SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners embark on a 11-day, 9-game road trip, beginning with an east-coast swing in Philadelphia (3 G, 4/25-27) and Toronto (3 G, 4/28-30) before wrapping up in Oakland following an off day (3 G, 5/2-4) …today’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Angie Mentink on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith.
ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners dropped Sunday’s series finale to the Cardinals by a 7-3 score…despite the loss, the Mariners went 5-4 on the homestand and are 6-4 over their last 10 games since April 12.
• Key to Victory- The Mariners are 9-2 (.818) when allowing 3-or-fewer runs.
• Rare Visit – Seattle is making just its 4th trip all-time to Philadelphia…the Mariners 8 games played in Philly are the fewest they have played on the road against any opponent.
• MiLB POTW – OF Jonatan Clase and LHP Reid VanScoter took home Northwest League Player and Pitcher of the Week honors (4/17-23).
• Whiff Artists – Mariners relievers have induced 198 swings and misses this season, the 5th-most in the Majors trailing Houston (216), Philadelphia (206), Cincinnati (205) and Arizona (204).
• Philly Crushers – Tom Murphy (1.125), Teoscar Hernández (1.041), Julio Rodríguez (.917) and AJ Pollock (.848) all own a career OPS of above .800 against the Phillies…Eugenio Suárez leads current Mariners with 7 career home runs against Philadelphia.
• Bruiser – Ty France ranks 2nd in the Majors since 2021 with 52 hit by pitch, trailing only Mark CanhaOAK/NYM (57).
• Marco vs. The World – Marco Gonzales is making his first career start against the Phillies in today’s game, the 28th different team he has faced in his career…the only two teams he has yet to face are the St. Louis Cardinals and the Seattle Mariners, the two teams he has pitched for in his career.
ASTOUND ON THE MOUND…the Mariners are tied for the second-best pitching staff in the Majors by fWAR (3.8, also: Tampa Bay), trailing only Atlanta (4.0), while ranking ahead of the Rangers (3.7), Twins (3.5) and Yankees (3.5)…through 21 games this season, Seattle’s staff holds a 3.73 ERA (84 ER, 202.2 IP) with 7 saves, 76 walks and 204 strikeouts…Seattle (26.9%) has allowed the 2nd-lowest hard-hit rate of any team, with only Pittsburgh (26.2%) surrendering less hard contact…the Mariners have held their opponents to 2-or-fewer runs in 8 of 21 games this season and 3-or-fewer runs in 11 of 21 games.
JARRED KELENIC: APRIL POTM?…Jarred Kelenic clubbed his 6th homer of the season on Sunday… the 23-year-old has reached base safely in 16 of 17 games dating back to April 2 vs. Cleveland…during that stretch, he is batting .339 (20×59) with 10 runs, 5 doubles, 6 home runs, 13 RBI, 7 walks and 2 stolen bases, while reaching base at a .403 clip and slugging .729 with a 1.132 OPS…overall this season, he holds a 1.044 OPS, ranking 2nd in the American League behind only Matt Chapman-TOR (1.105 OPS).
HE WHO WIELDS THE TRIDENT…Teoscar Hernández is batting .290 (20×69) with 9 runs, 2 doubles, 5 home runs and 13 RBI over his last 17 games (4/4-c), getting on-base at a .315 clip and slugging .536 (.851 OPS)…Teo’s 5 Defensive Runs Saved this season are tied for the 5th-most in the Majors, trailing Kyle Isbel-KC, William Contreras-MIL, Luis Robert-CHW and Ke’Bryan Hayes-PIt, who all have 6 DRS.
BULLPEN BULLIES…the Mariners bullpen is 4-5 with 16 holds, 7 saves and a 3.15 ERA (30 ER, 85.2 IP) with 44 walks (8 intentional) and 91 strikeouts in 22 games this season…Matt Brash’s 18.6 SO/9 is the highest in the Majors (min. 5.0 IP)…Paul Sewald is 6-for-6 in save opportunities, recording 3 walks and 15 strikeouts while limiting opponents to a .146 batting average (6×41)…Trevor Gott has a 2.31 ERA (3 ER, 11.2 IP) with 1 walk and 9 strikeouts in 11 appearances…Penn Murfee has a 1.93 ERA (2 ER, 9.1 IP) with 10 strikeouts in 11 appearances…Gabe Speier (9 G, 8.2 IP) and Justin Topa (8 G, 8.0 IP) both have not allowed an earned run this season, while Speier’s 0.577 WHIP ranks 9th in the Majors (min. 8.0 IP).
