The reigning American League West champion Seattle Mariners have finally moved atop the division.

Their reward is a series against the hottest team in baseball.

The Mariners will play host to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game interleague series beginning Friday night. The Diamondbacks have won five in a row and 10 of their past 11 games.

The Mariners are coming off a three-game sweep of the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif., to take a half-game lead over the A’s in the division.

Seattle outscored the A’s 22-4 in the series, including a 9-1 victory Wednesday as Rob Refsnyder and Julio Rodriguez hit three-run homers and Logan Gilbert pitched six scoreless innings.

“Heck of a series, and (Wednesday) was kind of an exclamation point,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “This is as good as we’ve played all season long and as consistent as we’ve been.”

Refsnyder, signed in the offseason to combat left-handed pitching, was batting just .113 going into the game but homered in the first inning to get the Mariners going.

“The timing is great,” Gilbert said. “Being a resilient team is stuff we talk about, but to go out there and actually do it, and against a good team that was in first place at their place, that’s exactly how we wanted the series to go. All the way around – offense, defense – I think everybody’s on a good page right now.”

The Diamondbacks finished off a three-game sweep of host San Francisco with a 3-2 victory Wednesday.

Former Mariner Paul Sewald earned the save, the 100th of his career and his 14th in 15 opportunities this season.

The 36-year-old Sewald wasn’t sure he’d get another shot after appearing in just 22 games for Detroit and Cleveland last season.

“I wasn’t even healthy enough to throw (much) last year, so a lot of (my thought) was just, am I going to get to play again? Because I’m getting older, and I wasn’t healthy,” Sewald said. “… I’m just fortunate to be out there pitching, really, is what it comes down to.”

The Diamondbacks’ recent run, all against Colorado and San Francisco, has taken them from below .500 to tied atop the National League’s wild-card standings.

“Those aren’t the best two teams in the league, but, you know, you’ve got to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat,” Sewald said.

Sewald said he’s excited to head back to Seattle against a Mariners club many predicted in the preseason to meet the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

The Mariners remain without catcher Cal Raleigh (right oblique strain) and third baseman Brendan Donovan (left groin strain).

“No Cal, no Donovan, you know, that’s a little different for (the Mariners),” Sewald said. “They won’t be at full strength, where we’re getting healthier and we’re getting better. But they’re a really good team, they play really well at home. It’s a tough, loud environment, so it’ll be a good test. We feel good. We feel good about playing anybody in this league.”

Friday’s series opener is set to feature a pair of right-handers in Arizona’s Zac Gallen (3-4, 4.80 ERA) against Seattle’s George Kirby (5-4, 3.54).

Gallen, who has won his past two starts after losing his first three in May, is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in two career appearances against the Mariners.

Kirby, who has lost his past two starts, has made one previous appearance against Arizona, pitching seven shutout innings with two hits allowed and 12 strikeouts in a 3-1 victory April 27, 2024 at T-Mobile Park.

–Field Level Media

After wrapping up a tough road stretch against a pair of surging teams, the Colorado Rockies head home to open up a three-game series with the scuffling San Francisco Giants.

Colorado lost five in a row and six of seven games at Arizona and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has lost eight of nine heading into the weekend. The Rockies will send Michael Lorenzen (2-7, 7.21 ERA) to the mound against San Francisco’s Logan Webb (2-4, 5.06) Friday night.

This is the first meeting of the season between the National League West rivals, and it comes with both teams struggling. The Giants have lost three in a row and seven of their last nine but they could be close to full strength with the expected return of outfielder Jung Hoo Lee (mid-back strain) and Webb.

Webb has not started since May 5 due to right knee bursitis. He lasted a season-low four innings in the outing against San Diego that day but has worked his way back to the rotation. He threw 62 pitches in a rehab start for Triple-A Sacramento on May 22 and could have returned on regular rest Wednesday but he was given an extra two days of rest.

“I think, more than anything, he needed to go through the exercises necessary in the training room, and then also to do some of the things he wanted to do in the ‘pen,” manager Tony Vitello said. “This weekend, I think, makes everything a little bit better for a bunch of different reasons, but (it was) mainly centered on his routine and what he needed to go through.”

Webb has been successful in his career against Colorado. In 19 games (18 starts), he is 11-3 with a 2.97 ERA.

