SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TODAY’S TILT…the Mariners continue a 10-game road trip (2-1) today with the finale of 4 games against the Kansas City Royals (2-1)…Seattle will also face the Houston Astros (3 G, Aug. 18-20) and Chicago White Sox (3 G, Aug. 21-23) on the trip…the Mariners are coming off a winning 5-game homestand (3-2) against the San Diego Padres (2-0) and Baltimore Orioles (1-2)…today’s game in Kansas City will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Aaron Goldsmith on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr. on the call.
ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners won last night’s game by a 6-5 score and have won back-to-back games after snapping a 3-game skid…the Mariners are 10-3 over their last 13, 12-4 over their last 16, 15-5 over their last 20, 18-7 over their last 25 and 27-13 over their last 40 games…the Mariners are 50-19 when scoring at least 4 runs and 15-36 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 34-28 at T-Mobile Park and 31-27 on the road this season…they are 21-20 in day games and 44-35 at night.
- Since July 1 – The Mariners have the 2nd-best record in the Majors since July 1…Seattle is 27-13 (.675) since then, trailing only the Dodgers (.711/27-11), while ranking ahead of Baltimore (.634/26-15) and Houston (.625/25-15).
- Rising Tide – With a win today, the Mariners would return to their high water mark of 11 games above .500…Seattle was previously 11 games above .500 on Aug. 11 (63-52) after their final win of their season-high 8-game winning streak (Aug. 2-11).
- Here Comes The Sun – The Mariners are 10-2 over their last 12 day games (7/1-c).
- Series-ly Great – Seattle has a chance to win the series today with a victory over the Royals… Seattle has won 6 of its last 7 overall series and each of its last 5 road series.
- Yesterday’s Roster Moves – Prior to yesterday’s Game 3 in Kansas City, Seattle selected catcher Brian O’Keefe from Triple-A Tacoma and placed catcher Tom Murphy on the 10-day Injured List (retro. Aug. 14) with a left thumb sprain.
- Programming Note – Sunday’s Mariners at Astros game will be televised and streamed live on Peacock.
KIRBY’S DREAM WORLD…George Kirby is coming off the best start of his career on Aug. 12 vs. Baltimore, in which he held the Orioles scoreless over 9.0 innings pitched, allowing only 3 hits with 7 strikeouts…George has allowed only 2 runs combined between his last 3 starts (7/31-c), going 1-0 with a 0.86 ERA (2 ER, 21 IP) with 2 walks and 19 strikeouts during that span, while holding opponents to a .141 batting average…overall this season, Kirby leads the American League in WHIP (1.00) and SO/BB ratio (9.36), while ranking 5th in ERA (3.11), 7th in innings pitched (144.2) and tied for 7th in wins (10).
TYED TO THE BASES…Ty France reached base in each of his 5 plate appearances in last night’s game, going 1-for-1 with 3 walks and 1 hit-by-pitch…Ty has reached base in 9 of his last 11 plate appearances (5 H, 3 BB, 1 HBP) dating back to Tuesday’s game, and has reached base multiple times in 5 of his last 7 games (8/9-c)…over his last 18 games (7/28-c), France is batting .350 (21×60) with 7 runs, 4 doubles, 3 home runs and 12 RBI, getting on base at a .466 clip and slugging .567 (1.032 OPS)…he has reached base safely in 15-of-18, hit safely in 11-of-18 and recorded 6 multi-hit games (3 3+ hit games) during that span.
JULIO HAS 20/30 VISION…Julio Rodríguez enters today’s game with 19 home runs and 30 stolen bases this season, 1 home run away from becoming the 4th player in franchise history with 20+ HR and 30+ SB in a single season…with his next HR, Julio will join Alex Rodriguez (42 HR/46 SB, 1998), Mike Cameron (2x, 25 HR/34 SB, 2001 & 25 HR/31 SB, 2002) and Ruppert Jones (21 HR/33 SB, 1979) as the only other Mariners players to accomplish the feat…with his next home run, Rodríguez will also become the first player in Mariners history with 20+ home runs in each of his first 2 Major League seasons.
