SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue the 7-game road trip (2-1) tonight with the first of 4 games against the Houston Astros…the Mariners are coming off a series win at San Francisco (2-1) and have won back-to-back series…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT Sports with Aaron Goldsmith and Angie Mentink on the call…the game will also be broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.
ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners dropped yesterday’s series finale at San Francisco by a 2-0 score… Seattle is 33-17 when scoring at least 4 runs and 9-26 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 24-20 at T-Mobile Park and 18-23 on the road this season…they are 13-18 in day games and 29-25 at night.
- The Return to Minute Maid – The Mariners will be taking the field in Houston for the first time since the 2022 American League Division Series, where they narrowly dropped both games.
- When the Calendar Turns – The Mariners are 36-18 in July since 2021, including going 18-7 in July last season…Seattle is off to a 3-1 start in July this season.
- Backstop Production – Mariners catchers are batting .340 (17×50) with 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 7 RBI and a .995 OPS over their last 13 games dating back to June 22.
- Roster Moves – LH Tommy Milone was designated for assignment post-game on July 5…RH Isaiah Campbell was recalled from Double-A Arkansas…Campbell will make his Major League Debut when he first appears in a game.
LET’S START WITH PITCHING…the Mariners starting rotation has 43 quality starts this season, 2ndmost in the Majors to Minnesota (44), while ranking ahead of Houston (42)…in 21 games since June 12, Seattle’s starting rotation is 8-6 with a 2.75 ERA (38 ER, 124.1 IP) with 37 walks and 116 strikeouts… the 2.78 starters ERA leads the Majors, ranking ahead of Philadelphia (3.06) and San Diego (3.23)…the Mariners have put together 10 quality starts in that span, with their starters allowing 3-or-fewer runs in 20-of-22 games and 2-or-fewer in 14 of the contests.
J.P. THE CATALYST…J.P. Crawford went 2-for-4 with 1 double in last night’s game…over his last 9 games out of the leadoff spot, Crawford is batting .500 (4×8) with 3 doubles, 1 home run and 1 walk in the first inning…over his last 20 games since June 10, Crawford is batting .303 (23×76) with 13 runs, 7 doubles, 4 home runs, 9 RBI and 16 walks, getting on base at a .419 clip and slugging .553 (.972 OPS)… his 0.9 fWAR during that span ranks T-15th in the AL and his 163 wRC+ ranks 15th (min. 50 PA).
RUNNIN’ DOWN A DREAM…despite being shut out in yesterday’s game, the Mariners have scored 119 runs over their last 24 games (6/9-c), averaging 4.96 runs-per-contest which ranks 4th in the American League during that span, trailing Houston (5.33), Tampa Bay (5.04) and Los Angeles-AL (5.04)…Seattle’s 1.45 home runs-per-game over that span also ranks 4th in the AL, trailing Los Angeles (1.84), Texas (1.54) and Houston (1.50).
FORD’S TRUCKING ALONG…Mike Ford is batting .406 (13×32) with 5 runs, 2 doubles, 3 home runs and 7 RBI, getting on base at a .457 clip and slugging .750 (1.207 OPS) over his last 10 games (6/24-c)… overall this season, Ford is batting .264 (19×72) with 12 runs, 2 doubles, 7 home runs and 13 RBI, getting on base at a .308 clip and slugging .583 (.891 OPS) in 26 games…since June 24, Ford’s 1.207 OPS ranks 10th in the Majors (min. 20 PA) and his 0.6 fWAR is T-7th in the AL.
EVERYBODY SAY TEO…Teoscar Hernández has hit safely in 7 of his last 9 games (6/26-c)…over his last 29 games (6/2-c), Teo is batting .295 (33×112) with 19 runs, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 21 RBI and 12 walks, getting on base at a .360 clip, slugging .527 with a .887 OPS…over his last 47 games (5/13-c), he is batting .283 (51×180) with 24 runs, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homers, 32 RBI, 15 walks and 3 stolen bases, getting on base at a .335 clip, slugging .483 with an .818 OPS.
