The longtime infielder will play in his 1,000th career game as the Mariners go for a sweep of the Angels.
The Seattle Mariners will go for a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night at T-Mobile Park.
The Mariners (44-43) defeated the Halos on both Monday and Tuesday before a World Cup-driven off day on Wednesday. Seattle enters play in a tie for first place in the American League West with the Texas Rangers.
The two teams will finish up the series at 6:40 p.m. PT as Bryce Miller takes the mound looking to continue his excellent stretch since coming off the injured list. He had 11 strikeouts last Thursday, albeit in a losing effort, against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In the game, M's third baseman J.P. Crawford will hit a career milestone: It will be his 1,000th career game.
Though he's playing third base in this game, he's played the most games at shortstop in team history. And his 927 games played with the Mariners are 10th-most in Seattle history.
Acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2019 season, Crawford is one of the key figures in the Mariners' resurgence since that time.
He was a leader on playoff teams in 2022 and 2025 and helped them back to relevance as early as 2020, when he won a Gold Glove at shortstop.
A career .246 hitter, Crawford has a career on-base percentage of .340. He hit 19 homers back in 2023 and led the American League in walks in the same season.
This season, he's hitting just .214, but he continues to have an excellent eye at the plate. He's got 38 walks in just 69 games because of two separate injured list stints.
He's moved to third base to accommodate rookie Colt Emerson, who has taken over the shortstop duties. Manager Dan Wilson has praised Crawford's leadership and professionalism on countless occasions this season.
Up next
After this series ends, the Mariners will host the Toronto Blue Jays for a rematch of last season's American League Championship Series, which Toronto won in seven games.
The Blue Jays are struggling at 41-46, but they will be a difficult matchup, primarily because of their excellent pitching. Right-hander Dylan Cease will take the mound on Friday night at 6:40 p.m. PT.
Also in the news for the M's
Top prospects Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan were named as representatives for the M's in the upcoming MLB Futures Game, which will take place on July 12 as part of MLB's All-Star week in Philadelphia. Here's more about both players.
Also of note
The most recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast featuring Buster Olney of ESPN is out. You can listen here, or you can watch in the YouTube player below.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
