Kirby stymies Rays’ bats en route to Seattle victory

Baseball
Published 02.07.2023
Kirby stymies Rays’ bats en route to Seattle victory
George Kirby leads Mariners’ win over Rays

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8 minutes in the past

SEATTLE — George Kirby seethed as he surged towards the house dugout after the highest of the sixth inning on Saturday, straight previous his teammates and out of sight into the tunnel.

Seattle’s uber-competitive younger starter had simply surrendered a two-out, two-run homer that tied the matinee on nationwide tv towards the American League-leading Rays. And he was as peeved as at any level all season. 

“That frickin’ home run pissed me off pretty good,” Kirby mentioned postgame, after the Mariners held on to a much-needed, 8-3 victory. “I was ready to come back out and keep going as long as I needed to.”

Kirby didn’t simply hold going; he punctuated the day by emptying the tank with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, capped by consecutive strikeouts on his four-seam fastball, at 96.2 mph towards Josh Lowe and 96.5 mph towards Jose Siri. He reached a career-high-tying 101 pitches and carried a no-hitter into the sixth earlier than surrendering a one-out double to Yandy Díaz two at-bats earlier than the homer. 

“He’s a dog, that’s how I’d describe it,” mentioned teammate Jarred Kelenic, who punched an RBI single shortly after Kirby’s homer that gave the Mariners a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“I love everything about his mentality, the way he goes about his business, the way he conducts himself on the mound,” Kelenic continued. “Like I said, he’s a dog.”

Kirby knew the stakes of Saturday’s sport, notably after the Mariners’ bullpen threw 5 2/3 innings and gave up 13 runs on Friday after Bryce Miller was pressured to exit with a proper center finger blister and that the Mariners had been going up towards strikeout artist Tyler Glasnow, who racked up 11 punchouts on Saturday. 

“That is just taking matters into your own hands,” supervisor Scott Servais mentioned. “Hell of an effort really just from the get-go. Super focused, locked in, really disappointed he gave up the two-run homer. But he went out there and got three big outs after that.”

It’s not simply the ultimate outcomes that shined, but additionally, the avenues that Kirby took to get there. He threw six completely different pitches on Saturday, toyed with them out of the zone — even when his strike-throwing speciality made it laborious to take action — and confirmed a blossoming acumen. With their younger starters, notably Miller and Bryan Woo, the Mariners have intentionally inspired them to not overthink and focus extra on their strengths. 

They’ve executed that with Kirby, too, however they consider he’s taking the following step to turning into a extra well-rounded pitcher.

“George has the weapons and the tools and execution to pitch to a scouting report,” Servais mentioned. “And when he’s on his game, that’s what he’s doing. He’s using his best [stuff] against maybe an area where the hitter may be weaker at handling a certain pitch. It’s moving in the right direction.”

When Kirby departed, the sport was tied at 2-2. But after Kelenic put Seattle forward, the Mariners ran away with a three-spot within the eighth, effectively after Glasnow was gone. Yet even when Tampa Bay’s towering righty was on the mound, regardless of a whopping 23 whiffs, the Mariners’ bats saved the stress on — thanks largely to Kirby.

Kelenic ripped a double to the right-center hole within the second, then Mike Ford drove him in with an opposite-field knock to open the scoring. In the third, J.P. Crawford ripped a 385-foot homer off Glasnow, his seventh of the season to eclipse his 2022 complete. Seattle knew its greatest possibilities to strike was with its lefties within the lineup. 

“Everybody in the lineup, really, we were just trying to get pitches in the heart of the plate and stay up the middle the other way,” Kelenic mentioned. “I thought we did a really good job today of staying the other way.”

It was a crisp, sound sport that the Mariners sorely wanted, however much more so, it resulted in a victory towards one of many Majors’ greatest groups. They’ve exhibited most of these encouraging performances earlier than — and so they acknowledge that sustainability would be the subsequent step. 

“That’s the question,” Servais mentioned. “I think it starts with a really good starting pitching. We’ll run another really good starter [Luis Castillo] out there tomorrow.”