Cole Young keeps bailing out a Mariners team loaded with MVP, Cy Young candidates

The Mariners' 5-3 win over the Twins on Wednesday was one of those emotional whiplash games. One minute, an all-timed pitching injury and iffy defense had them in trouble. The next, to the rescue came not Cal Raleigh or Julio Rodríguez, but a guy who might as well go by "Who else?"

Because, really, who else would it be besides Cole Young?

He entered Wednesday with an RBI in five straight games. He had already made it six with a game-tying single in the seventh before he strode to the plate in the ninth, with two in scoring position and the Mariners trailing 3-2. All he had to do was poke one past a drawn-in infield, and he did.

So, go ahead and add a clutch gene to Young's growing list of credentials. As the Mariners public relations department noted on X, the 22-year-old second baseman now has six go-ahead or game-tying RBI in the seventh inning or later. That leads all major league hitters.

With 1.9 rWAR to his name entering Wednesday, Young already stood apart as Seattle's most productive player of 2026. To think that will last would be to engage in make-believe. Raleigh and Julio began the year as leading candidates for the AL MVP. And since 2023, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo have all been top-six finishers in the AL Cy Young Award voting.

Yet even if it's too soon to proclaim Young a superstar, he's definitely breaking out. And even if all they did Wednesday was get back to .500, the Mariners wouldn't be anywhere close without him.

Before Cole Young came through, Mariners were on the verge of their worst loss of 2026

After winning Tuesday's game against the Twins, the Mariners were already guaranteed to return home to Seattle after a winning road trip. But in the bottom of the eighth, a potential 5-1 trip was in danger of becoming a 4-2 trip in agonizing fashion.

First, Matt Brash had to leave after two pitches with some kind of mystery injury. Then with two outs, Victor Caratini gave the Twins the lead on a ground ball that snuck past J.P. Crawford.

As he has been the Mariners' best reliever, panic understandably set in when Brash walked off the mound with the trainer. But he's apparently OK. Per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, the righty had some discomfort in his right side that wasn't there before or after the game.

Frankly, the Crawford play is the bigger point of concern. That ball wasn't hit hard, yet he couldn't even keep it in front of him to keep the runner from scoring. And it wasn't even his first "hold your breath" play of the game, as a wide throw on the tail end of a double play in the third nearly got away from Josh Naylor.

Whether or not it's related to the shoulder issues he had in the spring, arm strength is clearly a problem for Crawford. And if it's a question of which shortstop in the Mariners organization has the most range, Colt Emerson is the obvious answer.

The better defensive alignment is with Emerson at short and Crawford at third base, but it's obviously not that simple. Third base is where Brendan Donovan will play when he comes off the injured list. And even if Emerson is signed for $95 million, the Mariners can't be so flippant about bumping a respected veteran off his perch.

It's a no-win spot the Mariners are in, so the only hope is that the status quo doesn't cost them any more wins than it has to.

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