, it was his 27th big fly of the year. 

Neither team scored in the final three innings. Seattle wins 6-3.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 46-106. They own the worst record in baseball. They have lost seven in a row and are sixty games under the .500 mark. They are close to exceeding the 1979 A’s team that lost 108 games, a team record.

The Mariners are now 84-68—the M’s kept pace with the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. The Astros are just 1/2 game ahead of the Rangers and the Mariners in the race for first place in the AL West.

The Line score for Oakland was three runs, eight hits, and two errors. Joey Estes was the losing pitcher. The 21-year-old Estes was the fifth A’s pitcher this year to debut in 2023. Estes’ line was 4.2 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, six hits, three of which were home runs, two walks, and two strikeouts. Estes threw 90 pitches, 60 were strikes.

The Line for Seattle was six runs, eight hits, and no errors. George Kirby was the winning pitcher. Kirby’s record improved to 11-10.

Julio Rodriguez. Cal Raleigh and Dominic Canzone homered for Seattle. Canzone had a double and a home run and drove in four runs. 

Zack Gelof and Brent Rooker homered for the A’s. Rooker had two RBIs. 

The A’a are 0-6 on the ten-game homestand. Oakland will host the Detroit Tigers for four games starting Thursday night. Luis Medina (3-9 ERA 5.56) will pitch for Oakland. The Tigers will send lefty Tarik Skubal (6-3 ERA 3.25) to the mound to face the A’s. The game will start at 6:40 p.m at the Oakland Coliseum.