AS YOU MAY KNOW…Ty Adcock turned in another scoreless outing out of the Mariners bullpen in last night’s game, and has now tossed 12.0 scoreless innings over his first 9 appearances to begin his Major League career, striking out 7 without issuing a walk, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that his scoreless streak is the 4th-longest to begin a Major League career in franchise history, trailing Carson Smith 18.1 IP over his first 20 career outings from 2014-15?…Adcock’s scoreless streak is also the 6th-longest active streak in the Majors, trailing Kevin Kelly-TB (17.1 IP), Griffin Jax-MIN (16.2 IP), Michael Tonkin-ATL (14.0), Tommy Kahnle-NYY (13.2) and Jake Diekman-TB (13.1 IP).
MARINERS STARTER – RHP GEORGE KIRBY
2023 MLB Breakdown:
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Overall 7-7 3.21 16/16 101.0 96 38 36 9 86 11
Home 5-2 3.10 8/8 49.1 41 18 17 4 50 6
Road 2-5 3.31 8/8 51.2 55 20 19 5 36 5
vs. HOU 0-0 0.00 0/0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career MLB Breakdown:
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Overall 15-12 3.31 41/41 231.0 231 92 85 31 219 24
Home 8-5 3.21 21/21 120.2 118 47 43 14 127 15
Road 7-7 3.43 20/20 110.1 113 45 42 17 92 9
vs. HOU 0-0 4.50 1/1 4.0 4 2 2 1 7 0
ABOUT KIRBY…
- 25-year-old right-hander is making his 17th start of the season, 1st against Houston…he is also making his 42nd career start, and 2nd career start against the Astros.
- Selected by the Mariners in the first round (20th overall) of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft; signed by Mariners scout Ty Holub.
- Played 3 seasons (2017-2019) at Elon University (NC), going 19-8 with a 3.30 ERA (88 ER, 240.0 IP) in 45 games (34 GS) with the Phoenix.
- Became the first rookie in MLB history to record a save in the postseason in his first career relief appearance.
- Graduated from Rye HS (Rye, NY) where he was named to the all-metro, all-state, all-section and all-league baseball teams 3 times.
LAST TIME OUT…W#7 in last start on 7/1 vs. TBR…allowed 2 runs on 2 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts.
THESE BOOTS WERE NOT MADE FOR WALKING…leads all qualified pitchers in the Majors with a 9.56 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, ranking ahead of Joe Ryan-MIN (7.13).
NOTHING BUT STRIKES…had not given up more than 1 walk in his first 15 starts this season…this is the longest streak of giving up 1-or-fewer walks in a game
among staters in the Majors this season.
CAREER-HIGH STRIKEOUTS…set a new career high in strikeouts for a single game with 10 on 6/13 against Miami…this was the 5th instance this season of a Mariners pitcher recording 10 strikeouts in a start…he joined Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, and Luis Castillo…Castillo has recorded 10 strikeouts in a game twice this season.
CAREER-HIGH INNINGS…in his outing on 5/31 against NYY he threw 8.0 innings which matched a career high set earlier this year (4/27 at PHI).
LUCKY NUMBER 7…pitched 7.0 innings in his last outing against Tampa Bay… this marked the 7th time this season Kirby has pitched at least 7.0 innings in a game…he is tied for the 3rd most 7.0+ inning games in the Majors this season.
NO WALKS ALLOWED…he did not give up a walk in 4 consecutive starts (5/26- 620)…this was a new career-high in consecutive games without giving up a walk…Kirby has only allowed 9 walks all season.
QUALITY KIRBY…pitched 8 consecutive quality starts (4/9-5/26), his longest quality start streak in his career…his previous high in consecutive quality starts
was 2 (last: 9/10-9/17/22)…his 8-game quality start streak is tied for the longest streak in the Majors this season with Logan Webb-SFG…his 13 quality starts
this season are tied for the 3rd-most in the Majors.
