Mariners 5, Cubs 4: Arozarena's Walk-Off Homers Seattle Past Chicago

Trailing by two in the ninth, then Arozarena found center field

August 22, 2026 - Seattle - The Seattle Mariners trailed the Chicago Cubs 4-2 entering the ninth. Leo Rivas singled home a run with two outs. Then Randy Arozarena took Jacob Webb 404 feet to straightaway center.

Walk-off. Two runs. Mariners 5, Cubs 4. Arozarena had already led off the game with a homer. The second one sent T-Mobile Park home happy and put him alone atop every hitter on the Saturday AthX Engine board.

Anderson's debut, then a three-run sixth that nearly stuck

Kade Anderson made his much-anticipated MLB debut. The 22-year-old left-hander, the third overall pick in 2025, became the first player from that draft class to reach the majors. He worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed three earned runs. Not a no-drama debut. Not a disaster either. Seattle led twice before Chicago's three-run sixth flipped the game.

Kevin Alcántara's sacrifice fly in the fifth opened the Cubs' scoring. Dominic Canzone's RBI groundout had put Seattle back in front earlier. The sixth belonged to Chicago, and for three innings it looked like it would hold. Michael Rucker (1-4) earned his first win of the season in relief. Webb (6-3) took the loss after the walk-off.

Brendan Donovan was a late scratch after being hit in the head by a baseball in the batting cages before the game. Weston Wilson started at third in his place. Those are the footnotes a walk-off night still carries.

What the win means in August

Seattle moved to 62-68, three games behind Houston in the AL West and two games back of the final wild-card spot. Chicago fell to 74-56 and saw its NL wild-card lead shrink to 4 1/2 games. One Saturday does not rewrite either race. A leadoff homer and a walk-off from the same bat will still show up in every recap that matters.

Anderson's debut will get its own chapter later. Arozarena's ninth inning is the one that owned this night.

AthX Engine put Arozarena alone at the top of the hitter board

AthX Engine graded Arozarena at 15 hitting fantasy points, clear of every other bat on the slate. Seattle finished with 9 team fantasy points. Fantasy points measure the box. Price is a separate market number. On a night when the leadoff man also hits the walk-off, both numbers point at the same page.

What's next

Bryce Miller faces Shota Imanaga in the series finale. Anderson will get another turn. Arozarena already wrote the Saturday headline. AthX Engine will keep that hitter page at the top of any board that still cares about what happened in the ninth.

Marketplace

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