A’s falter late, drop Opening Day matchup to Mariners

Tough loss for the first game of a long season

The A’s blew a late lead on Opening Day on Thursday evening, losing to the Seattle Mariners 4-2 to kick off the 2025 season.

Pitching duel early

Tonight’s Opening Day matchup featured veteran Luis Severino for the Athletics versus Seattle’s young ace right-hander Logan Gilbert. With a battle of the aces for Game 1 of 162, both teams struggled to get much going offensively.

Severino was a bit shaky in his first start for the Green & Gold as he allowed five baserunners over the first four innings. He bent but didn’t break, only really getting into trouble once in the bottom of the second, A single and HBP put a Mariner in scoring position against Sevy, putting early pressure on the expensive arm. He buckled down and induced a groundball to shortstop Jacob Wilson, who tossed it to new and former teammate Max Muncy (who made his Major League debut tonight) to start an inning-ending double play, keeping this game tied. Severino also racked up his first four strikeouts of the season over the first four frames.

The Athletics bats meanwhile didn’t have any better luck against Gilbert, After the first eight Athletics were retired they finally notched their first hit of the season, a linedrive single to right-center by Jacob Wilson, who played in his first Opening Day tonight. That brought up Lawrence Butler for his second at-bat tonight and while he put a good swing on the pitch, the ball hit Gilbert in the, um....

Gilbert would be alright and return the next inning to retire the A’s in order again. The club was still searching for their first rally.

Soderstrom makes his mark

Playing first base in deference to catcher Shea Langeliers, former 1st-round pick Tyler Soderstrom provided the first spark for the A’s this season. After spending all offseason preparing to play first base fulltime, it didn’t take long for the 23-year old to show off his newfound comfort at his new defensive home:

He wasn’t the best first baseman in the world last season but it was a completely new position for him and he’s an athletic guy. It’s just one play but he’s definitely improved on defense after an offseason of work at the position.

As a first baseman, you can be the best defender in the world and it wouldn’t matter if you can’t hit. The lefty-swinging Soderstrom has had trouble adapting to major league pitching in his young career but again, an offseason of dedicated work shows up during the season. In his second at-bat of the night against Gilbert, Soderstrom took a first-pitch hanging slider deep to center field for a solo home run, giving the A’s their first lead of the season:

That was Soderstrom’s first hit, home run, RBI, and run scored of 2025 all wrapped up into one swing. Not to mention the Athletics’ first home run and extra base hit as a team. A lot of the offseason hype was for Lawrence Butler, but Soderstrom may be set to finally break out as well.

Seattle threatens a comeback

The Mariners, now down a run on Opening Day in front of their home crowd, needed to rally against Severino, who was starting to find his groove. Mariners second baseman Ryan Bliss worked a leadoff walk on four pitches to start the bottom of the fifth, and considering he stole 50 bags at Triple-A last year it was clear to everyone he would try to steal second and get into scoring position. He would make his attempt with two outs and a bad throw allowed him to advance to third. Facing Seattle star Julio Rodriguez, Severino once again bared down and induced a groundball to squash the threat, stranding Bliss at third.

Now at 80 pitches, manager Mark Kotsay decided that he wanted more out of his new ace. Sending Severino out for one last inning of work, it looked like it would get messy when Seattle put two runners in scoring position with an excellent chance to take the lead. With two outs and the bullpen moving, Kotsay rolled the dice and let Severino try to escape the jam. He did just that, punching out Rowdy Tellez to strand the runners and keep the Athletics’ lead intact. Can you tell he was hyped?

You love to see it. Severino finished his night in epic fashion, putting a perfect bow on an excellent Opening Day start, the second of his career. That’s exactly what the A’s thought they were buying when they dished out that massive contract and at least tonight, he was exactly as advertised. You love to see that fire from your pitcher.

• Luis Severino: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 99 pitches

The next time we see the right-hander will be on the mound in Sacramento to take on the Chicago Cubs next week.

Seattle ties the game...

With Severino finally out of the game it would be up to the Athletics’ bullpen to nail down the final nine outs and secure win #1 of the season. First out of the ‘pen was righty Tyler Ferguson and he immediately ran into trouble, walking the first two batters he faced. There was a small bit of controversy involving a passed ball and a play at the plate, but replay review went the A’s way and an out at home saved the lead. At least for a moment. The next batter hit a sac fly deep enough to bring in the second runner from third, tying this game at 1-apiece.

... and Soderstrom takes the lead back!

Up to the plate for his third at-bat tonight, the lefty slugger did exactly what he did in his last trip to the plate. Now into the Seattle bullpen after seven innings of facing Gilbert, Soderstrom led off the top of the eighth inning with his second long ball of the night, an absolute rope to right field that got out in a hurry:

That home run gave the Athletics the lead right back after losing it the previous inning. He is looking like a major leaguer for the first time. What did he eat this offseason?

Seattle answers back

With just six outs to go and the lead in hand, the team needed a shutdown inning in the worst possible way. Free agent signee Jose Leclerc came on to start the eighth but clearly didn’t have it tonight. The right-hander allowed a game-tying home run to Randy Arozarena, then a walk and another home run off the bat of Jorge Polanco gave Seattle their first lead of the game and season, and the Athletics’ first deficit. Suddenly it was 4-2 Mariners after the A’s had led for most of the game. TJ McFarland came on and finished the inning for Leclerc before things got any messier.

The A’s began the top of the ninth with the top of the order, as good as you can hope for. Facing Seattle closer Andres Munoz, they managed to get a runner on base in the top of the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate but a groundball double play ended this game, giving the Athletics’ their fourth Opening Day loss in the last six seasons. Hate to let that game slip away.

Dang. Nearly had that one. It doesn’t help when the team only manages three hits and your All-Star DH strikes out four times in four at-bats. A late blow up on Opening Day hurts and outside of Soderstrom the offense was helpless against Gilbert. Still, it’s not the end of the world, and it could have happened in front of the home crowd. Small wins.

Let’s not dwell on the loss. Severino looked exactly like the pitcher A’s fans were hoping to see lead the rotation. While he went hitless and stuck out twice, A’s #7 prospect Max Muncy made his big league debut and executed a successful double play. Tyler Soderstrom has put everyone on notice that he’s ready to break out. And it’s still only the first game of a long, long season. It’s a marathon, people. Not a race.

Ideally the team would like to steal at least a couple of games in Seattle before heading back to Sacramento and they’ll have a few more chances to do just that. Tomorrow evening the Athletics will try again for win #1 and they’ll rely on offseason acquisition Jeffrey Springs to do it. The left-handed Springs will be making his A’s debut and the team expects big things from him. Seattle will counter Springs with their co-ace Luis Castillo, who has consistently been one of the better pitchers in the league in recent seasons. Looks like another pitching duel on tap!