Athletics 6, Mariners 2: Springs Throws Seven Scoreless for First Win Since April

Eighty-one pitches, two hits, a win that had waited since April

September 5, 2026 - Seattle - Jeffrey Springs walked into T-Mobile Park with a 6.37 ERA and no win since April 14. He left with seven scoreless innings, two hits, six strikeouts, and the Athletics holding a 6-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.

He needed 81 pitches. The Mariners did not score until two outs in the eighth, when Dominic Canzone singled up the middle to avoid a shutout. Julio Rodríguez grounded out on the next pitch. That was Seattle's rally.

Springs, finally

Springs (4-13) had allowed seven runs against Baltimore on August 30. He had gone 21 starts without a win. Saturday he looked like the pitcher those months were supposed to produce. Two hits. Two walks. Six strikeouts. No runs through seven. Eight swings and misses on the whole night, per the Mariners' own recap, and it still played like a complete-game start that ended one inning early.

The Athletics scored one in the second, one in the third, and two in the fourth. After that, Springs only had to throw strikes. He did. Seattle did not put a run on him. Geoff Hartlieb and Elvis Alvarado inherited a 4-0 (then 6-0) game and let the Mariners scratch two across. The starter's night was already in the books.

Max Muncy gave him a lead in the second with a 428-foot solo shot to left off George Kirby, Muncy's ninth homer and his second in two days. Muncy singled in another run in the fourth. 2-0. Henry Bolte doubled in a run. Donovan Walton added an RBI double. Zack Gelof singled, stole, and scored twice. Alika Williams had two hits and scored.

By the fourth it was 4-0. Kirby (9-11) lasted 6 2/3 innings: seven hits, four runs (three earned), one walk, five strikeouts, 100 pitches. He got zero runs of support until Canzone's single. After the game he said the club had to pull its head out of you-know-where. The quote fit the month.

Butler in the eighth, Raleigh's empty 3-for-4

Lawrence Butler hit his 13th homer in the eighth off Michael Rucker, a two-run ball to left that made it 6-0. Hartlieb allowed Canzone's run in the eighth. Alvarado gave up another in the ninth. The Athletics still left with a four-run win and a four-game winning streak, their first since June 13.

Seattle's eighth was the first sign of life and the last. Canzone's two-out single was the RBI. Rodríguez rolled over the next pitch. Alvarado allowed the ninth-inning run on two hits and a walk. It did not change who had controlled the first seven innings.

Cal Raleigh went 3-for-4 with a double and scored Seattle's second run. That is a good night in a loss. Randy Arozarena and J.P. Crawford each singled and walked. The Mariners finished with six hits and seven left on. They are 66-77, a season-worst 11 games under .500, seven behind Houston in the AL West and six behind Cleveland and Toronto for the last wild-card spot. They have lost the first three of this series to a last-place club.

The Athletics are 57-86. Four in a row does not change the record. It does change Saturday in Seattle. Springs had not won since the second week of April. Kirby had a decent start and nothing behind him. Muncy and Butler supplied the balls that left the yard.

Gage Jump (6-9, 5.15) was set to face Bryan Woo (10-9, 4.25) in Sunday's finale. Seattle was one loss from a rare four-game home sweep, something it had not suffered at T-Mobile Park since August 2017 against the Angels.

AthX Engine put Springs at 27 pitching fantasy points, first on Saturday's pitcher board. The Athletics scored 13 team FP, tied for fifth. Muncy had 8 hitting FP. Kirby still scored 7.66 pitching FP in a loss, which is what six-plus innings and five strikeouts look like when the lineup does not help. Points measure the start. They are not a share price.

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*Sources: ESPN recap, MLB Gameday box, AP News, MLB.com Mariners coverage, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*