9/25/24

(Houston, TX) Getting up and going to work after just about the worst day possible is a difficult task regardless of the career. For the Seattle Mariners, they watched the Houston Astros clinch the division the night before and saw their playoff hopes cut down to just a little sliver of hope. For Seattle to maximize that sliver, they would have to beat the backup Houston Astros as most of the starters all got the day off after celebrating the victory. Alex Bregman would still be in the lineup but more importantly, Yusei Kikuchi would still start the game for the Astros against George Kirby. Entering Wednesday, Houston had won all nine games started by Kikuchi since they acquired him at the trade deadline in July.

Mariners 8, Astros 1 (Game Three, September 25th)

It wasn’t the cleanest start for George Kirby in what will be his final start of the regular season. Kirby allowed two baserunners in each of the first two innings and two of those came via a hit batter and a walk. He would avoid allowing any runs to score but was not as fortunate in the bottom of the 3rd. After getting two quick outs, Kirby couldn’t finish off a 1-2-3 inning as Jon Singleton doubled to left for his 13th double of the season. That two-out knock turned into a run as Victor Caratini sent a base hit back up the middle and into center field. Julio Rodríguez came up throwing but a tricky hop to the plate sent the ball by Cal Raleigh. Singleton scored and Houston grabbed a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the 4th, Houston pulled Alex Bregman to allow him to receive a standing ovation in what might be his final regular season game in Houston after nine seasons with the Astros. This move had a massive effect on the game as Shay Whitcomb took over at third and the game would turn into a nightmare for the new third baseman.

Leading off the top of the 6th, Dylan Moore sent a ground to Whitcomb who booted the ball and allowed Moore to reach. Victor Robles then drew a walk before Julio struck out for the first out of the inning. Cal Raleigh sent a soft grounder to Whitcomb at third but he just had no chance as Raleigh was able to beat out the throw for an infield single to load the bases. Randy Arozarena couldn’t cash in as he went down on strikes for the second out. With two outs, veteran Justin Turner would come through to lift the M’s. A soft line drive sat down just fair down the left field line. Moore and Robles scored as Turner scrambled back to first with a huge two-out, two-run single. Seattle’s deadline acquisition came through to give the M’s a 2-1 lead.

Turner would make a tremendous diving stop to end the 6th and put a bow on George Kirby’s 2024 season. In the top of the 7th, Seattle opened the game up by quite a bit. With Yusei Kikuchi out of the game and Shawn Dubin on the mound, Mitch Garver took advantage of the Crawford Boxes in left, sending his 14th home run of the season out to make it 3-1. J.P. Crawford then doubled to right and Jason Heyward’s throw in was wild and allowed Crawford to move up to third on the error. After Dylan Moore struck out, Victor Robles sent a grounder to Whitcomb at third and his throw to the plate was a little off and allowed Crawford to score, making it 4-1. A second error by Whitcomb allowed J-Rod to reach and with two outs Randy Arozarena sent another grounder down to third. This time Whitcomb made the play, but did not make the throw as he recorded a third error, allowing Robles to score. The three-error inning was what the M’s needed to pad their lead as they took a 5-1 lead into the 8th.

Whitcomb received a standing ovation after making a routine play in the 8th, but another error in the 9th by the third baseman put Dylan Moore on second to lead off the inning. Victor Robles then doubled for the 18th time this season to score Moore and make it 6-1. In stepped Julio Rodríguez to face Héctor Neris in what was a little bit of a tense showdown. Late last season, Neris struck out Julio late in a game and then walked towards Julio screaming at him and that cleared the benches. Despite apologizing to J-Rod later, what Julio did on Wednesday had to feel pretty good. Julio crushed his 20th home run of the season to left to make it 8-1 and get the last laugh against Neris. The two-run bomb made Julio just the second player ever to record 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in his first three seasons in the big leagues with the other being fellow 2022 rookie Bobby Witt Jr. That blast was the final blow as the M’s put away the Astros in the finale, 8-1.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Astros

• Yusei Kikuchi (L, 9-10)- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO
• Victor Caratini- 1-3, RBI
• Jon Singleton- 1-3, 2B, R, BB

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