6/13/23

Mariners 9, Marlins 3

(Seattle, WA) George Kirby has become unquestionably the Seattle Mariners #2 starting pitcher in 2023 and he put that on display on Tuesday night in game two of a three-game series with the Miami Marlins. Coming off of a rough outing in San Diego, Kirby didn’t let that rattle him. He continued to trust his fastball and it worked wonders for him. The offense would more than hold up their end of the deal with another high scoring night, giving Seattle a 9-3 win, plus a series win and a chance for the sweep.

Even innings were where the Mariners did all of their damage on Tuesday, starting in the bottom of the 2nd. A walk by Teoscar Hernandez and single by Eugenio Suarez put a couple of runners on with one out. Cal Raleigh sported a new mustache to try to cure his struggles at the plate and the mustache did him good in this AB. Raleigh smoked a hanging curveball into the right field for a no-doubt three run home run. It was Raleigh’s ninth homer of the year and gave Seattle the initial lead at 3-0.

The power surge in Seattle continued into the bottom of the 4th. A walk by Jarred Kelenic was the appetizer of the inning and he moved all the way to third on a stolen base where the throw went into center field. With two outs, Seattle still needed a hit and Mike Ford was the man for the job. Ford went down and got a changeup at the bottom of the zone and skied it out of the park for his third homer in 2023. Another two-run shot continued to grow the Mariners lead to 5-0.

George Kirby just dominated the Miami lineup for the most part. Kirby retired the first 13 batters he faced in order before losing the young perfect game bid in the 5th giving up a double to Yuli Gurriel. Miami would score an unearned run against Kirby in the top of the 6th when Garrett Hampson singled and moved to second on a passed ball. Jorge Soler drove in Hampson with an RBI single to make it 5-1 but it was another outing of no earned runs allowed for George Kirby. The Mariner starter went six innings and allowed just three hits and the one unearned run with no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts. Kirby also had one of his best fastballs of the year, topping out at 99-mph compared to the average velocity of that pitch being right around 96 mph this season.

After Miami got on the board in the top of the 6th, Seattle got that run back and then some in the home half. Facing reliever Archie Bradley, Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh walked to begin the inning and Mike Ford followed with a single to load the bases with nobody out. Jose Caballero then busted the game open. Caballero smoked a grounder down the left field line and into the corner. Suarez and Raleigh easily scored and Ford followed them home as Caballero raced into third with a bases clearing triple. The rookie’s first career three bagger netted three runs, making it 8-1 Seattle.

Miami is a solid team so they clearly weren’t going to roll over. In the top of the 8th, Jorge Soler walked and moved to second with a wild pitch to put a runner in scoring position. After Bryan De La Cruz lined out to Julio Rodriguez in center, Chris Flexen was an out away from hanging up another zero. That zero wouldn’t come. Garrett Cooper chased a fastball high and away and was able to get enough of it to send it over the wall in right field for a two-run shot. Cooper’s eighth home run of the year made it 8-3 and gave Miami a little flicker of hope late.

Mike Ford shutdown that hope in the bottom of the 8th. Ford faced former Mariner J.T. Chargois and Ford got the better of this battle. The Mariner DH drove out his second home run of the game and fourth of the season to make it 9-3 M’s. All four of Mike Ford’s home runs have come in the last five games, giving the Mariners a little power boost. Tayler Saucedo would come in and after allowing a couple runners to reach base, got the MLB leader in batting average Luis Arraez to hit into a double play to end the game giving Seattle a 9-3 win and their first series win in the last two and a half weeks

Now, Seattle (33-33) will look for their fourth sweep of the season in the finale of the three-game set on Wednesday at 6:40pm. It will once again be a battle of two outstanding pitchers as Luis Castillo (4-4, 2.70 ERA) will get the ball for the M’s as he hopes to get the same run support Miller and Kirby got this series. It won’t be easy for the Mariner offense as they face Eury Perez (3-1, 2.17 ERA) for Miami. Perez has been a breakout performer for the Marlins this season, only giving up eight runs in his six starts since being called up in May. Seattle will look to chase him early and mess up his pitch count as Perez has not pitched into the 6th inning yet this season.

Notable Performances

Marlins

• Garrett Cooper- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Jorge Soler- 1-3, RBI, R, BB
• Edward Cabrera (L, 5-5)- 4 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

Mariners

• Mike Ford- 3-4, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs, 3 R
• Jose Caballero- 2-3, 3B, 3 RBIs, BB, 2 SB
• George Kirby (W, 6-5)- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO

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