Mariners Game Notes — April 29 vs. Atlanta

AS YOU MAY KNOW…the Mariners bullpen is 2–3 with a 2.47 ERA (24 ER, 87.1 IP), 30 walks, 88 strikeouts and a 1.03 WHIP, leading the Majors this season in ERA and WHIP, while ranking 3rd in opponents average (.184), but…DID YOU KNOW?…that since the start of the 2021 season, the Mariners bullpen holds a 3.52 ERA, 4th-lowest in the Majors during that span?…They trail only Los Angeles-NL (3.20), New York-AL (3.27) and Cleveland (3.44) since 2021…during that span, the Mariners are 1 of 3 teams to rank in the top 10 in bullpen ERA in each of the last 4 seasons (also: Cleveland and New York-NL).

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue a 6-game homestand (2–1) today with the 1st of 3 games against the Atlanta Braves…the Mariners are coming off a 3-game series win over Arizona (2–1) on the current homestand…following Wednesday’s series finale with the Braves, the Mariners embark on an 8-day, 7-game road trip at Houston (3 G, 5/3–5) and Minnesota (4 G, 5/6–9)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Mike Blowers on the call, and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith.

ODDS AND ENDS…Seattle dropped yesterday’s series finale to the Diamondbacks 3–2…despite the loss, the Mariners are 5–2 over their last 7 games, 9–3 over their last 12 games (4/15-c) and 11–5 over their last 16 games (4/10-c)…Seattle remains in 1st place in the AL West by a 0.5 game over Texas…the Mariners are 13–4 when scoring first in a game this season.

· Bark at the Park — The Mariners host their first Bark at the Park of the season tonight, where an estimated 1,000 dogs will be in attendance…4 different Washington State animal shelters will be offering adoptions inside the stadium tonight: Resilient Hearts Animal Sanctuary, Higher Ground Animal Sanctuary, Humane Society of Mason County and Seattle Animal Shelter.

· Blast from the Past — The last time these two teams met at T-Mobile Park on Sept. 11, 2022, Julio Rodríguez hit a game-tying home run in the 9th inning off Kenley Jansen before Eugenio Suárez hit a walk-off blast 2 batters later to give the Mariners an 8–7 win.

· Series-ly Splendid — Seattle has won 4 consecutive series: vs. Cincinnati (3–0, 4/15–4/17), at Colorado (2–1, 4/20–4/21), at Texas (2–1, 4/23–4/25) and vs. Arizona (2–1).

· Roster Move — the Mariners today recalled INF/OF Sam Haggerty from Triple-A Tacoma…OF Jonatan Clase was optioned to Tacoma (post-game April 28) in the corresponding move.

· Crack a Cold One and Enjoy — Bryce Miller takes the mound for the 6th time in tonight’s game…he ranks among the AL leaders in ERA (9th, 2.22), Opp. AVG (4th, .170) and WHIP (0.99).

JOSHIN’ AROUND…Josh Rojas went 1-for-3 with a leadoff home run in yesterday’s game, his 2nd leadoff home run of the series…over his last 13 games (4/9-c), he is batting .279 (12x43) with 8 runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts and 1 stolen base, getting on base at a .367 clip and slugging .581 (.949 OPS)…overall this season, he is batting .297 (19x64) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 6 RBI, 1 stolen base and an .882 OPS…among AL third basemen with at least 50 plate appearances this season, Rojas ranks 2nd in OPS, 2nd in slugging percentage (.516), 2nd in wRC+ (158), 4th in average, 3rd in on base percentage (.366) and T-3rd in fWAR (0.8).

HISTORIC PITCHING RUN CONTINUES…since April 10, the Mariners pitching staff has led the team to an AL-best 11–5 record with a 1.56 ERA (25 ER, 144.0 IP) with 35 walks and 155 strikeouts.

· League Leaders — Since April 10, Mariners pitchers lead the Majors in ERA (1.56), WHIP (0.83), hits-per-9 innings (5.31), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.43) strikeout percentage (28.3%), opponent batting average (.168/85x504) and quality starts (14).

· The Starters — Since April 10, Mariners starters are 10–3 with a 1.55 ERA (17 ER, 98.2 IP) with 23 walks and 106 strikeouts, leading the Majors in ERA, Opp. AVG (.165), WHIP (0.81), while ranking 3rd in SO/BB (4.61), 5th in SO/9 (9.67) and 3rd in BB/9 (2.10).

· The Bullpen — Since April 10, Seattle’s bullpen has 4 saves and a 1.59 ERA (8 ER, 45.1 IP) with 12 walks and 49 strikeouts…they lead MLB in ERA, WHIP (0.88) and opponent OBP (.254) in that span, while ranking 2nd in Opp. AVG (.174) and T-3rd in SO/BB (4.08).

OVERALL ON THE MOUND…while Mariners pitching has been particularly sensational over its last 15 games, on the season overall Seattle ranks 1st in MLB in WHIP (1.05), 1st in walks-per-9 innings (2.38), 1st in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.94), 1st in hits-per-9-innings (7.04), 2nd in quality starts (17), 3rd in ERA (3.10), 3rd in opponent batting average (.211/195x918) and 5th in strikeouts-per-9 innings (9.39).

HIGH-QUALITY STUFF…Seattle’s 17 quality starts lead the American League this season, ranking 2nd in the Majors to Philadelphia (18)…the Mariners have 5 pitchers with 3+ quality starts: Logan Gilbert (5), Luis Castillo (3), George Kirby (3), Emerson Hancock (3) and Bryce Miller (3)…the Mariners starting rotation is the only team in the Majors to have 5 pitchers record 3+ quality starts, with only San Francisco having 4 different starters to record 3+ quality starts.

THE J-ROD SHOW…over his last 12 games (4/15-c), Julio Rodríguez is batting .380 (19x50) with 8 runs, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 6 RBI, 3 walks and 5 stolen bases, getting on base at a .415 clip, slugging .480 with a .895 OPS…he has reached base safely in 11 of his last 12, hitting safely in 10 of those contests…Rodríguez also ranks 2nd among MLB center fielders with 4 outs above average, trailing only Daulton Varsho-TOR (6 OAA) according to Baseball Savant.

What a Debut…Leo Rivas made his MLB debut in yesterday’s game, hitting a triple in his first career plate appearance…he became the 4th player in franchise history to triple in his first career PA, joining Yuniesky Betancourt (7/28/05 vs. CLE), Mario Díaz (9/12/87 vs. CWS) and Mickey Brantley (8/9/86 at CAL)…he also became the first Mariners player to record a hit in his first career PA since Austin Nola (6/16/19 at OAK).

BULLPEN BULLIES…7 of the 8 current members of the Mariners bullpen have an ERA under 3.00, with Austin Voth (3.09 ERA) the only player not among that group…Gabe Speier holds a team-low 0.84 ERA (1 ER, 10.2 IP) and is followed by Trent Thornton (1.54 ERA), Tyson Miller (1.59), Cody Bolton (2.00), Andrés Muñoz (2.61), Tayler Saucedo (2.70) and Ryne Stanek (2.70)…Speier also leads Mariners relievers in strikeouts (15), while Muñoz (13), Saucedo (12), Thornton (11) and Stanek (11) all have reached double-digits.