Mariners beat White Sox 5-4 to take two of three in series

Published 9:47 am Thursday, May 21, 2026

SEATTLE — Jhonny Pereda and Randy Arozarena hit home runs in the seventh inning Wednesday as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-4 in front of 24,492 at T-Mobile Park.

Pereda led off the seventh with a homer against reliever Sean Newcomb, giving the Mariners a 3-2 lead. Arozarena hit a two-run blast against reliever Jordan Hicks. The Sox scored once in the eighth and ninth but couldn’t complete the comeback.

“Really big series win for us,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, whose team improved to 24-27, two games behind the Athletics in the AL West. “It was just a good game all around.”

The score was tied at 2 in the sixth, but the Sox were threatening with Chase Meidroth on third and Tristan Peters on second with one out.

Drew Romo squared around to bunt but brought the bat back when the first offering was outside.

Pereda, the catcher, spotted Patrick Wisdom near Meidroth, who was making his way down the third-base line, and threw the ball to third baseman. A rundown ensued and Meidroth was tagged out.

“Safety squeeze there, so you’re just reading down angle and making sure that the ball’s put in play,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “He just got a little antsy. It happens. But one of those where you’ve just got to make sure the ball’s put in play and then read the bunt from there.”

Meidroth added: “That’s just one that wasn’t executed by me. I was reading the angle of the pitch and I was just one step too far out on the baseline.”

Romo then grounded out to first to end the inning.

Pereda made an impact at the plate in the seventh with the home run, the first of his major-league career.

Arozarena extended the lead with his two-run shot later in the inning.

The Sox scored once in the eighth and had runners on first and second with two outs when pinch hitter Edgar Quero struck out.

Pinch hitter Randal Grichuk homered leading off the ninth, but reliever José A. Ferrer struck out the next three batters to prevent the Sox from rallying for the second straight game after they fought back Tuesday to top the Mariners 2-1.

“He came in and did an incredible job,” Wilson said. “Not an easy inning by any stretch. Grichuk has done that to us before, and did it again today. I didn’t think that ball was going out, but it did. After that, it was just one after another for (Ferrer). I thought he pounded the zone. That’s someone stepping it up right there and getting us a save in a really big game.”

Mariners starter Emerson Hancock kept the Mariners in the game. In the second inning, he walked three straight batters before getting out of it with a strikeout and a double-play ball. He went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits and the three walks.

“It felt really similar to the one inning in Chicago, where you just kind of lose it a little bit,” he said. “In that moment again, you’re just trying to slow it down, realize you’re a couple good pitches away. It was a big, big moment for sure.”

Mariners notes

The Mariners drew three hit by pitches in Wednesday’s game, tied for the most in a single game this season. The 7 HBP across the series match a franchise-high mark across a three-game series. Their 36 HBP lead MLB, ranking ahead of St. Louis (35 HBP).

Mariners batters have drawn tw-plus hit-by-pitches in three consecutive games, matching a franchise high mark.

• Emerson Hancock threw 86 pitches and 46 strikes. He has allowed three or fewer walks over five-plus IP in all 10 of his starts this season. He is one of four pitchers to do so in 2026. Hancock walked three batters in an inning for the third time in his career. It was the second time he has done so this season, also against the White Sox on May 8.

• Matt Brash made his first appearance out of the pen after being activated from the 15-day IL prior to the game. He has yet to allow an earned run in 12 1/3 innings over 15 appearances this season. His 15-game streak is the longest active streak in MLB this season.

• Cole Young drew a walk in his first career at-bat out of the leadoff spot, finishing the game 1-for-2 with a double, and a walk. It marks his ninth double of the season for the third most on the team. He has eclipsed his 2025 mark of seven doubles through 77 games.

• Colt Emerson drew his second walk of the season. He has reached base in all four games since his MLB debut.

• Randy Arozarena went 1-for-2 with a homer in the seventh to extend the Mariners lead to 5-2. He reached base twice via HBP and a walk, coming around to score a run both times on base for three runs scored in today’s game.

He drew a HBP in his 2nd consecutive game. It marks his 46th HBP with the Mariners, eclipsing Mike Zunino (45) for sole ownership of rank 9 in franchise history, one behind Ichiro Suzuki. It was the 10th time in his career he has been hit by a pitch in back-to-back games. His 106 career HBP are the fourth most in MLB since 2019.

Arozarena recorded his 13th and 14th stolen bases of the season to lead the team and rank fifth in MLB. His 14 stolen bases are a career-high through the first 51 games played of the season, eclipsing his 10 stolen bases through 51 games in 2022. It marks his first game with multiple SB this season. He has 14-plus stolen bases in six consecutive seasons, and he is one of three players thus far to have six-plus seasons of 14 or more stolen bases since 2019.

His 36 runs this season lead the team and are tied for fifth most in MLB, and also ranks second in the AL. He has scored 131 runs scored since 2025, ranking 11th in MLB across that span.

• Dominic Canzone went 1-for-3 with a double, a HBP and a RBI. He knocked an RBI-double to drive in the first Mariners run of the game. He has reached base safely in eight consecutive starts. Canzone has reached base safely at least once in 15 of 17 home games he has started in this season. He is 16-for-49 with six doubles, 10 runs scored, eight RBI and 6 walks in such games.

• Patrick Wisdom recorded a double in today’s game for his first hit with the Mariners. He has driven in a run in back-to-back games since returning from the 10-day IL.

• Julio Rodríguez went 2-for-4 with a run scored and reached base safely in all six games of the homestand. Recording his 120th career double today, he became the sixth player in MLB history with 120-plus SB, 120-plus HR, 120-plus 2B before turning 26, joining Ronald Acuña Jr., Mike Trout, Álex Rodríguez, César Cedeño and Vada Pinson. He joins José Ramírez as the only two players with 120-plus HR, 120-plus SB and 120-plus doubles since 2022.

• With Colt Emerson (20 and 304 days old) making the start at SS and Cole Young (22 and 295 days old) at 2B, they become the youngest Mariners starting middle infield duo since Spike Owen (22 and 151 days old) and Harold Reynolds (22 and 295 days old) on Sept. 17, 1983 at White Sox.

Herald news services and Herald writer Aaron Coe contributed to this report.