Grading the Seattle Mariners' badly needed 3-0 series sweep vs. Cleveland Guardians

It would be difficult to overstate just how badly the Seattle Mariners needed a win this past weekend. Not just in a literal sense, but certainly in a broader sense after dropping eight out of nine and falling under .500 for the first time since April.

Well, the Mariners got their win. Three of them if you want to get technical, and the third one over the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday came in style. For what felt like the first time in forever, the Mariners broke it open early — primarily thanks to J.P. Crawford's second inning grand slam — and waltzed to an easy 6-0 victory.

Without further delay, let's get into grading how the Mariners performed in all facets of the game. Call it a spoiler if you want, but it's the first one of these we've done in a while that isn't tinged with misery.

Mariners vs. Guardians Breakdown and Grades: Series Results

• Friday, June 13: SEA 7, CLE 2
• Saturday, June 14: SEA 4, CLE 3
• Sunday, June 15: SEA 6, CLE 0

Grading the Mariners’ Offense: A

Especially after what happened last week against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Mariners got something they badly needed this weekend: a series win courtesy of good at-bats and clutch hitting.

The Mariners hit only three home runs, and two of them were solo shots. The offense instead channeled the version of itself that was so effective in the first six weeks of the season, grinding Guardians pitchers for 28 hits and 15 walks while granting the opposition only 17 strikeouts.

More importantly, the Mariners had 10 hits with runners in scoring position. They had five such hits in Arizona, and it was especially nice to see the offense throw RISP parties in the late innings.

On Friday, the Mariners got five of their runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Then on Saturday, Jorge Polanco's two-out RBI single capped a two-run rally against the normally Teflon-coated Emmanuel Clase.

Don't look now — i.e., do look now — but Polanco is warm again after enduring a brutal slump in May. He is 12-for-41 since June 5, with three walks against just three strikeouts. His homer on Friday was his first since all the way back on May 12, and his first from the right side all year.

This is a critical development given that Dan Wilson has taken to batting Polanco behind Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh. Whereas Randy Arozarena had proven to be too inconsistent to effectively protect the two stars, this series is a solid proof of concept that Polanco will be. Indeed, the Guardians walking Raleigh to bring Polanco to the plate on Saturday was a challenge that he had to rise to meet, and he did.

With no homers in his last six games, Raleigh may finally have reached a cool-down phase that had felt inevitable. It's a good thing, then, that Polanco isn't the only one who's found his form. Crawford is on an on-base heater with a .536 OBP dating back to May 30, while Rodríguez is batting .311 over his last 35 games.

Grading the Mariners’ Defense: A

This was yet another clean defensive series for the Mariners, whose lone error was on a wide throw to first base by Raleigh that a more nimble first baseman might have been able to handle.

Further on the subject of said non-nimble first baseman, you don't sign a guy like Rowdy Tellez and hope for Gold Glove defense at the cold corner. His trade is exit velocity, not Outs Above Average. It nonetheless bears noting that he's at -5 OAA for the year, largely because of how many balls he simply can't get to.

He is frankly one of too many weak links on an infield that is one of the least effective in the league. It's -10 OAA is fifth from the bottom of MLB, which is a little hard to excuse given that run prevention is supposed to be Seattle's whole thing.

On the plus side, this infield has the double play down pat. It turned five in this series and it ranks sixth in the league with 152 for the season. And to give credit where it's due, Tellez was on both the starting and finishing end of a nifty 3-6-3 twin killing on Friday.

As to other infield matters, this out-of-nowhere grab in foul territory by Miles Mastrobuoni on Sunday was just pure, uncomplicated fun:

Otherwise, we hope everyone is enjoying the amazing season that Rodríguez is having out in center field. He didn't rob any home runs in this series, but he did have a really nice "stay with it" catch on a deep drive to center field by Bo Naylor on Friday.

Overall, the gloves did their part in what was a solid stifling job by the team. The Guardians don't have a barn-burning offense, but five runs in three games is never not an acceptable outcome.

Grading the Mariners’ Pitching: A

Again, shutting down the Guardians offense was not exactly a tough assignment for the Mariners. José Ramírez is the only hitter of theirs who really scares anyone, and the team as a whole isn't even averaging four runs per game in 2025.

This said, it was still nice to see the pitching take the lead after a brutal series (i.e., 23 runs in three games) in Arizona.

As he has so often done since arriving in Seattle in 2022, Luis Castillo set the tone with six innings of two-run ball on Friday. He is now rocking a 3.29 ERA through 14 starts even though his stuff is still not what it used to be, so we're just going to keep tipping our cap to his apparently limitless ability to adjust.

On Friday, Castillo's latest trick was to dust off his changeup for extra usage. He did have one hit for a home run, but it still acted as an effective smokescreen for his fastballs, which accounted for all seven of his strikeouts.

In his first start since his 14-strikeout gem against the Los Angeles Angels, George Kirby had to battle just to get through five innings on Saturday. He had constant traffic on the basepaths by way of five hits and three walks, and he needed 101 pitches to get through it all.

It was a bit of a reality check, serving as a reminder that Kirby still isn't all the way back after missing the first eight weeks of the season following shoulder inflammation. But he's at least stabilizing, and that is something.

Speaking of stabilizing, it seems fair to say that Emerson Hancock deserves to have the rotation spot that would have been filled by a healthy Bryce Miller. He now has a 3.65 ERA since his recall from the minors on April 17 after seven shutout innings on Sunday, wherein he allowed just two hits and no walks.

Also on the topic of stability, the bullpen came through with nine one-run innings in this series even though Andrés Muñoz didn't make an appearance. He's barely pitched at all in June, which is largely circumstantial but also an apparent case of Wilson experimenting with different guys to see who can be trusted in high-leverage spots.

Grading the Mariners’ Strategy: B

Wilson didn't seem to know what to do with Polanco for a while there, and who can blame him? But now that Polanco is hitting again, let's credit Wilson for trusting in his hot hand and finding the perfect place for him in the clean-up spot.

With Polanco and Arozarena batting fourth and fifth and Crawford and Rodríguez at the top of the lineup, Raleigh now has ample protection on both sides of the No. 3 spot. That should help keep his bat warm in theory, and this new lineup construction obviously paid off on Saturday.

“A lot of smiles after that one,” Wilson said, per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times.

While the Mariners have had some weird bunts throughout the year, the sacrifice that Cole Young laid down in the ninth inning on Saturday also played a role in the win. It was a good call on Wilson's part, and kudos to Young for being able to lay down a perfect bunt even against 100 mph cutter.

There otherwise isn't much issue to take with how Wilson handled the bullpen. There are times when we wish he would be more aggressive using Muñoz, but none of the three games called for that kind of boldness. He's now a week removed from his last appearance on June 9 and, honestly, that is fine. It's a long season and his right arm is precious.

The Mariners will look to keep their newfound momentum going on Monday against the Boston Red Sox, who are suddenly without their best hitter after pulling a Rafael Devers trade out of nowhere on Sunday. Interesting times, to say the least, but certainly good timing as far as Seattle is concerned.

Further, Logan Gilbert will finally come off the injured list on Monday. So if there was ever a moment for the Mariners to keep their momentum going, it's now.