TRIPLE SEVENS…pitched at least 7.0 innings in 3 consecutive starts (4/27- 5/9)…this marked a career high in consecutive games with at least 7.0 innings pitched…prior to the streak, Kirby had never pitched 7.0+ innings in consecutive games…during the streak Kirby was 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA (4 ER, 22.0 IP) and allowed 2 walks while striking out 18.
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: After playing in five consecutive day games, the Astros will host the Mariners for a night game tonight in the opener of their four-game series in Houston…on the mound tonight for the Astros will be RHP Ronel Blanco, who was recalled from Triple A Sugar Land today…he’ll be opposed by RHP George Kirby and the Mariners.
ABOUT BLANCO:RHP Ronel Blanco is returning from Triple A Sugar Land today to make his sixth career Major League start… Blanco made the Astros Opening Day roster as a reliever this season and made nine appearances before being optioned to Triple A on May 6…at Triple A, he worked to get extended, before being recalled on June 1…since that initial recall, Blanco has posted a 2-0 record and a 4.82 ERA (15ER/28IP) in his five starts…he was optioned to Triple A after his most recent
start on June 30 at TEX (3ER/5IP).
ROOKIE RUMBLE: Of the nine starters the Astros have used this season, four are rookies, including tonight’s scheduled starter RHP Ronel Blanco…Houston has received 33 starts from rookie pitchers, ranking third in the Majors behind Oakland (44) and Cleveland (39)…all nine starting pitchers used by the Astros in 2023 are products of their minor league system.
WINNING WAYS: The Astros, who are going for their 50th win of the season, enter tonight having won seven of their last eight games, while going 10-4 in their last 14…their winning ways have cut their deficit in the AL West to just 2.0 games behind the Rangers, which is the Astros smallest division deficit since they were also 2.0 games back after a win on May 28…a win tonight would also move the Astros to 12 games over .500, which would match their season high.
VS. THE MARINERS: This series is the Mariners first trip back to Houston since Games 1 and 2 of the 2022 American League Division Series, which was won by the Astros in a clean sweep… all three games in that series were nailbiters, with the two in Houston being decided by late-inning home runs by LF Yordan Alvarez…since that series, the Astros and Mariners did play a three-game series in Seattle earlier this season, with the Astros losing two of three from May 5-7.
WINSDAY: The Astros picked up their fourth consecutive victory yesterday, downing the Rockies by a score of 6-4…the Astros scored five of their six runs on three homers, two by C Yainer Diaz (2×4, 3RBI) and a two-run homer by SS Jeremy Peña… that was enough offense for RHP J.P. France (3ER/6IP), who picked up his third win of the season.
TODAY’S ROSTER MOVES: The Astros have recalled RHP Ronel Blanco and IF David Hensley from Triple A Sugar Land…2B Jose Altuve has been placed on the 10-day IL today with left oblique discomfort (retro to July 4)…lastly, LHP Parker Mushinski was optioned to Triple A after yesterday’s game.
PITCHING IN: The Astros rank second in the Majors in ERA, and fourth in starter’s ERA (3.67) and bullpen ERA (3.51).
Lowest Team ERA – MLB Lowest Bullpen ERA – AL
- Minnesota: 3.55 1. New York: 2.95
- Houston: 3.61 2. Cleveland: 3.12
- Atlanta: 3.63 3. Houston: 3.51
GOIN’ DEEP: The Astros have homered in 17 consecutive games, a streak that ranks as the sixth-longest in club history…the last time they had a streak of this length was back in 2021, when they homered in 18 straight games from July 19-Aug. 8… the franchise record for a single-season streak is 25 games, posted from Sept. 1-29, 2019.
THAT’S OFFENSIVE: The Astros have hit 26 doubles and 24 homers, while scoring 89 runs in their last 14 games since June 20 (5.9 runs per game)…since that date, the Astros lead the AL in runs scored (89), batting average (.285), OBP (.359), SLG (.496) and OPS (.855), and own a share for the AL lead in homers (24)…the Astros are 10-4 in those contests.
