HOUSTON — The last time George Kirby faced the Houston Astros, he came off the mound after throwing seven brilliant innings, keeping the Astros’ strong lineup scoreless and leaving them shaking their heads in frustration. He was rewarded with a loud standing ovation from more than 47,000 people at T-Mobile Park.
The date was October 15 of last season and it was Game 3 of the American League Division Series. As a freshman prodigy, Kirby’s first postseason career start gave his team and city hope of at least one more game in the magic playoff run.
Of course, the game would involve another 11 innings of baseball – 10 more without a run scored and finally a heartbreaking loss.
Finally, on Thursday, Kirby faced Mariners rival AL West for the first time this season. He made a similar start to the postseason, and unlike that playoff effort, his teammates gave him real support. Four to be precise.
With Eugenio Suarez hitting two homers and JP Crawford also going deep, Kirby handicapped the Astros for six innings and finally, much to his displeasure, gave up a run with two outs in the seventh and the Mariners went on to a crucial 5-1. win victory.
“That’s the perfect recipe for a win when you arrive at 5 a.m.,” said manager Scott Servais.
Kirby was not part of the early morning arrival from San Francisco. Because the Mariners were playing a night game in the Bay Area on Wednesday, the Mariners flew him out that morning so he could enjoy a normal night’s sleep.
“George wasn’t the sharpest we’ve ever seen,” Servais said. “He’s put out some pretty good stuff. He was a bit tired at the end but it was another great performance from him.”
Kirby was named to the All-Star team Wednesday, once again reminding Astros manager Dusty Baker, who will lead the American League All-Star team and select the starting player, of his outstanding command and relentless manner. Admittedly, it was slightly different as Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez were injured and not playing.
“I was glad Yordan and Altuve weren’t in the lineup,” he said. “I was just trying to stay on top of them and make them uncomfortable, and starting in the third inning I started using the slider more.”
It was Kirby’s 14th good start to the season, the highest in the American League and tied with the Cubs’ Marcos Stroman as the best in MLB. He improved to 8-7 and lowered his ERA to 3.09.
As the Astros tried to hit his fastball, Kirby turned to his slider and got a lot of weak contacts. He had three six-pitch innings.
“Strikeouts are cool, but three or four pitch innings and double plays are great too,” he said. “So I’m just going to keep pitching to get in touch with the guys and hook them up and use my sinker to make them uncomfortable.”
Of course, Kirby wasn’t happy about giving up a run in the seventh with two outs. He allowed Yainer Diaz a leadoff single. He appeared to make it through the inning unscathed after retiring Chas McCormick and Jeremy Pena. But Corey Julks, who had already scored twice, fired a brace into the left corner and scored for Diaz.
After Kirby hit 94 pitches, Servais went to Matt Brash to finish the inning. Kirby wasn’t too thrilled about being removed from the game. He strutted down the hill to the dugout and into the clubhouse.
How badly did he want to finish this inning?
“Really bad,” he said before asking how many shots he’d thrown.
When he was told 94 pitches, he stopped and thought about it.
“I really wanted it,” he said. “But it’s not a problem. Brash came in and did his job.”
The Mariners’ offense did its job against Ronel Blanco, who got the go-ahead and Framber Valdez was rescheduled for Saturday.
With an out and Jarred Kelenic at first base, Suarez hit double-digit home runs this season and sent a shot into the Crawford Boxes in left field to take a 2-0 lead.
It was Suárez’s 86th game of the season. A year ago, on June 3, he hit his tenth home run in his 51st game of the season.
In the third inning, Crawford led to his eighth home run of the season with a solo shot into right field.
The Mariners hit another run in the seventh inning. In Suarez’s 5,000th career appearance, he hit a double into right field and scored on Cal Raleigh’s single at first baseline.
So what does 5,000 record appearances mean to him?
“He’s old,” Teoscar Hernandez said.
Suarez did not disagree.
“It’s a lot and for me it’s a pleasure,” he said. “I stay in the game. i play the game I will do what I love to do – play as many games as possible. My goal every year is to stay in the game and play as many games as possible.”
In the eighth, Suarez unleashed a powerful shot deep in the left center which was hit by the Phillips 66 pump on the second level. Statcast measured the blast at an altitude of 420 feet.
“Home runs work and we saw that tonight,” Servais said. “Geno had a great evening. You know, we talked the other day about guys wanting to have a great second half. My choice of clicking was Geno. I give myself credit for that. He was very unlucky. He probably should have had six or seven more home runs this year, but tonight he swung the bat great.”
The big night felt good for Suarez with his wife and two daughters sitting right behind the dugout. They stay in Miami during the season, so he can’t see them every day and they can’t see him play in person as often as he’d like.
“It was a very special moment,” he said. “I hit those home runs and saw them right there cheering me on.”
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