DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS TAKE SERIES OPENER IN SEATTLE: The Tigers hit three home runs and defeated the Mariners, 5-4, on Friday. Kerry Carpenter gave the Tigers an early lead with a two-run homer in the first inning, while Akil Baddoo added a solo homer in the fifth. Nick Maton blasted a two-run shot in the seventh. Eduardo Rodriguez started for the Tigers and picked up his fifth win of the season, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 5.0 innings. José Cisnero worked a scoreless inning in relief, while Tyler Holton struck out two in 1.1 perfect frames. Alex Lange gave up a run in the ninth, but notched his 14th save of the season.

A CARPENTER AND HIS TOOLS: Kerry Carpenter continued his impressive offensive stretch last night, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning, his ninth of the season. Since being reinstated from the injured list on June 9, Carpenter is slashing .299/.347/.529 with three doubles, one triple, five home runs and 15 RBI.

HOLTON CONTINUES TO IMPRESS: Tyler Holton worked a perfect 1.1 innings in relief last night, striking out two. Since the start of June, Holton has only allowed two earned runs in 15 appearances, posting a 0.87 ERA (20.2IP/2ER) with 24 strikeouts. For the season, Holton ranks seventh among American League relievers (min. 30.0 innings) with a 1.93 ERA and eighth with a 0.99 WHIP.

TORK TIME: Spencer Torkelson went 1×4 in last night’s game to extend his hitting streak to six games, equaling the longest streak of his season. Torkelson has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, over which he is batting .292/.370/.646 with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBI.

MIGGY MAGIC: Miguel Cabrera went 1×4 in Sunday’s series finale against the Blue Jays. The hit was the 3,128th of his big league career, putting him 13 shy of tying Tony Gwynn for 20th in big league history. Cabrera has hit safely in 17 of his last 24 games, slashing .338/.414/.473 with seven doubles, a home run and nine RBI.

TIGERS AND MARINERS: The Tigers and Mariners continue their second series of the season tonight. The two teams have split their first four meetings this season. Detroit went 1-6 against the Mariners last season, including dropping three-or-four games in Seattle.

ON THE ROAD: The Tigers are 1-0 on their current seven-game road trip, which includes three games at Seattle (1-0) and four games at Kansas City (July 17-20). Detroit is 20-25 on the road this season. The Tigers are hitting .220/.288/.362 as a team away from Comerica Park, while the pitching staff has a 4.42 ERA (390.2IP/192ER).

2024 SCHEDULE RELEASED: The Tigers 2024 regular season schedule was released on Thursday. Detroit opens the 2024 campaign on March 28 against the White Sox. The Tigers home opener is slated for April 5 against Oakland. The Dodgers, Cardinals and Phillies are among the National League teams slated to visit Comerica Park next season.

TIGERS ON THE IL:

• LHP Tyler Alexander (left lat/shoulder strain, 60-day IL on July 4, retroactive to July 3)
• LHP Matthew Boyd (left elbow sprain, 60-day IL on June 27)
• OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 60-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
• RHP Spencer Turnbull (neck discomfort, 60- day IL on May 12, retroactive to May 7)
• RHP Will Vest (right lower leg strain, 15-day IL on June 27)

TONIGHT’S TIGERS STARTING PITCHER

21 Michael Lorenzen • 3-6, 4.03 ERA (87.0IP/39ER)

• Lorenzen will make his 16th start of the season tonight at Seattle.
• Picked up his third win of the season on July 6 vs. Oakland, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings with three hits allowed, no walks and four strikeouts.
• Named to the American League All-Star Team, his first career selection to the All-Star Game…pitched a scoreless two-thirds of an inning in the Midsummer Classic, allowing a hit with one walk and a strikeout…fanned Pete Alonso to escape a jam with runners on first and second.
• Has faced the Mariners four times in his career, including three starts, and has a 1-2 record with an 8.16 ERA (14.1IP/13ER) and 15 strikeouts…in two career appearances, including one start, at T-Mobile Park, he is 0-1 with an 11.37 ERA (6.1IP/8ER) and four strikeouts.
• Among American League pitchers with at least 80.0 innings pitched this season, he ranks eighth with 2.07 walks per 9.0 innings.
• Made five starts during May, posting a 2-1 record with a 1.95 ERA (32.1IP/7ER) and 20 strikeouts…among qualified Major League pitchers in May, he ranked tied for sixth in ERA (1.95) and ninth in WHIP (0.87).

SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue the 10-game homestand with the second of 3 games against the Detroit Tigers (0-1)…the Mariners will also welcome the Minnesota Twins (4 G, 7/17-7/20) and Toronto Blue Jays (3 G, 7/21-7/23) to T-Mobile Park on the homestand…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Aaron Goldsmith and Dan Wilson on the call…the game will also be broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Dave Sims and Gary Hill Jr.
ODDS AND ENDS…last night, the Mariners dropped the first game of the second half to the Tigers by a 5-4 score…the Mariners are 35-17 when scoring at least 4 runs and 10-28 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 24-21 at T-Mobile Park and 21-24 on the road this season…they are 14-18 in day games and 31-27 at night.

• Christmas In July – Seattle is 39-20 (.661) in July games since 2021, including 7-3 so far this season… the .661 winning percentage during that span ranks tied for second in the Mariners, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers (.672)
• Late Night Drive – Mike Ford hit his second career pinch-hit home run in last night’s game, and the second by a Mariners player this season (also: Dylan Moore, 6/21 at NYY)
• Happy Birthday, T-Mobile Park – 24 years ago today, July 15, 1999, the first game was played at T-Mobile Park between the Mariners and the Padres.

BEST BALL…Seattle has won 7 of its last 10 games since July 1, winning each of its last 3 series…the Mariners took 2 of 3 vs. Tampa Bay (6/30-7/2), 2 of 3 at San Francisco (7/3-7/5) and 3 of 4 at Houston (7/6-7/9)…Seattle’s 7 wins in July are tied for second-most in the Majors, trailing only Boston (8).

ONE WIN AWAY FROM 1,000…the Mariners come into play tonight with 999 all-time regular season wins at T-Mobile Park…the Mariners are 999-899 (.526) in 1,898 all-time regular season home games at T-Mobile Park since moving to the ballpark midway through the 1999 season…Seattle went 852-903 (.485) in 1,755 regular season games at the Kingdome (1977-99).

THE STARTERS HAVE BEEN SOME KIND OF GOOD…over the Mariners last 26 games (6/12-c), the starting rotation is 11-7 with a 2.54 ERA (44 ER, 156.0 IP) with 39 walks and 137 strikeouts…the 2.54 ERA starters ERA leads the Majors during that span, ranking ahead of San Diego (2.96) and Philadelphia (3.32)…during that span, Bryan Woo is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA (6 ER, 28.0 IP) with 7 walks and 32 strikeouts in 5 starts…Logan Gilbert is 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA (8 ER, 34.1 IP) with 6 walks and 25 strikeouts in 5 starts… George Kirby is 3-2 with a 2.18 ERA (8 ER, 33.0 IP) with 4 walks and 28 strikeouts in 5 starts…Bryce Miller is 2-0 with a 3.05 ERA (7 ER, 20.2 IP) with 7 walks and 22 strikeouts in 4 starts…Luis Castillo is 2-3 with a 3.53 ERA (14 ER, 35.2 IP) with 11 walks and 30 strikeouts in 6 starts.

HOT BATS…over the Mariners last 17 games (6/22-c), they lead the American League in runs scored (97), trailing only the Braves (109 R), Dodgers (107) and Padres (104) for the Major League lead…during that span, Seattle is batting .255 (159×624) with 36 doubles, 26 home runs and 63 walks…since June 22, Tom Murphy is batting .476 (10×21) with 3 home runs and 6 RBI…Mike Ford is batting .367 (18×49) with 4 doubles, 5 home runs and 13 RBI…J.P. Crawford is batting .290 (18×62) with 4 doubles, 4 homers and 9 RBI…Eugenio Suárez is batting .283 (17×60) with 6 doubles, 4 homers and 13 RBI…Julio Rodríguez is batting .300 (24×80) with 4 doubles, 1 homer and 10 RBI…Teoscar Hernández is batting .250 (17×68) with 14 runs, 5 doubles, 3 homers and 11 RBI.

J-ROD: A SPECIAL TALENT…Julio Rodríguez went 2-for-4 with 1 walk in last night’s game, and was also robbed of a home run in the first inning…Julio is the only player in the Majors to rank in both the 90th percentile in average exit velocity (93rd percentile, 92.7 mph) and sprint speed (97th percentile, 29.6 feet-per-second) this season…Julio has 13 home runs and 22 stolen bases, one of 6 players in the Majors with 10+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases…Julio’s 9 outs above average are tied for the 5th-best in the Majors and tied for the most among outfielders, while his fielding run value of 7 ranks tied for 12th in the Majors… overall this season, he is batting .249 (91×365) with 52 runs, 18 doubles, 1 triple, 13 home runs, 49 RBI and 22 stolen bases with a .721 OPS while tallying 2.4 bWAR and 2.6 fWAR.

