Dark, ugly clouds are hanging over the Seattle Mariners. None of them were as heavy as the results of the last two games, both devastating walk-off losses to the Oakland Athletics at their soon-to-be-former home of the Oakland Coliseum, with the Mariners falling below the .500 mark for the season in the second game. While they’re not technically out of the postseason yet, the storm clouds and steep cliff faces are drawing ever closer, and it feels like the Mariners will have to swim against the tide with a ferocity never seen before, at least not by the 2024 team, to find a quick run to the postseason. If they’re even capable of such a thing, they’d need a big performance to convince even a few, let alone many, and today’s performance may have been just big enough to convince those first few, as Seattle beat the Athletics in game three by a lopsided score of 16-3.

It wasn’t until halfway through the game that the score became lopsided, and by the second half of the first inning, it looked like the Athletics were only going in their favor and George Kirby’s August troubles were stretching into September. Lawrence Butler only needed to see the first pitch, a middle fastball that he hit into left field, to continue his hitting streak and start the game with a double. Brent Rooker also only needed one pitch, a middle slider that he hit into left field for a single, and Butler scored and the A’s took an early lead. A one-run lead felt like a ten-run lead in the last week of M’s games, but Kirby refused to carry that burden today. George rebounded by getting JJ Bleday to strikeout, grounding Shea Langeliers with a 3-2 edge fastball and, with a little help from Cal Raleigh, catching Rooker trying to steal second base.

Kirby came into the game well after that, facing the minimum in the second, third and fourth innings, collecting two more strikeouts in each. The smooth ride ran into troubled waters early in the fifth inning when a Seth Brown single and a Zack Gelof double put runners on second and third base with no outs, but Kirby combined a couple of fly outs and a backward K from Max Schuemann to pull himself out of the affair. Kirby played his final inning in the sixth, allowing his second earned run. A one-out Brent Rooker single and a JJ Bleday double did the damage, and a Langeliers pop out and a Seth Brown fly out finished it off and ended his night. With much better control than August allowed us, Kirby finished six straight innings with just two earned runs on six hits, no walks and nine strikeouts, collecting thirteen whiffs along the way.

As refreshing as it was to see Kirby’s performance on the mound return to form, it hasn’t been a disappointing season in terms of the Mariners’ pitching. That particular approaching cumulus was Seattle’s offensive performance, or rather, lack thereof. If they want to earn any relevance at the end of this season, they’re going to have to do it with their bats. Today, the Seattle Mariners did just that. All of them.

No, not really. Every single Seattle Mariners batter, number one through nine in the lineup, had at least one hit today. Combined, they issued just four walks, but converted their sixteen hits into sixteen runs and had just six strikeouts as a team.

The scoring began in the second inning, with the Mariners building a lead they would never relinquish. Randy Arozarena reached base on a 2-2 fastball that came in, and Victor Robles took the more traditional route, bringing it to 3-2 and throwing a fastball below the zone. Garver fought his way to a 2-2 sinker in the outer part of the zone that he liked, sending it to the wall in left-center field for a double that scored both runners.

Seattle scored next in the fourth inning against Oakland starter JP Sears. Victor Robles, always the cheerleader, scored with a two-out double by attacking the first pitch changeup and sending it to left field. Then Mitch Garver, who took his title as designated hitter very seriously that night, hit a jumping grounder to left-center for a single that brought Victor home from second base.

Luis Urías then doubled Garver.

And Dylan Moore brought in Urías with a single.

DMo was able to steal second base, but not for long before JP Crawford grounded out on a foul tip to end the inning. Coming out of their half of the fourth inning, the Mariners were up 5-1. The A’s would score three today, and the M’s five would have been enough, and that alone would have caused a huge sigh of relief for all the Mariners. But the Mariners didn’t just need a win today. They needed to make a statement. They made that statement early in the seventh inning.

Local product Janson Junk made his Oakland debut tonight in the seventh inning and was greeted with a Seattle-style reception in the big leagues. Urías, who finished the night 3-for-4 with a walk, opened the game by working a 3-1 count and over-hitting a top-of-the-zone fastball at 105.9 mph for a home run to left field.

Then DMo doubled, Crawford singled, and Julio Rodríguez made the most of his only hit of the night, hitting an infield single toward third base to score Moore.

A wild pitch advanced the runners, and a walk by Cal Raleigh put them ahead before Randy Arozarena hit his double, scoring JP and Julio and moving Cal to third base.

Justin Turner worked a five-pitch walk after swinging through the first pitch, and then Victor Robles attacked the first pitch, hit a line drive to center field, scored Cal, and loaded the bases. Still no outs. Who are these players and what have they done with the 2024 Mariners? And with that, Janson Junk’s night was finally over. Ross Stripling came in as a reliever and Mitch Garver promptly went down swinging for the first out. Luis Urías then made his second appearance and his second RBI of the inning, drawing a walk, and Dylan Moore rounded out the scoring with a sacrifice fly that scored Justin Turner and gave the Mariners a 12-2 lead.

JT Chargois entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and Oakland briefly threatened to strike back. Zack Gelof worked a 3-2 walk to open the game and Tristan Gray quickly moved him to third base. Max Schuemann hit a ground ball into a fielder’s decision that gave Gelof a run and Oakland cut the gap to 12-3. Chargois induced a groundout from Jacob Wilson before Taylor Saucedo had to get the final out of the inning, giving pinch hitter Tyler Nevin the opportunity.

Surprisingly, the Mariners didn’t give up, as if to say, “No, really, we’re REALLY going to win a baseball game, REALLY.” In the top of the eighth inning, Raleigh, Arozarena and Turner managed to load the bases with one out in a row for my new favorite Mariner (and no, I’m not kidding) Victor Robles. One pitch to the top of the zone later, Victor Robles found the corner in left field for a two-run double.

Mitch Garver scored another run with a fielder’s choice grounder and Urías crowned his strong evening with another RBI double.

That left the game with a final score of 16-3, the most runs the Mariners have ever scored at the Oakland Coliseum. A bombastic statement, a powerful push, and maybe, just maybe, not too late. Tomorrow the Mariners will play their last game at the Coliseum, a fourth game in which they can save the series with a tie. And if they keep playing like they did today, they might be able to save the season.