JULIO WORTH 10 WAR…Julio Rodríguez has accumulated 10.0 Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement through his first 249 career games…he is on pace to join an exclusive list of players to amass 10.0+ bWAR through their first 2 Major League seasons…Julio would become just the 23rd player in MLB history to appear on that list, which is topped by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (13.4 bWAR) and Johnny Pesky (13.4)…other players on that list include Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Wade Boggs, Eddie Mathews, Ralph Kiner and Johnny Mize, as well as Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Matt Chapman, Carlos Correa and Ichiro Suzuki.
SUÁREZ, RODRÍGUEZ & FRANCE: THE GOLD STANDARD ON DEFENSE…Eugenio Suárez leads qualified American League third basemen (min. 1,000 innings) in fielding percentage (.982) this season, committing just 5 errors and ranking ahead of Matt Chapman-TOR (.971) and Alex Bregman-HOU (.961)…Suárez also ranks tied for 2nd in Outs Above Average (7), trailing only Maikel Garcia-KC (11)… Julio Rodríguez leads Major League outfielders with 12 outs above average, ranking ahead of Luis Robert Jr.-CWS (10) and Brenton Doyle-COL (10)…Ty France leads qualified AL first basemen (min. 1,000 innings) with a .999 fielding percentage, having committed only 1 error, while ranking ahead of Nathaniel Lowe-TEX (.997) and Spencer Torkelson (.994).
WHAT A RELIEF SINCE JULY 1…the Mariners bullpen is 24-21 with a 3.45 ERA (152 ER, 397.0 IP) with 156 walks (13 intentional) and 445 strikeouts this season…they rank 3rd in MLB in ERA, trailing only the Yankees (3.19) and Braves (3.44)…over the team’s last 39 games (7/1-c), Seattle relievers lead the Majors with a 2.51 ERA (35 ER, 125.1 IP), notching 16 saves with 47 walks and 149 strikeouts.
POWER SURGE…Since July 22 the Mariners rank 2nd American League with 37 home runs, trailing only Houston (38 HR)…during that span the Mariners also rank in the top 10 in the Majors in slugging percentage (5th, .467), OPS (5th, .805), average (8th, .263/210×799) and wRC+ (3rd, 126)…Cal Raleigh leads Mariners hitters and ranks T-3rd in the Majors during that span with 9 home runs, while Julio Rodríguez (6 HR), Dylan Moore (4 HR), Eugenio Suárez (3) and Ty France (3) have all hit 3+ homers in the midst of 13 different Mariners players having left the yard since July 22.
AS YOU MAY KNOW…Cal Raleigh hit his 50th career home run in the 1st inning of last night’s game, reaching the milestone in his 271st career game…Cal is 2nd-fastest to the 50 HR mark in Mariners history, trailing only Alex Rodriguez who reached 50 career HR in his 269th career game, but…DID YOU KNOW?…Julio Rodríguez also has a chance to challenge for fastest in club history to the 50 HR mark?…Rodriguez has tallied 47 home runs through 249 games in his career, currently on-pace to reach 50 HR in 265 career games.
MARINERS STARTER – RHP GEORGE KIRBY
2023 MLB Breakdown:
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Overall 10-8 3.11 23/23 144.2 131 52 50 14 131 15
Home 6-3 2.87 12/12 75.1 60 25 24 7 78 8
Road 4-5 3.38 11/11 69.1 71 27 26 7 53 7
vs. KCR 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 18-13 3.24 48/48 274.2 266 106 99 36 264 28
Home 9-6 3.07 25/25 146.2 137 54 50 17 155 17
Road 9-7 3.45 23/23 128.0 129 52 49 19 109 11
vs. KCR 0-0 0.00 0/0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ABOUT KIRBY…
- 25-year-old right-hander is making his 24th start of the season, 1st against Kansas City…he is also making his 49th career start, and 1st career start against the Royals.
- 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…ND in last start on 8/12 vs. BAL…pitched 9.0 scoreless innings and allowed just 3 hits with 7 strikeouts.
LEAGUE OF HIS OWN…Kirby leads the Majors in WHIP (1.002), walks-per-9 innings (0.9) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.36)…the list of qualified pitchers to finish a season leading all Major Leagues in those 3 categories are Cy Young (3x, 1901, ’04-05), Ed Walsh (1910), Babe Adams (1919), Robin Roberts (1954), Juan Marichal (1966), LaMarr Hoyt (1983), Greg Maddux (1995) and Cliff Lee (2010).