SLUGGING SHORTSTOP…J.P. Crawford had his 10-game hitting streak snapped in last night’s game…over his last 25 games (6/10-c), Crawford is batting .281 (27×96) with 15 runs, 7 doubles, 5 home runs, 11 RBI and 19 walks, getting on base at a .397 clip and slugging .510 (.907 OPS)…overall this season, he leads the Mariners with 2.7 Baseball-Reference WAR.

TEOSCAR THE GROUCH…Teoscar Hernández over his last 34 games (6/3-c) is batting .276 (35×127) with 21 runs, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 22 RBI and 16 walks, getting on base at a .359 clip, slugging .496 with an .855 OPS.

THE VIBES ARE GOOD…Eugenio Suárez over his last 28 games (6/10-c) is batting .271 (26×96) with 15 runs, 8 doubles, 5 home runs, 17 RBI and 11 walks, getting on base at a .359 clip, slugging .510 with an .869 OPS…the Mariners third baseman has been among the best defensive third basemen in the Majors this season, tallying 5 outs above average, tied for 8th-best in the Majors.

DRAFT RECAP…the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft was held July 9-11, with the Mariners making 22 selections over the 3 days…on day 1 of the Draft, the Mariners selected INF Colt Emerson (22nd overall), OF Jonny Farmelo (29th overall), SS Tai Peete (30th overall) and 3B Ben Williamson (57th overall)…over the 3 days, the Mariners took 10 pitchers, 1 catcher, 6 infielders and 5 outfielders…they took 18 college players and 4 high school players…each of their first 3 selections in the draft were high school players.

AS YOU MAY KNOW…Mike Ford has hit .286 (24×84) with 16 runs, 4 doubles, 9 home runs and 18 RBI, getting on base at a .337 clip and slugging .655 good for a .992 OPS in 31 games this season, but…DID YOU KNOW?…Ford has been among the best hitters in baseball since he was selected from Triple-A Tacoma on June 2, ranking among the Major League leaders in several categories, including OPS (10th), wRC+ (10th), HR (T-11th) and slugging percentage (5th)?…among players with at least 90 plate appearances this season, Ford ranks among the leaders in wRC+ (4th), OPS (T-5th), AB/HR (2nd, 9.33), slugging percentage (.655), and OPS+ (4th, 172).

MARINERS STARTER – RHP GEORGE KIRBY
ABOUT KIRBY…

• 25-year-old right-hander is making his 18th start of the season, 1st against Detroit…he is also making his 43rd career start, and 3rd career start against the Tigers.
• 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#8 in last start on 7/6 at HOU…allowed just 1 run on 6 hits and 1 walk with 3 strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched.

THESE BOOTS WERE NOT MADE FOR WALKING…leads all qualified pitchers in the Majors with a 8.90 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, ranking ahead of Zach EflinTBR (7.00).

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 4th 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 10 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 14 quality starts this season are tied for the 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.

KIRBY’S COMPLETE…pitched his first career complete game on 4/27 against Philadelphia, tossing 8.0 innings allowing just 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walks with 7 strikeouts…he became the first Mariners pitcher to lose a complete game since Taijuan Walker on Sept. 24, 2014 in a 1-0 loss at Toronto.

MAKING MARINERS HISTORY…his 12.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio in March/April was the best to start a season in Mariners history among starting pitchers with at least 2 starts…he ranks ahead of Taijuan Walker who had an 8.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2016.

MISSION CRITICAL…the Mariners own a 17-8 record in games that Kirby tosses at least 6.0 innings…in games Kirby goes 5.2 innings or less, the Mariners are just 8-7.

GOING ON STRIKE…began his outing on 8/24/22 vs. Washington by throwing 24-consecutive strikes, the most to start a game since the pitch tracking era (1988-current), passing the 21 thrown by Joe Musgrove on 8/30/18 vs. STL with PIT.

WALK LESS, LISTEN MORE…did not allow more than 1 walk in each of his first 22 career starts, the longest streak to begin a career in MLB history…it was the 2nd-longest streak to begin a season in MLB history trailing the 27 done by Carlos Silva-MIN in 2005.