When assembling a jigsaw puzzle, there is nothing more satisfying than being able to place the last piece and see the entire picture, which perfectly matches the photo on the box and is sometimes even more impressive in its full breadth than you imagined . If rebuilding the Mariners is a jigsaw puzzle, they came this season with most of the edge pieces in place, but much of the center picture has yet to be pieced together. More and more pieces have come together over the course of the season and today an important piece has emerged as the healthiest and arguably most complete lineup we’ve seen all season, the Rangers 6-2 behind solid pitching from Kirby and the defeated bullpen.
One of the key pieces of the puzzle of a successful baseball team, a corner piece if you will, begins with pitching. George Kirby wasn’t a play that landed in place earlier in the season, but he’s firmly in the picture now. It’s his rookie season and sometimes you can see through that, sometimes you’d think he’s had at least a season or two. Tonight it was a bit of both feelings as he worked efficiently for much of the game but made a few costly mistakes.
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You can see from his pitch chart today that Kirby was a bit lacking in the control he’s known for, and was letting a lot of his fastballs hang in the middle of the plate. He kept his composure most of the time, however, and while he paid for it in hits and gave up seven, he allowed just two earned runs in his 5.2 innings of work and just one walk. When on, he was able to sufficiently fool the Rangers, scoring five strikeouts and notching strikes on 51 of his 83 pitches. He relied heavily on his four and two seams to do this, generating four and two puffs respectively, both of which reached just over 96 MPH.
He also worked the slider as his third most pitched pitch, and despite only getting a touch, he managed to land four for called strikes. Kirby is definitely missing some of those pieces before he’s a full major league player, lessons need to be learned, but it’s already becoming clear what kind of pitcher he’s going to be and it’s good. More importantly, he has the demeanor of a major league pitcher beyond his age who never seems shaken, never shy in his approach. If he even gets close to his ceiling, he will be an elite threat and then some.
While starting pitching has stayed wonderfully healthy for Seattle this year, their lineup isn’t lucky enough to say the same. That is, until today’s game. Mitch Haniger has now been back from his long stint in IL for a couple of games and Julio Rodríguez just returned from a temporary wrist problem today. Both players are key pieces of the puzzle, for their competent hitters of course, but also for their competent defenses. Haniger may not have the outfield reach he once had, but he certainly still has that arm he flaunted in the bottom part of the second when he made a jump catch on the warning lane and shot it back for the first time, um to double Lowe to end the inning.
The Mariners had the pitching, they had the defense to be sure, but the big question mark at times this season has been offense. Today they had the advantage that the Rangers came to this outing and decided to make it a bullpen day. Good teams take that advantage and break it wide, and since this was the first game in the series, the impact on the next few games was huge. Seattle didn’t rip the ball off the ball at first, but they did pull off some good plays. They got on the board first in the top of the third. JP Crawford patiently worked a full count into a move, Julio hit a sharp grounder down the middle for a single which put JP in third place and France managed to put Crawford in play which was initially ejected in the sacrifice game. It was a patient, smart little ball, but it would be all they were going to pull off that inning.
At the end of that third inning, the Rangers responded, counting one against Kirby, but the Mariners had none of it. They’re back, they’re healthy and they’re attracting attention from other teams. Santana got things going in the top of the fourth with a one out double, then Frazier went to base with a walk. Raleigh gave the Rangers a second out with an ugly, ugly strikeout, but Crawford was unimpressed and pulled his second walk of the night to load the bases. Rangers opted to replace their opening pitcher Taylor Hearn with José Leclerc. Well, if Julio, who faces Leclerc with the loaded bases, sounds familiar, you might recall that it was him who gave Julio his first career Grand Slam earlier in the season. Brave move, Rangers, brave move. Fat, but not light. Julio didn’t slice up any salami this time, but he did slice a line drive to right field, scoring for Santana and Frazier. The damage stopped there, but it was nice insurance for Kirby that came in handy when he gave up another run in the sixth before retiring but hadn’t given up the lead.
Julio almost made it to the yard in the 6th inning, but apparently that ball somehow managed to hook into foul territory and then right back around the foul post. Or rather, theoretically hooking around it, because this was an absolute tower of an explosion, significantly taller than the foul pole. Even when Julio misses, he impresses. Julio isn’t just a piece of the puzzle, he’s the picture on the box you’re striving for.
Bit by bit it just came together as the game progressed. At the top of the round of 16, Frazier and Raleigh hit back-to-back doubles. Then Crawford decided he’d run enough for the night, hitting one just deep enough to leave the field for a sac fly, scoring for Frazier and continuing the Mariners’ lead 4-2.
It was a healthy, comfortable lead, especially for Seattle’s bullpen, who hit in style and made it look easy. And yet the Mariners were still not satisfied. The game had reached the point in the puzzle where it becomes easier to find the remaining pieces, the momentum is at its peak, but they were keen to complete the picture. Haniger worked a full count before hitting a ground ball single down the middle, and Winker followed him into right field with a sharp ball sweep to score a single as well. At this point, Eugenio Suárez was unsuccessful, but he would not be left out of the picture. With no outs, he hit a ball hard on the right field warning track that would have put Haniger at least in third place if he had been caught. However, Adolis García just missed, and Ayyyyyugenio grabbed a double RBI double, giving the Mariners a crucial 6-2 lead.
However, every piece of this puzzle is important, and I would be grossly disregarding my duties if I didn’t show much love for the M’s bullpen. Matt Brash was the first to come into play as a relief. Kirby may have taken his place in the rotation after struggling as a starter, but Brash supported his teammate and himself with aplomb tonight, proving he belongs at this level. During his one inning of work, he hit three and produced eight puffs, or 50% of all his pitches. However, he gave up two goals, keyword Andrés Muñoz. As a rookie who just showed up and secured each other’s backs, Muñoz pulled out the last out to obliterate Brash’s runners like Brash had done for Kirby before him, hitting two in the next inning in the eighth to get his 1.1 innings complete work. Erik Swanson came in to work the ninth by a comfortable margin and closed the door facing the minimum and hit two.
Over the course of this season, the identity of this Mariners team has come into view. There were some players who lost due to injuries or fights, but more players stepped up. More important than the prospect games like tonight are giving us of this season drawing to a close, we’re getting a clearer look at what this means for the franchise for years to come.