THESE BOOTS WERE NOT MADE FOR WALKING…leads all qualified pitchers in the Majors with a 9.36 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, ranking ahead of Zach Eflin-TBR (7.33)…his 9.36 SO/BB ratio currently ranks as the 3rd best in a single season in MLB history among qualified starting pitchers in the American League.
CAREER-HIGH INNINGS…threw 9.0 innings and allowed only 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and struck out 7 over 103 pitches in his last start against BAL…his 9.0 IP is a new career high (previously: 8.0, 2x, last: 5/31/23 vs. NYY)…the last time a Mariners pitcher tossed 9.0+ innings in a team loss was Félix Hernández on 7/26/13 vs. Minnesota.
NO FREE PASSES…has the 2nd fewest walks allowed through the first 23 starts in a season in franchise history with 14…he trails only Hisashi Iwakuma who recorded 13 walks through his first 23 starts in 2014.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Royals suffered a 6-5 loss to the Mariners last night, falling to 2-3 on this 6-game homestand pending today’s finale…Seattle scored 3 runs vs. opener James McArthur in the 1st inning and plated another run in the 2nd off bulk pitcher Alec Marsh, who issued 5 walks in 5.0 innings, but held the Mariners to just 1 run…that allowed Kansas City’s offense to chip away at the deficit, as the Royals scored once in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th innings to tie the game at 4-4 into the late innings…the Mariners loaded the bases in the 8th off Dylan Coleman, who allowed the go-ahead sacrifice fly to Teoscar Hernández that scored Dylan Moore from third, a play that was reviewed and upheld in Seattle’s favor…that play turned out to be the difference in the game, as both teams scored once in the 9th, including a solo home run by Nelson Velázquez.
ROSTER MOVE: The Royals announced this morning that right hander James McArthur was optioned to Triple-A Omaha following last night’s game…taking his place on the 26-man roster is right hander Jackson Kowar, who was recalled from Omaha to begin his fourth stint with the big league club this season…in 5 appearances since he was last optioned to Triple-A on Aug. 2, Kowar pitched to a 2.61 ERA (3 ER in 10.1 IP) with 9 strikeouts.
Following last night’s game, the Royals announced that Nick Wittgren has elected free agency in lieu of an optional assignment to Triple-A Omaha…Kansas City’s Major League Reserve List is now at 39 players.
REHABBING ROYALS: Left hander Jake Brentz began his rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League last night and was charged with 1 unearned run on 1 hit and 1 walk in two-thirds of an inning, with 1 strikeout… it was Brentz’s 1st game action since April 29, 2022, after which he underwent season-ending elbow surgery.
First baseman Nick Pratto will begin a rehab assignment tonight with Triple-A Omaha…Pratto has missed the last 18 games after being placed on the 10-day Injured List on July 28 with a left groin strain.
SERIES SPEAKING: This week’s series vs. Seattle marks Kansas City’s eighth 4-game set of the season, and in their previous seven, they’ve won one, split one and lost five…with a win today the Royals could salvage a series split, which would mark their first in a 4-game set since June 22-25 at Tampa Bay…a win today would also even the Royals series record at 2-2-2 over their last six sets since July 28, a stretch in which they’re 10-8.
After playing 119 games this season without facing the Mariners once, the Royals are now playing them seven times over a 14-day span, including a 3-game series in Seattle that will cap the upcoming 10-day road trip…the Royals lost the season series vs. the Mariners last year, 4-2, but won 2 of 3 here at Kauffman Stadium last September…including this week’s games, the Royals have split their last 6 games vs. the Mariners since last September, after losing 16 of the previous 23 meetings with them dating back to 2018.
ON DECK: Following today’s game, the Royals will fly to Chicago to begin a 9-game, 10-day road trip, their last of a trio of three-city trips this season…the Royals will play 3 day games at Wrigley Field this weekend, then travel west for a 3-game set in Oakland beginning Monday night…after an off day one week from today, the Royals will close out the road trip with a 3-game series next weekend vs. these Mariners in Seattle.
After today, the Royals have only three homestands—including 18 home games—remaining this season.
AFTERNOON DELIGHT: Today’s 1:10 p.m. CT series finale vs. Seattle marks the Royals 49th day game of the season and 1st since Aug. 6 in Philadelphia, snapping a run of 9 straight night games…starting today, the Royals will play 4 straight day games, including a 3-game slate of 1:20 p.m. CT starts this weekend at Wrigley Field.
