George Kirby has one of his best outings of the year, and Luke Raley has a career night, to help the Mariners remain top of the AL West.
Just like that, the Seattle Mariners offense finally seems to be heating up as the weather gets warmer. In six of the past 10 games they have scored at least five runs, including Monday night’s series-opening 6-2 win over the Kansas City Royals.
Understandably, a lot of people still need to see more from the Mariners lineup before finally believing they are suitably equipped to consistently support the defense and the outstanding pitching. Following Monday night’s action, they are just 23rd in scoring, 25th in batting average and 21st in OPS.
In the meantime, all the Mariners can do is continue to produce and get the critics on board. Versus the Royals specifically they manufactured 11 hits, which was more than enough to get the job done.
A career night for Raley
This included three hits and three RBI for Luke Raley, in his best performance yet since joining the Mariners. In fact, the trio of hits and RBI — which included a two-run blast to get the scoring going in the bottom of the second — both matched career highs for him.
The homer was the second of the season for Raley, but his first at T-Mobile Park. His other RBI came an inning later after Cal Raleigh had hit a RBI single of his own, to give the Mariners an insurmountable 4-0 lead.
Raley has been red hot so in far May with a .375 batting average and 1.131 OPS, with hard work the key to overcoming his tough start to the season. Speaking to the media postgame, he said:
“I wasn’t swinging the bat well, and you kind of have to earn your at-bats. That’s just how it goes. So I took it upon myself to be out there for early batting practice all the time so I could see a little bit more (velocity) and just try to get more comfortable, and it seems to be paying off.”
The other offense by the Mariners came courtesy of a two-run bomb by Ty France in the bottom of the eighth, to complete the scoring on the night. The six runs represented more than enough support, in a game where George Kirby pitched extremely well.
Kirby gets it done for the Mariners
Kirby’s only real struggles came early on in the top of the first, when he hit two batters and loaded the bases with one out. However, he managed to get out of the jam and come through the inning unscathed.
After this it was effectively over for the Royals, as Kirby allowed just three hits and no walks — the norm — in 7.0 shutout innings. He also struck out six and looked like he was over the sore knee which had been bothering him of late.
Speaking to the media after the game, Kirby explained how the bases-loaded situation in the first inning actually galvanized him. He said:
“If anything else, that just fires me up to make that pitch even more fine on the corner.”
Mariners manager Scott Servais could see what was happening on the mound early on, and liked how his pitcher responded aggressively rather than backing off. He said:
“George is angry some nights and tonight was the night. There was a few calls that he didn’t get that he thought he should have got, but he was on the attack.”
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With the win, Kirby saw his ERA drop to 3.58 through a Major League-leading nine starts. Of particular note he is on course for career lows of a 2.88 FIP and 0.954 WHIP, albeit while acknowledging it’s still (relatively) early in the season.
Bullpen finishes the job
After Kirby left the game, there was some slight panic among the 14,984 in attendance, as Ryne Stanek allowed two runs to let the Royals close to within 4-2. However this was as close as they got, with Andrés Muñoz coming in to allow zero hits or runs in 1.1 innings of action and close out the game.
With the win the Mariners improved to 23-19 and will try to clinch the series on Tuesday night, with a game to spare. Logan Gilbert will take the ball and aim to bounce back from a disastrous outing against the Minnesota Twins, when he allowed nine hits and eight earned runs in easily his worst performance of 2024.
Is the recent improvement in the offensive production a sign of things to come for the Mariners? Or do you believe the ball club will still need to rely on their pitching for the majority of the 2024 season? Let us know in the comments section below.