TY TY, HE’S OUR GUY…in 22 games this season, Ty France is batting .291 (25×86) with 17 runs, 9 doubles, 1 home run, 15 RBI and 9 walks, getting on base at a .380 clip, slugging .430 with an .810 OPS… his 9 doubles are tied for third-most in the American League…France has reached safely in 20-of-22 games this season, and hit safely in 17-of-22 games.
GENO DOES IT ALL…Eugenio Suárez extended his on-base streak to 19 games (4/2-c) after walking twice on Sunday…his 19-game on-base streak is tied for the longest of his career (also: 9/8/2019-7/24/2020 w/CIN)…overall this season, Geno is batting .262 (22×84) with 8 runs, 3 doubles, 2 home runs and 15 RBI… Geno also ranks T-2nd in the Majors with 4 Outs Above Average this season, according to Baseball Savant.
YOU GLOVE TO SEE IT…The Mariners have recorded 8 outs Above Average this season, which ranks 2nd in the Majors, trailing only Arizona (12 OAA), while ranking ahead of New York-NL (7) Los Angeles-AL (5) and San Diego (5)…Seattle also ranks tied for 5th with 7 Defensive Runs Saved (also: Chicago-NL), trailing Milwaukee (22 DRS), Toronto (17), Arizona (14) and Detroit (10)…The Mariners have 6 players with at least 1 Outs Above Average: Eugenio Suárez (4), Ty France (2), J.P. Crawford (1), Teoscar Hernández (1), Jarred Kelenic (1) and Julio Rodríguez (1).
J.P. CREATES TRAFFIC…J.P. Crawford has gotten on-base at a .500 clip over his last 9 games (4/14-c), a .404 clip over his last 15 games (4/7-c) and a .406 clip over his last 18 games (4/3-c)…overall this season, J.P. has a .385 on-base percentage, while sporting a walk rate of 19.0%, which leads Mariners hitters and ranks 5th-best in the Majors and trailing just Gunnar Henderson-BAL (19.7%) for the AL lead…Crawford’s .385 OBP out of the 9-spot is the 2nd-highest in the Majors, trailing only Esteury Ruiz-OAK (.405) for the Major League lead (min. 30 PA).
DAD STRENGTH…Mariners starting pitcher Marco Gonzales turned in one of the best starts of his career his last time out, matching his career high with 9 strikeouts (done 6x) over 6.0 innings…through his first 3 starts, Gonzales is posting the lowest hard-hit rate of his career (29.8%), while having his highest strikeout rate (22.1%) since the 2020 season.
AS YOU MAY KNOW…Jarred Kelenic leads Mariners hitters in nearly every statistical category, including home runs (6), average (.319/22×69), slugging percentage (.667), OPS (1.043) and extra-base hits (12), but…DID YOU KNOW?…that among qualified AL hitters, Kelenic ranks among the league leaders in home runs (T3rd), batting average (7th), slugging percentage (2nd), extra-base hits (T5th) and OPS (2nd)?… Kelenic also ranks tied for 6th among AL hitters with a 1.1 FanGraphs WAR and 2nd in wRC+ (189).
TONIGHT’S MARINERS STARTER – LHP MARCO GONZALES
ABOUT GONZALES…
• 31-year-old left-hander is making his 4th start of the season, 1st against the Philadelphia Phillies, he is also making his 157th career appearance (149th career start) and his 1st career start against Philadelphia.
• Acquired by Seattle from St. Louis in exchange for minor league outfielder Tyler O’Neill on July 21, 2017.
• Native of Fort Collins, CO…attended Gonzaga University for 3 years (2011-13).
• Originally selected by Colorado in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of Rocky Mountain High School (Fort Collins, CO) but did not sign…drafted and signed by the Cardinals with the 19th overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft out of Gonzaga University…became the highest draft pick in the history of the Gonzaga baseball program.
• Made his MLB debut with Cardinals on June 25, 2014 at Colorado.
LAST TIME OUT…ND in last start on 4/19 vs. MIL…allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 9 in 6.0 innings…his 9 strikeouts matches his career-high…it marks the 6th time he has achieved this feat the last coming on 8/12/21 against the Texas Rangers when he pitched a complete game.
INTERLEAGUE PLAY…is 8-3 in interleague play…he owns a 3.36 ERA (96.1 IP, 36 ER) with 21 walks and 75 strikeouts against interleague opponents…his .727 winning percentage ranks 10th in the Majors among active starting pitchers with at least 17 interleague starts.
AND THEN THERE WERE TWO…will make his first career start against the Philadelphia Phillies, one of the three remaining teams Marco has yet to face…the only other teams he has not pitched against are St. Louis and Seattle, the two teams he has played for during his Major League career.