TUCK’S TEAR: All-Star RF Kyle Tucker is riding a season-high, 12-game hitting streak, in which he’s batting .396 (19×48) with a 1.192 OPS…Tucker’s streak is the longest active hitting streak in the AL and is the third-longest active streak in the Majors…Tucker still has work to do to reach his career-long streak of 17 games, set from Aug. 3-26, 2022.
NOTHING FINER THAN YAINER: Rookie C Yainer Diaz recorded the first two-homer game of his career yesterday vs. COL, giving him 10 homers on the season…Diaz became the first Astros rookie catcher to post a multi-homer game since C Mitch Meluskey did so on Sept. 3, 2000 vs. ATL…Diaz also became the eighth Astros rookie to reach 10+ home runs prior to the All-Star Break, with SS Jeremy Peña (13 HR) the last do so in 2022…on the season, Diaz ranks first among AL rookies in slugging percentage (.515) and is fourth in home runs (10) (min. 150 PA).
INJURY UPDATES: The Astros have been working through several injuries…below are a few updates on sidelined players:
- LF Yordan Alvarez (right oblique strain) has been hitting in the batting cage and has been running on the field…he also stood in on live BP on Tuesday but did not swing…Alvarez was originally placed on the IL on June 9 and was given a timetable of four-plus weeks for his return.
- OF Michael Brantley (right shoulder surgery) has been shut down from all baseball activities for three to four days…prior to this shutdown, Brantley had progressed to taking BP and throwing and running on the field.
- RHP José Urquidy (right shoulder discomfort) threw 20 pitches in live BP on Tuesday, facing four hitters…his plan is to throw a bullpen today…a decision on when he’d begin a rehab assignment has not yet been determined.
- LHP Framber Valdez missed his last turn in the rotation due to right ankle soreness…he will return to the Astros rotation for a start on Saturday.
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP RONEL BLANCO
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023: 2-0 4.73 14 5 40.0 39 24 21 22 39
CAREER: 2-0 5.05 21 5 46.1 47 29 26 26 46
VS. SEA W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023: – – – – – – – – – –
CAREER: 0-0 11.57 2 0 2.1 3 3 3 0 2
LAST START – 6/30 AT TEX:earned his 2nd of the win of the season after he allowed 3 runs on 4 hits with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts in 5.0 innings…has allowed 3
runs-or-fewer in in 4 of his 5 starts this season.
ABOUT BLANCO: Dominican rookie was recalled from Triple A Sugar Land prior to tonight’s game…is making his 6th start of his career…prior to this season, had predominantly served as a reliever through the first 8 seasons of his professional career…entering the 2023 season had made just 21 starts at the minor league level, with the last coming in 2019…none of those starts were above the Single A level.
- made the Astros Opening Day roster as a reliever this season and made 9 appearances before being optioned to Triple A on May 6…at Triple A, he worked to get extended, before being recalled on June 1…Blanco’s transition to a starter can be credited to Astros GM Dana Brown, who identified Blanco in Spring Training as a potential starter.
- worked as a starter toward the end of Spring Training, making 2 starts out of his 6 appearances…had a fantastic Spring Training, recording a 0.64 ERA (1ER/14IP) and did not allow a run through his 2 starts (6.1IP).
STARTING DEBUT: picked up the 1st winning decision of his career in his 1st career start on June 1 vs. LAA…became the 20th pitcher in Astros history to go 5+
IP while allowing 2-or-less runs in his starting debut…was the 2nd to do so this season, joining RHP J.P. France (5IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 5SO on May 6 at SEA).
VS. THE MARINERS: will make his 1st career start and his 3rd career appearance against the Mariners.
- has recorded a 11.57 ERA (3ER/2.1IP) with 2 strikeouts in his 2 career appearances in 2022 against Seattle.
