SEATTLE — Andrés Muñoz has made the All-Star Game two years in a row, his 1.73 ERA was the lowest by a Mariners pitcher (min. 60 innings) since 2007 and he’s rapidly climbing the franchise saves leaderboard. He’s had plenty of highlight moments with his right arm.
With his left, though? That’s a new one.
But that’s what happened in the top of the ninth inning of Seattle’s 3-2, 11-inning loss to Detroit in Game 1 of the ALDS, when Parker Meadows got a hold of a 2-2 slider on the outside corner and sent it right back where it came from — only for Muñoz to snag it, just next to his face.
“I got scared, that was the only thing,” Muñoz said. “I’ve never got one like that before. It wasn’t hit that hard, but it felt like it was hit really hard. Especially because I land really aggressively to that side.
“As soon as I looked up, I saw the ball coming. That was why I got scared a little bit. But we got it.”
That sent the game into walk-off territory for the Mariners, tied 2-2. But after Seattle went down quietly in the bottom of the ninth, manager Dan Wilson asked Muñoz to do something nearly as rare — go out for a second inning.
Since he debuted with the Padres in 2019, Muñoz had only gotten more than three outs 28 times in his first 268 career appearances. It’s something the Mariners have tried to avoid as much as possible this season; after going into a second inning of work 11 times last season, he’d only done so once in 2025, all the way back in May.
But that’s just how it broke down Saturday.
“As soon as I finished the inning,” Muñoz said. “They asked me if I was good to go another one, and I said yes. They are really good at that. They communicate with me, they ask me and they see how I feel. And if I feel good, I throw.”
Coming back out for the top of the 10th, Muñoz got the top of the Tigers order, getting Gleyber Torres to fly out to left field before striking out Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene.
“Muny being able to get two innings there was really big,” Wilson said. “He was super efficient, attacked the zone and got ahead. Really nice job there.”
It’s just the second time in his career that Muñoz went a full two innings. The first was in 2019 with the Padres, in his third career appearance. Despite the extra “up,” he still finished his night with just 25 pitches thrown, not particularly close to his season high.
“I felt good,” he said. “Actually, I felt better in the second inning. I don’t know why, but I felt like I got my rhythm and that’s why I was able to execute my pitches and do my best every pitch.”
Muñoz’s clutch outing gave the Mariners’ bats one last chance to send the packed crowd at T-Mobile Park happy before Wilson had to go beyond his leverage arms — with Eduard Bazardo, Gabe Speier and Matt Brash having all entered, shoved and exited. In the 11th, Wilson turned to Carlos Vargas, who allowed a leadoff walk, sent the runner to second on a wild pitch and gave up a go-ahead single to Zach McKinstry.
Now, the Mariners aren’t just down 1-0 in a best-of-five series, with reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal looming on the other side of a must-win Game 2; they’re doing that without any of their high-leverage arms completely fresh for Sunday. The only relievers who didn’t see action Saturday were Luke Jackson, Emerson Hancock and Bryce Miller — though a relief outing for Miller could impact the possibility of him starting Game 4, if the Mariners can come back to take a game.
The better news is that Muñoz and Vargas were the only relievers to throw more than 20 pitches. Caleb Ferguson and Brash both threw 17. Speier got four outs on 13. Bazardo threw just three. And all of them have worked back-to-back days within the past month.
With that in mind, could Muñoz come back for a second straight day of work, after his longest outing (by outs) in seven years?
“I don’t know. I think so, I think I’m going to be up tomorrow,” he said. “We’re going to do the most we can to help the team. If we have to push a little bit more, we’re going to do it.”