STARTING THE SEASON STRONG…holds a 11-7 career record in March/ April with a 3.87 ERA (132.2 IP, 60 ER)…Marco’s .611 winning percentage
in March/April ranks 4th in franchise history among starting pitchers with at least 25 games started.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY…has pitched at leat 5.0 innings in each of his 3 starts this season…in 2022 Gonzales had a streak of 20 consecutive games with at least 5.0 innings pitched from 6/15-10/5/22…this was the second longest streak among Mariners starters trailing only Logan Gilbert (22).
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
GAME #23 RECAP: The Phillies defeated the Colorado Rockies, 9-3, as they took their second straight series victory … Starter Zack Wheeler (W, 2-1) made his 200th career start and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits with 3 walks and 11 strikeouts … Offensively, the Phillies mashed four home runs (Stott, Turner, Marsh, Clemens) and had five walks to five strikeouts.
REMEMBER THE FIGHTINS: After starting the year 0-4 and being outscored 37-12 (-25) through their first four games (3/30-4/3), the Phillies have gone 11-8 with a +15 run differential in their 19 games since … Philadelphia has won four of their last five (since 4/19), six of their last eight (since 4/16) and seven of their last 10 (since 4/14).
BEDLAM AT THE BANK: Through 10 games at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies are averaging 39,457 in attendance per game which ranks 5th among all clubs in MLB behind only the Dodgers (49,418), Padres (40,343), Cardinals (39,881) and Yankees (39,559) … Of Philadelphia’s first 10 games at home, five have been sellouts … Philadelphia’s 394,570 in total attendance is the highest at this point in a season since 2012 when each of the first 10 games were sellouts with a total attendance of 454,096 at CBP.
JUST. SCORE. FOUR.: This season, the Phillies are 10-3 in 13 games when they score at least four runs … Conversely, they are 1-9 in 10 games when they score three runs or fewer … Dating back to the start of last season, the Phillies are 81-26 (.757 win %) when they score four or more and 17-61 (.218 win %) when they score three or fewer.
FEELING SLG-ISH: Through 23 games, the Phillies have seven triples (T-1st in MLB), 50 doubles (2nd in MLB), 26 home runs (T-14th in MLB) and a .453 SLG (3rd in MLB) … Philadelphia’s 83 extra-base hits are tied for the most by a Phillies club through the first 23 games of a season since at least 1901 (with 2007).
SINCE WE LAST SAW YOU: On May 9, 2022, the Phillies arrived in Seattle to play the Mariners with a 12-16 record on the year … The Phillies would take two of three from the Mariners and then head to Los Angeles where they took three of four from the Dodgers … Since May 9, 2022, the Phillies are 86-71 over their last 157 games with a .548 winning percentage that ranks T-4th in the National League (with STL), trailing only ATL (.658), LAD (.654) and NYM (.613) … In the 157 games prior to arriving in Seattle last season (5/8/21-5/8/22), the Phillies were 76-81 with a .484 winning percentage that ranked 9th in the NL.
PHILLY SPECIAL: Since Rob Thomson took over as manager on June 3, 2022, the Phillies have played 64 games at Citizens Bank Park – they have scored 340 runs in those 64 games (5.31 runs per game) and are slashing .272/.338/.474 with an .813 OPS … Among all major league clubs at home since June 3, 2022, the date Thomson took over, the Phillies rank 1st in runs per game (next: COL, 5.24), SLG (next: ATL, .462) & OPS (next: COL, .795), 3rd in AVG and 4th in OBP … The Phillies are 41-23 at CBP under Thomson with a +69 run differential (340-271) … Philadelphia’s .641 winning percentage at home since Thomson took over ranks 4th in the National League behind Atlanta (.719), the Dodgers (.681) & the Mets (.650) and 6th in MLB.
A STAR IS BORN: Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh enters today’s game slashing .364/.455/.758 with a 1.212 OPS that leads major league baseball (next: LAD’s Max Muncy, 1.129 OPS) … Marsh has reached base safely in 20 of his 21 games played this season, including each of his last 19 (since 4/3 at NYY) … Since being acquired by the Phillies via trade from the Los Angeles Angels for Logan O’Hoppe at least year’s deadline, Marsh is slashing .313/.367/.556 with a .923 OPS that ranks 6th among 198 MLB players with 200+ plate appearances in that span … He trails only NYY’s Aaron Judge (1.094 OPS), LAA’s Mike Trout (1.044), HOU’s Jose Altuve (.991), KC’s Vinnie Pasquantino (.970) and TOR’s Bo Bichette (.940) … Marsh’s .556 SLG since joining the Phillies ranks 4th in MLB behind only Trout (.655), Judge (643) and Altuve (.569).