The Royals are scheduled for 65 day games this year, which would mark the 2nd most in club history behind only last year, when they played 69 matinees…the Royals are 17-31 in day games, but they have won 10 of their last 15 day games at Kauffman Stadium after beginning with 8 straight home day game losses.
The Royals have recorded 7 walk-off wins this season—already their most since 2017 (8)—and 4 have come in day games, including a 4-3 win on May 11 vs. the White Sox, a 3-2 win on May 28 vs. the Nationals, a 10-9 win vs. the Angels on June 17 and a 4-3 win in 10.0 innings on June 29 vs. the Guardians.
The Royals are batting .248 with 54 homers in 48 day games and .241 with 65 homers in 74 night games.
LEADING OFF: Maikel Garcia doubled to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning last night, extending his career-high hit streak to 18 games, during which he’s batting .338 (25-for-74)…it’s the longest active hit streak in the Majors—4 games better than Marcell Ozuna (14)—the longest hit streak by a rookie in Royals history and is the longest streak by a Royal since Whit Merrifield’s club-record 31-game streak from Sept. 10, 2018-April 10, 2019.
Garcia has a leadoff hit in 11 of 39 games (28%) in which he’s batted first in the order, and is batting .308 (48-for-156) overall in those games…he’s had a leadoff hit to extend his streak in each of his last 5 games.
WOAH, NELLY!: Nelson Velázquez has made quite the first impression since being recalled from Triple-A Omaha a week ago today…in 6 games (4 starts) with the Royals, he’s batting .316 (6-for-19) with 3 homers… he’s homered in 3 of his 4 starts with Kansas City, becoming the fourth player in Royals history, according to Elias, with at least 3 HR in his 1st 4 starts with the team, following Ben Zobrist in 2015, Wilson Betemit in 2010 and Calvin Pickering in 2004…including his time with the Cubs before being traded to the Royals on July 31 for right-handed reliever Jose Cuas, Velázquez is batting .271 with a 1.001 OPS in 19 games in the Majors this season…eight of his 13 hits (61.5%) have gone for extra bases and 6 of his 13 hits (46.1%) have been home runs.
GETTING OFFENSIVE: The Royals have scored at least 7 runs nine times in their last 18 games since July 28 (50%), after doing so just 15 times through 104 games (14.4%)…they’ve recorded at least 10 hits in each of their last 5 games—their longest run of the season—and with another double-digit hits game today, the Royals would have their longest such streak in five years, since a 6-game run of 10-plus hits from Aug. 28-Sept. 3, 2018.
Over their last 18 games since July 28, the Royals lead the American League in several offensive categories, including hits (194), total bases (319), batting average (.305), slugging percentage (.501) and OPS (.848)…they rank 2nd in the AL during this stretch with 5.9 runs per game and 64 extra-base hits and are tied for 3rd with 27 home runs, 3 behind Houston (30)…they also lead the Majors since July 28 with 31 steals in 18 games, 9 more than the Diamondbacks (22) and 16 more than the next closest AL teams.
MASHING MERV: MJ Melendez matched a career high last night with 3 hits for the 2nd straight game, including an RBI double in the 3rd…since the start of the last road trip, he’s hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games with an at-bat, a stretch in which he’s batting .405 (17-for-42) with 7 extra-base hits and a .786 slugging percentage and 1.230 OPS…his season took a turn for the better at the All-Star break, and in 30 games since, Melendez is batting .304 (34-for-112) with 6 home runs, 12 RBI and an .886 OPS…in 84 games before the break, he hit .206 (63-for-306) with 6 home runs, 31 and a .622 OPS.
TODAY’S STARTERS: LHP ANGEL ZERPA (1-1, 7.71)
ANGEL ZERPA (AHN-hel SAIR-pah) is making his 9th career appearance and his 5th outing of the 2023 season today vs. the Seattle Mariners…he was signed by Kansas City as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2016.
WINNER WINNER: Zerpa followed opener Dylan Coleman in last Friday’s 12-8 win vs. St. Louis and tossed 4.0 innings as the bulk pitcher, over which he yielded 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits and 1 walk en route to earning his 1st win in over a year, dating back to his last victory on July 14, 2022…he entered in the 2nd inning with a 4-0 lead and recorded a 1-2-3 frame, but he loaded the bases in the 3rd on a single, an E5 and a walk, before Willson Contreras hit a bases-clearing double…he stranded a 2-out infield hit in the 4th but surrendered a 2-out, 2-run home run to Tyler O’Neill in the 5th and exited with a 9-5 lead after that inning in favor of James McArthur.
