M’s Anderson solid in debut; Arozarena walks it off

August 23, 2026 No Comments

Anderson solid in MLB debut; Arozarena walks it off for MarinersESPN News ServicesMultiple AuthorsAug 22, 2026, 10:16 PM ET

SEATTLE — Randy Arozarena hit a walk-off, two-run home run as the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4.

Arozarena took Cubs closer Jacob Webb (6-3) 404 feet to straightaway center to secure the victory for Seattle. The Mariners trailed 4-2 entering the ninth inning and pulled within one run on a two-out, RBI single by Leo Rivas.

Arozarena also hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first and finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He is the seventh player in MLB history with a leadoff homer and walk-off homer in the same game.

Kade Anderson made his much anticipated Major League debut, yielding three earned runs across 5⅔ innings. He cruised through his first five innings, allowing a run on just two hits, before surrendering two solo homers in the sixth. He threw 81 pitches — more than he threw in any game in the minors — and finished with five strikeouts.

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Anderson, 22, entered the evening as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. The third overall pick in 2025, he became the first player from his draft class to make his Major League debut.

Mariners reliever Michael Rucker (1-4) earned his first win of the season.

Seattle (62-68) improved to 3½ games behind Houston in the AL West and two games back for the final wild-card spot. The Cubs (74-56) dropped to a 4.5-game lead in the NL wild card.

Chicago struck first against Anderson in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Alcántara. Seattle led twice before the Cubs’ three-run sixth inning, first taking a 1-0 advantage on a leadoff home run by Arozarena and then on an RBI groundout by Dominic Canzone in the fifth inning.

Mariners utilityman Brendan Donovan was a late scratch because he was hit in the head by a baseball in the batting cages before Saturday’s game. Weston Wilson started in his place at third base and batted eighth.

The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.