Mariners Game Notes — April 27 vs. Arizona

AS YOU KNOW…the Mariners pitching staff has been elite over the last 14 games dating back to April 10, posting a 1.50 ERA (21 ER, 126.0 IP) with 129 strikeouts, while allowing only 119 baserunners in that span, but…DID YOU KNOW?…the Mariners are 1 of only 3 teams in MLB history (1901-c) to post a 1.50 ERA-or-better, while averaging 9+ strikeouts-per-game and fewer than 9 baserunners-per-game in a 14-game span?…Seattle joins the 2015 Chicago Cubs (3 qualified spans) and the 2017 Cleveland Guardians (2 qualified spans) as the only other teams to accomplish the feat since 1901.

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue a 6-game homestand (1–0) tonight with the 2nd of 3 games against the Arizona Diamondbacks (1–0)…Seattle will also welcome the Atlanta Braves (3 G, 4/29–5/1) to T-Mobile Park on the homestand…the Mariners are coming off a 6-game road trip (4–2) with a pair of series wins against the Colorado Rockies (2–1) and Texas Rangers (2–1)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers on the call, and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) with Rick Rizzs and Dave Sims.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners are 4–1 over their last 5 games, 8–2 over their last 10 games (4/15-c) and 10–4 over their last 14 games (4/10-c)…Seattle also has a 4-game home winning streak coming into play tonight…the Mariners are 12–3 when scoring first in a game this season.

• Series-ly Awesome — The Mariners are looking to win their 4th consecutive series tonight vs. Arizona, having won each of their last 3 series: vs. Cincinnati (3–0, 4/15–4/17), at Colorado (2–1, 4/20–4/21) and at Texas (2–1, 4/23–4/25).
• Scoreless in Seattle — George Kirby enters tonight’s game with a 7.0 scoreless inning streak dating back to the 5th inning of his start on April 15 vs. Cincinnati.
• High Water — Seattle is 2 games above .500 for the first time this season…Seattle currently holds 1st place in the AL West by a half-game over Texas.
• Home Cooking — Mitch Garver has homered in each of his last 2 home games and has reached base safely in 9 of 10 home games this season…overall, he holds a .753 OPS at home, compared to a .358 OPS on the road.
• World Series Nugget — This season marks the first time Seattle has played the defending AL (Texas) and NL (Arizona) champions in back-to-back series since 2018, when the Mariners welcomed the Dodgers (3 G, 8/17–19/2018) and Astros (3 G, 8/20–22/2018) to T-Mobile Park.
• Approaching 1,000 Mariners — The Mariners have had 998 players appear in a game in team history…Leo Rivas is the only player on the active roster who has yet to appear in a game.

POWER SURGE…the Mariners hit 3 home runs in last night’s game, tying their season-high (3 HR, 4/17 vs. CIN)…Seattle has hit multiple home runs in 3 of their last 4 games and is 6–3 overall this season when hitting multiple home runs in a game…Seattle owns a 11–5 record when hitting a home run this season…Cal Raleigh leads the Mariners with 6 home runs this season, followed by Mitch Haniger (4 HR), Jorge Polanco (3 HR) and Dominic Canzone (3 HR).

ALL THE SMALL THINGS…the Mariners pitching staff has been the best in the Major Leagues since April 10…in 14 games during that span, Seattle is 10–4 and has posted a 1.50 ERA (21 ER, 126.0 IP) with 3 saves, 31 walks and 129 strikeouts…the 1.50 ERA during that span is almost twice as good as the next closest team (next: Philadelphia, 2.90 ERA)…the Mariners staff also leads the Majors in WHIP (0.85), hits-per-9 innings (5.43), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.16) and opponent batting average (.172/76x442) in that span…the 1.50 ERA is Seattle’s lowest ERA in franchise history over a 14-game span…the club’s lowest ERA over a 14-game span in franchise history is 1.67 (25 ER, 134.1 IP) from June 19-July 5, 2011.

“IT STARTS WITH THE STARTERS”…during the aforementioned 14-game stretch by Mariners hurlers, Seattle starting pitchers are 9–3 with a 1.58 ERA (15 ER, 85.1 IP) with 21 walks and 85 strikeouts…during that span, Seattle starters lead MLB in WHIP (0.84) and ERA (1.58), while ranking 2nd in opponent batting average (.171) to Philadelphia (.163)…during that span, Seattle has tossed quality starts in 12 of 14 games, with all 5 starters contributing: Logan Gilbert (3 QS), Luis Castillo (3), Bryce Miller (2), Emerson Hancock (3) and George Kirby.

NOW I’M A RELIEVER…over the 14-game stretch dating back to April 10, the Mariners bullpen has posted a 1.33 ERA (6 ER, 40.2 IP) with 10 walks and 44 strikeouts…the bullpen ranks 2nd in ERA during that span, trailing only Milwaukee (1.25)…Mariners relief corps during that stretch lead the Majors in WHIP (0.86) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.40), ranking 2nd in hits-per-9 innings (5.53) to New York-NL (5.19) and 2nd in opponent batting average (.174) to New York-NL (.163)…in 10 appearances overall this season, Andrés Muñoz has 3 saves and a 2.89 ERA (3 ER, 9.1 IP) with 6 walks and 12 strikeouts…in 10 appearances, Ryne Stanek has 2 saves and a 2.00 ERA (2 ER, 9.0 IP) with 5 walks and 10 strikeouts…in 11 appearances, Gabe Speier has a 0.90 ERA (1 ER, 10.0 IP) with 2 walks and 15 strikeouts.

JULIO HEATING UP OVER LAST TEN…over his last 10 contests (4/15-c), Julio Rodríguez is batting .419 (18x43) with 8 runs, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 5 RBI, 2 walks and 5 stolen bases…J-Rod has hit safely in 9 of those 10 games, including multiple hits in 7 of 10 games, with the Mariners going 8–2 over the 10-game stretch…Rodríguez has gotten on base at a .444 clip, slugging .5535 with a .979 OPS in those 10 games, raising his season slash line from .186/.238/.203/.441 to .284/.324/.343/.667 in the process…Seattle is 14–5 this season when Julio gets a hit and 0–7 when he goes hitless.

RED-HOT ROJAS…Josh Rojas blasted his 5th career leadoff home run last night, homering on the first pitch he saw…Rojas has hit leadoff in 2 games for Seattle this season, tripling in his first plate appearance on April 24 at Texas and homering to begin the game last night…overall this season, Rojas is batting .316 (18x57) with 9 runs, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 5 RBI and 1 stolen base, while getting on base at a .391 clip and slugging .509 (.899 OPS)…he has hit safely in 14 of 18 games this season and has reached base safely in 15 of 18…among Major League third basemen with at least 50 plate appearances this season, Rojas ranks 2nd in AVG and T2nd in OBP, 2nd in wRC+ (168), 3rd in SLG and 3rd in OPS.

ON THE HOMESTAND…the Mariners continue their 3rd homestand of the season tonight, welcoming the Arizona Diamondbacks (3 G, 4/26–4/28) and Atlanta Braves (3 G, 4/29–5/1) to T-Mobile Park…the homestand’s remaining games are highlighted by ’90s Night — Mariners Neon Hat tonight, Little League Day — Cal Raleigh Poster (April 28), the first Bark at the Park of the season (April 29), and Value Games on April 30 and May 1.