Jose Ramirez strikes again.

Tied with two outs in the seventh inning, Cleveland star third baseman stole Seattle’s Opening Day magic.

How did the seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger barrel that?

Mariners reliever Gabe Speier’s 1-1 slider missed well below the zone, but Ramirez found a way to golf a go-ahead, two-run double that one-hopped off the wall in left center. Cleveland’s Brayan Rocchio rounded third, waving his arms, and Chase DeLauter slid home right behind him. Guardians 5, M’s 3.

The Mariners hit four solo home runs and right-hander Logan Gilbert struck out seven, but Ramirez’s heroics were the difference in Thursday night’s 6-4 loss to the Guardians at T-Mobile Park.

Cleveland’s DeLauter hit two homers, becoming the sixth player in MLB history with a multi-homer game in his regular season debut. A first-inning blast provided an early, 1-0 lead and a ninth-inning solo shot was the insurance run that sent some fans heading for the exits.

New Mariners third baseman Brendan Donovan homered in his first Mariners at-bat, hoisting the gold trident in front of a sellout home crowd of 44,398 for the very first time. It marked Seattle’s first leadoff homer on Opening Day in franchise history.

Mariners designated hitter Dominic Canzone stung a pair of solo homers in the second and seventh innings. Right fielder Luke Raley added another, knotting Thursday’s opener in the fifth with a solo blast to right.

Gilbert allowed three runs on five hits, fanning seven without a walk across 5.1 innings. He surrendered a solo homer to DeLauter in the first inning before Rocchio added a two-run double in the fifth; Raley’s solo blast promptly knotted the score at three.

Guardians starter Tanner Bibee left the game in the sixth inning with right shoulder inflammation, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Donovan finished 2-for-4 with a home run and double in his Mariners debut.

World Series aspirations surround the only MLB team that’s never been there. The Mariners’ magical 2025 postseason ended eight outs shy of the Fall Classic, cut short by Toronto Blue Jays hero George Springer’s three-run blast in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

Seattle knows they have the pieces to get back. The Mariners boast the sport’s best catcher in Cal Raleigh, feature homegrown star Julio Rodriguez in center field, and retain the entirety of last year’s starting rotation. They re-signed first baseman Josh Naylor to a five-year contract, a trade-deadline acquisition and integral piece of last year’s playoff run, and welcomed Donovan into the mix less than two months ago.

Thursday night began with the unveiling of a new banner suspended over the right-field view level: 2025 AL West Champions.

“It’s a reminder of what we did last year, and the type of season we had, and the way this team came together,” Wilson said Wednesday. “All of those things are wrapped up in that banner.

“But this is a brand-new year. It’s a new season. It’s a time where we start looking forward to what’s ahead of us. It starts (Thursday) night. The banners are great to remember what was, but we’re concentrating on what’s ahead.”

This story will be updated.

ROBO-UMPS DEBUT AT T-MOBILE PARK

When home plate umpire Lance Barksdale rang up Steven Kwan on a 1-2 cutter in the third inning, Cleveland’s left fielder disagreed.

Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert knew it was strike three, casually strutting off the mound before the call. Catcher Cal Raleigh knew, too, tossing the baseball to third baseman Brendan Donovan for a traditional game of around the horn.

In years past, players may have barked at the official. Maybe the argument would have escalated into an ejection, or perhaps Guardians manager Steven Vogt would have exited the dugout to offer Barksdale his own thoughts.

Not in 2026.

The future is now, when the robots decide who’s right.

Kwan tapped his helmet, signaling for an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) review. It was the first challenge in T-Mobile Park history.

MLB implemented the new system this season after several years of testing in the minor leagues, giving teams two challenges per game (challenges are retained if the umpire’s call is overturned). The process takes only 10-15 seconds, with the result shown on jumbotrons across the league.

In Kwan’s case? The All-Star would’ve been better off trotting back to the dugout. The video board confirmed what Gilbert and Raleigh knew all along — that the right-hander’s cutter had caught plenty of the strike zone.

“You’ve got to be smart (with challenges),” Raleigh said last month. “You’ve got to put the team first, obviously, and understand when to do it.”

CRAWFORD, MILLER PLACED ON IL

The Mariners begin their 50th season without their starting shortstop.

J.P. Crawford (right shoulder inflammation) was placed on the 10-day injured list ahead of the team’s 26-man roster cutdown, lifting utilityman Leo Rivas into the Opening Day lineup. Crawford began a throwing program at the team’s spring facility in Peoria, Ariz., and the injury is “progressing the way it should,” manager Dan Wilson said.

Right-handed starter Bryce Miller began the season on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain and remains in Arizona, Wilson said. Miller made one spring start on Feb. 26 and felt discomfort in warmups on March 11.

“The next step is getting some hitters in the box, and that ramps things up a little bit more,” Wilson said of Miller. “Once he passes that hurdle, then it’s getting a chance to get in games, whether that’s down there, whether that’s up here remains to be seen.

“He’s progressing… in a way that we were hopeful for. It shouldn’t take him too long.”

SHORT HOPS

– Only four MLB teams have won 85+ games in each of the last five seasons: The Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers.

– Julio Rodriguez’s 112 career home runs rank second in MLB history among centerfielders through their first four seasons, trailing only Joe DiMaggio (137), per Mariners PR.

ON DECK

Right-hander George Kirby and the Mariners host Cleveland in the second of a four-game set on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

Here’s a breakdown of the remainder of Seattle’s series with the Guardians at T-Mobile Park:

Friday: RHP George Kirby vs. RHP Gavin Williams (CLE), 6:45 p.m.

Saturday: RHP Bryan Woo vs. LHP Joey Cantillo (CLE), 6:40 p.m.

Sunday: RHP Emerson Hancock vs. RHP Slade Cecconi (CLE), 4:20 p.m.