He owns a 3.55 ERA (10 ER in 25.1 IP) through his first 8 career Major League appearances…despite this, he’s allowed 9 runs (8 ER) in his last 3 outings over 7.1 innings (9.82 ERA) after holding opponents to 5 runs (2 ER) over 18.0 innings (1.00 ERA) spanning his first 5 career appearances (3 starts).
HOW WE GOT HERE: He opened the 2023 season on the Injured List and missed 91 games with left shoulder tendinopathy…he was sent on a rehab assignment to Double-A Northwest Arkansas on June 15, where he pitched in 3 games and recorded a 1.13 ERA (1 ER in 8.0 IP)…his rehab was then transferred to Triple-A Omaha and he made 4 appearances for the Storm Chasers, going 0-1 with a 3.95 ERA (6 ER in 13.2 IP).
After being returned from his rehab assignment on July 14, he was reinstated from the 60-day Injured List and optioned to Omaha, where he went 0-1 with a 5.54 ERA (8 ER in 13.0 IP) in 3 starts for the Storm Chasers…of the 8 runs he allowed, 7 came in his start on July 14 vs. Indianapolis, but he bounced back in his next 2 starts, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts on July 20 vs. St. Paul and 6.1 innings of 1-run ball on July 26 at Columbus.
Angel was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Aug. 1, marking his first stint with the Royals this season…his 2.0-inning relief appearance on Aug. 2 against the Mets marked his first Major League action since July 26, 2022.
WINNING PEDIGREE: Zerpa earned his 1st career win with 2.0 scoreless innings in relief on July 11, 2022 (G2) vs. Detroit…three days later—on just two days’ rest—he won a 5.0-inning start in Toronto, becoming only the second Royal in 14 seasons to win a start on two days’ rest, following Chris Young, who won his May 1, 2015 start vs. Detroit after pitching in relief on April 28…Zerpa became the youngest pitcher in the Majors to win a start on two days’ rest in 10 years, since Martín Pérez won his first start as a 21 year old on June 30, 2012 with Texas, after making his debut in relief on June 27…at 22 years, 290 days “old” last July 14, Zerpa became the youngest Royal to win a start since Danny Duffy (22.259) on Sept. 6, 2011 at Oakland.
Zerpa became one of eight pitchers in franchise history to win 2 of his first 3 appearances, joining a group that includes Royals Hall of Famer Steve Busby.
Began his MLB career with 11.0 innings without allowing an earned run, before a solo HR by Matt Chapman in the 5th inning on July 14, 2022 ended the streak.
Spanning his first 5 career appearances up until his 2023 season debut on Aug.
vs. the Mets, he allowed only 2 earned runs in 18.0 innings, becoming just the second Royal to pitch at least 18.0 innings while allowing 2 runs or fewer through his first 5 career games, joining Bret Saberhagen, who yielded 2 earned runs in 19.2 innings through his first 5 career outings in 1984.
¿DE DONDE ERES?: Angel is from Valle de la Pascua in north central Venezuela, and is one of seven players from Venezuela to appear in a game with the Royals in 2023, joining Salvador Perez, Edward Olivares, Carlos Hernández, Max Castillo, Freddy Fermin and Maikel Garcia…in 2022, the Royals had eight Venezuela-born players appear in a game—including catcher Sebastian Rivero—making 2022 the first season in club history in which the Royals had at least eight Venezuelan players, and Venezuela was the 2nd-most represented country behind only the United States…Zerpa (3 starts) is one of six Venezuela-born pitchers to start a game in club history, following Hernández (25 GS), Castillo (6), Dilson Torres (2), Yohan Pino (1) and Eduardo Villacis (1).
AT HOME: Zerpa has made 5 career appearances (2 starts) at Kauffman Stadium since his 2021 debut and has gone 2-2 with a 2.65 ERA (5 ER in 17.0 IP) at his home ballpark…he allowed just 1 earned run (4 total runs) over his first 4 outings at The K, but yielded 4 earned runs (5 R) last Friday vs. St. Louis.