FOUR TO GO FOR 400: In Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Rockies, Craig Kimbrel tossed a scoreless 9th inning (1 SO) and picked up his 396th career save … Kimbrel’s 396th career save came in his 719th game – the only two pitchers in MLB history to reach 400 saves in 800 or fewer career games were Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (400th SV in 697th career G) and Trevor Hoffman (400th SV in 706th career G) … Billy Wagner currently ranks 3rd-fastest in MLB history as he reached his 400th save in his 813th career game.
STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO, GOOD LUCK: In Sunday’s 9-3 win over the Rockies, LHP Jose Alvarado worked a scoreless 8th inning (1.0 IP, H, 2 SO) … Dating back to Sept. 13, 2022, Alvarado has made 17 appearances – he has multiple strikeouts in 15 of those 17 games and has multiple strikeouts with 0 walks in 14 of those 17 … Alvarado, who has faced 36 batters this season, has 20 strikeouts and 0 walks … Since his last walk on Sept. 21, 2022 vs TOR, Alvarado has faced 55 batters and has struck out 32 of them (58.1% SO rate) with 0 walks.
BULLISH ON THE PEN: Over the last eight games (since 4/16 at CIN), the Phillies bullpen has totaled 24.0 innings pitched with only 2 ER allowed (0.75 ERA), with 30 strikeouts and three walks (10.00 SO/BB ratio), while averaging 14.7 pitches per inning … Over their first 15 games of the season (3/30-4/15), the bullpen posted a 7.19 ERA (45 ER, 56.1 IP) with 60 strikeouts to 41 walks (1.46 SO/BB ratio) while averaging 19.7 pitches per inning.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – BAILEY FALTER • LHP #70
2023: 0-3, 4.50 ERA Career: 8-8, 4.38
LAST START: 4/18 at CWS: L, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, HR
… Falter vs Giolito … In Game 2, a 3-0 Phils loss, starter Bailey Falter (L, 0-3), became the first Phillies pitcher to complete 7.0 innings this season … Falter allowed a 3-run home run to Jake Burger in the 1st but would retire 14 in a row from the 2nd through the 7th inning following the home run.
TONIGHT’S START:
• Didn’t Falter: Falter’s 7.0 IP in his last start were a career high and also marked the first 7.0-inning start by a Phillies pitcher this season (since done by Aaron Nola, 4/21 vs COL) … Falter has settled in during the mid and later innings in his starts, allowing 5 1st inning runs in his 4 starts but only 5 runs in all other innings, including 2 runs in 10.0 IP from the 4th inning on … After allowing a 3-run homer in the 1st inning his last start he set down 14 straight between the 2nd and 7th
• First Mate: The Phillies have only played the Mariners 19 times ever, and Falter has made only 21 career starts, but today is his second career start already against SEA, and the other was in the last game the Phillies and Mariners played each other, on 5/11/22 … He also opposed Logan Gilbert in that one
• Left Lost: Falter has allowed 7 hits to the last 49 LHH he has faced since 7/29/22, walking none (1 HB) while striking out 14 … He has held them to a .146/.163/.292 slash line in that span … Opponents have not let a LHH face Falter once in his last 2 starts … Since 7/29/22, among the 336 pitchers with at least 45 LHH faced, Falter’s .163 OPP OBP is 5th-lowest (lowest: Tyler Wells, .133)
• Mark of Consistency: Since 7/29/22, Falter has a 3.45 ERA (28 ER, 73.0 IP), 1.10 WHIP (11 BB, 69 H) … Removing his 6 ER in 3.2 IP on 9/24 vs ATL, he has a 2.86 ERA (22 ER, 69.1 IP) and 1.01 WHIP in that span
• vs AL West: 0-2, 3.38 ERA (5 ER, 13.1 IP) in 4 games (3 starts)
• vs Interleague: 1-3, 3.09 ERA (8 ER, 23.1 IP) in 7 games (4 starts) … 3 of his first 5 starts this season will have been against AL teams
HOME:
• 2023: 0-0, 1.80 ERA (1 ER, 5.0 IP) in 1 start
• Career: 3-4, 4.83 ERA (29 ER, 54.0 IP) in 21 games (8 starts)
2023 SEASON:
• Walked 4 batters in a span of 10 starts, 8/26/22-4/8/23, becoming the 5th different Phillie since at least 1901 to walk 4 or fewer in a 10-start span
• Made his second career and consecutive Opening Day roster