Lorenzen hasn’t experienced the same success pitching against San Francisco. In 11 appearances (five starts), he is 0-2 with a 6.60 ERA. He will be tasked with ending the Rockies’ recent slide, including a tough series sweep by Los Angeles this week, despite having lost five consecutive starts.

The Dodgers outscored Colorado 24-10 in the three games and held the Rockies to one hit in Wednesday night’s 4-1 win. Things were not much better Tuesday night when Los Angeles led 15-1 through eight innings before using infielder Miguel Rojas as a pitcher in the ninth to save bullpen arms.

Colorado scored five runs off of Rojas, including homers by catcher Brett Sullivan and third baseman Kyle Karros. Sullivan, who tossed a scoreless eighth inning, joined Shohei Ohtani as the only players to hit home runs as pitchers this season.

“Listen, we never want to be in that situation where they are throwing a position player against us, especially when they’re winning,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “We don’t ever want to be down that much where that’s the option. But every at-bat in the big leagues counts. So, good for Sully and Kyle for the homers.”

Schaeffer has used Sullivan as a pitcher three times this season and he has yet to yield a run in the three innings he has logged.

–Field Level Media

Luis Severino seeks a top-flight effort against his former club on Friday night when the Athletics host the New York Yankees at West Sacramento, Calif.

Severino was employed by the Yankees from 2015-23, and the right-hander has been treated rudely by his former teammates in three starts. He is 0-2 with a 10.66 ERA and has been torched for 17 runs (15 earned) and 18 hits in just 12 2/3 innings.

The best of those outings was in the Bronx on April 8 of this year, when he gave up two runs and four hits over five innings in a no-decision of a game the A’s won 3-2. He struck out seven and tied a season high with five walks.

Both his 2025 starts against the Yankees were disasters. He gave up eight runs and nine hits over four-plus innings of a 12-2 loss on May 11 in Northern California and allowed seven runs (five earned) and five hits in 3 2/3 innings of a 12-5 loss in New York on June 29.

In the latter game, Severino allowed homers to Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Chisholm is 5-for-11 with two homers and Judge is 4-for-8 with the one blast against Severino.

Severino, 32, will be well-rested for this latest battle as his start was pushed back three days. He was slated to pitch Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, but the Athletics called up prized prospect Gage Jump and then moved up Jeffrey Springs to Wednesday.

The Athletics were off Thursday after being swept in three games by the Mariners and falling out of first place in the American League West.

Severino (2-5, 4.23 ERA) will be looking to halt a four-game winless stretch when he takes the ball Friday.

Severino struck out a season-high 10 and didn’t walk anyone against the Los Angeles Angels on May 21 but had to settle for a no-decision in the Athletics’ 3-2, 10-inning win. He gave up two runs and three hits over seven innings.

Severino lost three straight outings before the stellar work against the Angels.

The Athletics took two of three in New York in April but aren’t playing solid baseball entering the rematch. They have dropped five of their past six games and were outscored 22-4 while being swept by Seattle.

“We gave away too many free runs,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “When you give away free runs and get behind a good team that has a good pitching staff, it makes it really difficult to win baseball games.”

New York arrives with a four-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep of the host Royals in which the Yankees outscored Kansas City 26-4.

New York rolled to a 15-1 victory on Tuesday and followed up with a 7-0 win behind veteran Gerrit Cole in the right-hander’s second start since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Cole struck out 10 and gave up four hits over 6 2/3 innings. Judge kept a run off the ledger by throwing out Kansas City’s Michael Massey at the plate in the third inning.

“All I was thinking was, ‘Don’t let this guy score,'” Judge told reporters. “Especially Gerrit coming back, second game, it’s a tight game. I know if we stop them from scoring there, they’re probably not going to score the rest of the game. Just trying to do my job.”

Left-hander Carlos Rodon (0-2, 4.15) makes his fourth start for the Yankees after undergoing offseason elbow surgery.

Rodon, 33, lost to the Toronto Blue Jays on May 21 when he gave up one run and three hits over five innings.

Rodon is 5-1 with a 2.75 ERA in nine career starts against the A’s. Shea Langeliers is 4-for-8 against Rodon, while Brent Rooker is 1-for-12 with five strikeouts.

–Field Level Media