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AS YOU KNOW…George Kirby takes the mound tonight for the Mariners… in 20 starts this season, the 24-year old righthander is 6-3 with a 3.15 ERA (37 ER, 105.2 IP) with 14 walks and 109 strikeouts, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that Kirby has the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.79) in Major League history by starting a pitcher’s first 20 Major League careers?…Kirby represents Roy Oswalt -HOU (7.65) in 2001, Masahiro Tanaka-NYY (6.71) in 2014, Corbin Burnes-MIL (6.19) in 2019-21 and Stephen Strasburg-WSH (5.63) in 2010-12.

TILT TILT…the Mariners continue an 8-game, 10-day homestand tonight with the 2nd of 3 games against the Atlanta Braves (0-1)…the Mariners also welcome the San Diego Padres (2 G, 13-09 -14) ) to T-Mobile Park…they opened the homestand with a 3-game set against the Chicago White Sox (1–2)…tonight’s game will be broadcast live on CARROT SPORTS of Dave Sims and Mariners Hall of Famer Dan Wilson during the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) of Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

ODDS AND END…the Mariners left last night’s series opener to the Braves with a score of 6-4…despite consecutive losses, the Mariners are 8-3 in their last 11 games, 10-4 in their last 14, 15-7 in their last 22, 22-12 in their last 34, 40-19 in their last 59, 43-20 in their last 63, 48-22 in their last 70 and 56-32 in their last 88 games. Seattle is 62-15 (.805) on scoring at least 4 points and 15-46 (.246) on scoring 3 or fewer points this season… they are 36-31 at home and 41-30 in away games.

  • seriously impressive — The Mariners have a 15-5-2 record in their last 22 series.
  • hello stranger — Seattle and Atlanta have played against each other 17 times (Seattle is 9-8), tied for the fewest games the Mariners have played against a team, along with the Pittsburgh Pirates (SEA is 11-6).
  • Happy Birthday — Mariners Hall of Famer Randy Johnson celebrates its 59th birthday today…the “Big Unit” pitched 10 seasons (1989-1998) with Seattle, going 130-74 with a 3.42 ERA and striking out 2,162.

J-ROD: ALREADY ROOKIE OF THE YEAR FRONTRUNNER…Julio Rodriguez reached base safely 3 times last night, went 1-for-2 with 2 walks…he hit safely in 9 of his last 10 games since Aug 30, hit .325 (14×40) with 9 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homeruns , 3 RBI, 7 walks and 1 stolen base, while he reached base with a clip of .426 and knocked off .525 (.951 OPS) in that span… of the Major League rookies this season, he ranks 1st in bWAR (5.0), 1st in home runs (23), 1st in runs (74), 1st in total bases (225), 1st in multi-hit games (34), 2nd in fWAR (4.2), 2nd in RBI (68 ), 2nd in hits (1278 ), 2nd in times on bases (173), 2nd in stolen bases (24) and 2nd in extra basehits (48).

KING GEORGE…George Kirby has walked no more than 1 batter in each of his first 20 Major League starts, most consecutive career starts… ties 5th longest overall streak in Major League history (excluding openers) with Bret Saberhagen-NYM in 1994-95, Josh Tomlin-CLE in 2012-13 and Cliff Lee-PHI in 2012-13… the 20-game streak follows Carlos Silva-MIN (28 starts) in 2004-05, Jon Lieber -CHC/NYY (27) in 2002-04, Phil Hughes-MIN (26) in 2014-15 and Bob Tewksbury-STL (22) in 1992-1993.

FOR STARTERS…Mariner’s starting pitchers are 9-2 with a 1.90 ERA (20 ER, 94.2 IP) with 10 walks and 89 strikeouts in 16 starts since Aug. 23, leading the Majors in ERA (1.90)… in that span, the Seattle starters are 2nd in the Majors in WHIP (0.92) to Atlanta (0.90)…they lead the Majors in walks-per-9 innings (0.95) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.90), third in opp. OPS (.569) behind Houston (.555) and Atlanta (.560).

CAL RALEIGH: SILVER AND GOLD?…Cal Raleigh leads Major League catchers with 23 home runs this season … the 25-year-old backstop among American League catchers this season ranks 1st in slugging percentage (0.489), 2nd in extra-base hits (42), 4th in RBI (54 ), 4th in total bases (156) and 4th in OPS (.772)…Raleigh’s 23 home runs are the 2nd most by a Mariners catcher in a season in franchise history, behind only Mike Zunino (25 HR) in 2017. .. Raleigh ranks 3rd AL catchers in defensive runs saved (13) via FanGraphs…he is the only MLB catcher to have more than 20 home runs and a defensive WAR of 1.0+ worth (Baseball Reference)…he is 1 of 6 MLB players to meet both criteria, along with Nolan Arenado-STL, Mookie Betts-LAD, Willy Adames-MIL, Marcus Semien-TEX and Daulton Varsho-ARI.

BECAUSE YOU ARE SO SMOOTH…Carlos Santana hit 2 homeruns last night…it was his 2nd multi-homer game this season (other: July 10 vs. Toronto) and 13th multi-homer game of his career…it’s 7th individual multi-homer game for Seattle this season, with Santana’s 2 added Eugenio Suarez (3x) and Cal Raleigh (2x)…Santana is 1 of 6 Mariners with 10+ home runs this season.

ROUNDTRIPPERS…JP Crawford homered last night to go along Carlos Santana‘s 2 home runs … the Mariners have hit 52 home runs in 35 games since August 1, equaling most in the American League during that period with the Angels … the 52 home runs also tied with Atlanta in that period , behind only St. Louis (62) and the Dodgers (55) since August 1.

LOS BOMBEROS…in 70 games since June 21, the Mariners bullpen is 18–8 with 25 saves and a 2.35 ERA (62 ER, 237.0 IP) with 83 walks and 252 strikeouts, taking the Mariners to an American League-best 48 -22 record led during that stretch… during that period, the Mariners led MLB bullpens in ERA (2.35), opposing team batting average (.189), hits-per-9 innings (5.96), and inherited runners scored percentage ( 18.2)… Seattle has 5 relievers (Andres Munoz87; Paul Sewald64; Penn Murfee60; Erik Swanson55 & Matt Festa55) with 50+ strikeouts from the bullpen this season…if Diego Castillo (46 SO) reaches that point, it will equal a franchise record (set in 2014) for most pitchers (6) who record 50+ strikeouts from the bullpen.

J-ROD: FORCE SPEED THREAT…Julio Rodriguez is 1 of 13 rookies in Major League history to hit 20+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases in a season and 1 of 5 freshman rookies to reach the 20/20 club… he became the fastest player (81 career G) in major league history who reached 15+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases…he became the first player in major league history to reach 15+ home runs, 50+ RBI and 20+ stolen bases in his first 90 games in his career…he became the fastest player (107 career games) in American League history to hit 20+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases and the 2nd fastest in Major League history…he is 2 home runs away and 1 stolen base away from becoming just the 3rd rookie in Major League history with a 25+ home run, 25+ stolen base season and would join Chris Young-ARI (2007) and Mike Trout-LAA (2012) add.

FOUR SCORE AND… the Mariners have scored 4+ points in consecutive games and lost for the first time all season and in nearly a calendar year … prior to Seattle’s 2 most recent games, a 9-6 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday and a 6-4 loss to the Braves last night, the last time Seattle scored 4+ runs in back-to-back games and lost was September 14-15, 2021 vs. Boston, losing 8-4 and 9-4 games, respectively … the Mariners are 62-15 (.805) when they score 4+ points in a game this season.