Mariners rebound to take game two against Rangers with some Kirby magic and chaos offense
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Following a brutal, grating shutout loss on Tuesday to this bad Rangers team, the Mariners rebounded with a display of great pitching and an early offensive surge. Seattle happily welcomed back recovering Eugenio Suarez, and a resurging Ty France. With the win and a loss by the Baltimore Orioles (who are the last team on the outside looking in), the Mariners magic number to make the playoffs drops down to three. The soonest that the Mariners can clinch a playoff berth is this Friday.
Mariners starter George Kirby pitched six innings of one-run ball (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Kirby’s dreamland
Seattle rookie starting pitcher George Kirby, video game character jokes and all, has been an absolute stud for the Mariners. Despite not pitching any AAA ball, the 24-year-old pitcher has eaten up innings for Seattle all season and has looked damn good doing it. Today, Kirby pitched six innings of one run ball, with the main hiccup taking place in the first inning. A few base hits in the first inning, but after that, Kirby had a jam here and there, but worked around them. The Mariners were again carried by their incredible pitching.
Eugenio Suarez recorded three hits on the night (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Good Vibes return for Eugenio
Mariners third basemen Eugenio Suarez, bringer of good vibes, haver of flashy hair, and masher of baseballs has been one of the pivotal heroes of this year's ballclub. The team losing Suarez to injury in the midst of a home run blasting streak was less than ideal, especially considering that the rest of the Mariner bats have remained silent. Coming off of a poor road trip and first game of the homestand, Suarez provided 60% of the Mariners hits today, and boy did they need it.
Suarez had a perfect three hit day, adding a walk to that total as well. Eugenio’s big day was highlighted by a towering double that scored Dylan Moore. The RBI double tied the game back up in the bottom of the first, and ignited the Seattle offense. When both Suarez and Julio Rodriguez went down with injury, things became very murky. Thankfully, with Suarez back and Rodriguez set to return on Monday, the Mariners are looking in much better shape.
Ty France was responsible for the rest of Seattle's hits in the game (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Quick notes
Seattle’s magic number to reach the playoffs is now three. Seattle needs a combination of their own wins as well as Orioles losses to clinch their first playoff berth since 2001.
Paul Sewald closed out tonight’s game recording his 20th save of the season…he is now the 14th pitcher in Mariners history to record 20+ saves in a season.
Since Aug. 28, Ty France is batting .280 (30x107) with 19 runs, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 19 RBI, 5 walks, and 3 hit-by-pitches.
With his lead-off walk in the 1st inning Dylan Moore now has a 5-game on base streak dating back to Sept. 22.
George Kirby is now tied for the third most strikeouts over a pitcher’s first 24 career games in Mariners history with Logan Gilbert and Mark Langston (128)…he ranks behind Michael Pineda (148) and Félix Hernández (145).
George Kirby registered his 14th consecutive start without allowing a home run the longest starter streak in Mariners history…only Tyson Ross (16), Clayton Kershaw (15) and Francisco Liriano (15) have gone longer in a single-season since 2000.
What’s next?
The Mariners will look to take the series against the Rangers when the two teams battle on Thursday, September 30th. First pitch time for the series finale of the divisional rivals is at 6:40PM PST, when Marco Gonzales duels with Rangers starter Jon Gray. Every single game is of the upmost importance, no matter how bad the team is across the diamond. Make sure you are following Circling Seattle Sports so you are up to date on all things Mariners.