SEATTLE — Given the back-and-forth nature of their game results this season, it might have been logical to expect the Mariners to pull out a victory on Thursday afternoon, after they’d dropped two straight to the Twins.
But the easier reason to expect Seattle to prevail in the finale of the four-game series at T-Mobile Park was based on their starter.
In the aftermath of his previous start, one of his worst of the season, a highly-irritated George Kirby ended his brief postgame media session, saying, “I can’t wait to get out there next week.”
Pitching in the brilliant sunshine July sunshine with temperatures in the low 80s, the orneriest of the Mariners starters delivered an outstanding performance in a season filled with them.
Kirby set the tone from the first pitch of the game, tossing seven scoreless innings with ruthless efficiency, allowing just four hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts to lead the Mariners to a much-needed 5-0 victory.
Mirroring their season in so many ways, the Mariners split the four-game series with American League Central leaders, showing how good they could be and why they haven’t been in that span.
Kirby hasn’t had many poor or ineffective outings this season — only four where he’s allowed more than four earned runs — and he certainly is too competitive and too talented to let it happen in back-to-back outings.
After each of those subpar performances, he delivered a brilliant outing in his very next start. The trend continued.
In his first start out of the All-Star break, Kirby allowed six runs on eight hits, pitching just five innings in a 6-0 loss to the Tigers on July 15. He lamented his lack of command particularly with two strikes, not allowing him to put away hitters.
There was no repeat vs. Minnesota. He struck out Edouard Julien to start the game and never really looked back. Only one Twins player, Kyle Farmer, who tripled to right field with two outs in the fifth inning reached scoring position.
Of Kirby’s 99 pitches, 73 were strikes including 20 swings and misses. He challenged hitters with his four-seam fastball, throwing 49 of them in the game. They whiffed on 12 of them, watched six go by for called strikes and fouled off 11 of them.
The Mariners provided just enough offense early.
After loading the bases with no outs in the first inning against Twins starter Pablo Lopez, a one-time Mariners prospect, Seattle mustered just one run on a Teoscar Hernandez RBI single.
Lopez managed to strike out Cal Raleigh, Mike Ford and Ty France to work out of trouble. The Mariners did force him to throw 36 pitches in the inning.
An All-Star in 2023, Lopez found his command after the first inning and worked through five innings, allowing one more run on Hernandez’s solo homer to center.
The Mariners picked up three big insurance runs in the eighth inning. Mike Ford crushed a two-run homer off the windows of the old Hit it Here Café and Cal Raleigh scored on a wild pitch.
Of note: Luis Castillo and George Kirby are the first Mariners duo to record 10+ strikeouts in back-to-back team games since Roenis Elías & Taijuan Walker on June 19-20, 2015.
