SEATTLE — Dan Wilson stood in the dugout, hands jammed into the front pocket of his royal blue hooded sweatshirt to keep them warm on a chilly Friday evening at T-Mobile Park.

The Seattle Mariners manager wore an intense, but satisfied look on his face. His team was finalizing a 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians with a solid, though not perfect, performance, highlighting just how it could and should win games in 2026.

In their second game of the season, devoid of all the extra curricular activities that come with opening day, the Mariners got a quality start from George Kirby, shutdown relief work from their leverage relievers, played exceptional defense and generated offense through a mixture of good at-bats and homers. That sort of balance of contributions is why the Mariners believe a better roster and deeper lineup can lead this team back to the American League Championship Series and beyond.

Kirby was solid in his first start of the season. He pitched six innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks, a hit batter and six strikeouts to pick up the win.

The one run allowed came in the first inning. With one out, rookie Chase DeLauter, who hit a pair of homers in MLB debut on opening day, was able to lift a low and inside slider just over the wall in right field and out of the reach of a leaping Raley.

With some help from his defense, including a brilliant diving stop by Cole Young on the very next play on a rocket off the bat of Jose Ramirez, Kirby retired 11 of the next 12 batters he faced.

Young gave him a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. With the Mariners having squandered scoring opportunities in the first and third inning, Young brought some of the power he showed in spring training into the cool air of spring training. He smashed a 96-mph fastball from Williams over the wall in right field.

Kirby found trouble in an uncharacteristic way in the fifth inning by walking the first two batters he faced. It’s something he’s never done in his MLB career. After getting Gabriel Arias to ground out softly to third, Kirby hit No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio on a 1-2 count.

But he was able to escape the inning with the help of Randy Arozarena and Guardians third base coach Rouglas Odor. Steven Kwan lifted a flyball to shallow left field that Randy Arozarena caught. For some reason, Odor had the not-fast Rhys Hoskins tag up and try to score. Arozarena delivered a perfect strike to Cal Raleigh with the ball beating the runner by about a dozen steps. The double play ended the inning.

Kirby came back out with an efficient 1-2-3 inning, retiring the Guardians 2-3-4 hitters in order to end his outing.

The Mariners pushed the lead to 5-1 in the sixth. Luke Raley, who homered on opening day, sent a line drive into the right field seats for a two-run homer..

The Mariners bullpen closed out the win with Eduard Bazardo, Matt Brash and Andres Muñoz each working scoreless innings.

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