Cubs 19, Mariners 2: Happ and Ramírez Grand Slams Blow Up Seattle

Two grand slams, nine in the eighth, and a sweep avoided

August 23, 2026 - Seattle - Seattle led 2-0 before the third inning ended. By the time the ninth did, the scoreboard looked like a typing error.

Ian Happ and Pedro Ramirez each hit grand slams and drove in five runs. Pete Crow-Armstrong homered too. The Chicago Cubs piled up 19 runs and 17 hits and beat the Seattle Mariners 19-2 to avoid a three-game sweep at T-Mobile Park.

Chicago stayed 4 1/2 games clear in the NL wild-card picture at 75-56. Seattle fell to 62-69, still three games behind Houston in the AL West and three back of the final wild-card spot.

Miller walked the bases, then Happ cleared them

Randy Arozarena opened the night with a solo homer off Shota Imanaga. Victor Robles scored in the second on a throwing error by catcher Carson Kelly. 2-0 Mariners. That was the high-water mark for the home club.

Michael Conforto answered with a solo shot to start the third. Then Bryce Miller (4-8) walked three straight with two outs. Happ got ahead 1-2, then kept his hands inside on a down-and-in splitter and drove it off the facing in right for his 22nd homer. Grand slam. 5-2.

Miller lasted 4 1/3 and was charged with six earned runs on two hits and seven walks. That is how a short outing becomes a long night: free passes, then one swing that turns traffic into a rout.

The eighth turned a lead into a demolition

Chicago added single runs in the fifth and sixth. Crow-Armstrong's infield single scored Ramirez for 7-2. The eighth was the chapter Seattle will want scrubbed.

Crow-Armstrong hit his team-leading 33rd homer, a two-run shot to right. Walks and singles kept loading the bases. Then Ramirez faced backup catcher Jhonny Pereda and launched a grand slam to left. Nine runs in the frame. 16-2. Three more scored in the ninth for the final.

Seiya Suzuki reached three times and scored three. Michael Busch and Alex Bregman kept the line moving. Chicago went 8-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Seattle went 0-for-6.

Civale cleaned up after Imanaga's short start

Imanaga lasted two innings and allowed both Seattle runs (one earned). Aaron Civale (6-7) took over and threw four scoreless, one hit, no walks, two strikeouts. That is the quiet half of a 19-2: somebody has to stop the bleeding so the lineup can keep swinging.

Three Chicago relievers finished the last three innings without allowing a run. Seattle managed seven hits as a club and never put together another rally after the second.

AthX Engine put Chicago alone on the team board

AthX Engine graded the Cubs at 39 team fantasy points, clear of every other club on the slate. Ramirez led Chicago bats at 13 hitting fantasy points. Crow-Armstrong scored 12. Happ scored 11. Suzuki scored 10. Civale added 15 pitching fantasy points on the four clean frames. Fantasy points measure the box. Price is a separate market number.

What's next

The Cubs open in Arizona with Kevin Gausman against Merrill Kelly. Seattle hosts Philadelphia with Logan Gilbert opposite Zack Wheeler. One Sunday does not erase a series loss. It does remind the wild-card race that Chicago can still erase a deficit in a single swing, then another.

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*Sources: ESPN recap, ESPN box score, MLB schedule, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*