Mariners Game Notes — May 3 at Houston

AS YOU KNOW…Ty France went 2-for-4 in Wednesday’s game against Atlanta, picking up his 7th multi-hit game of the season, but…DID YOU KNOW?…Ty has tallied 24 multi-hit games in 55 career games against the Astros?…Ty faced Houston for the first time in 2020, and his 24 multi-hit games against the Astros are easily the most by any player since then (2020-c), ranking ahead of Adolis Garcia (17) and Marcus Semien (16)…among players with at least 20 games vs. Houston since 2020, Ty leads the Majors with a .330 batting average against the Astros, ranking ahead of Whit Merrifield (.329), Brandon Marsh (.309) and Corey Seager (.297).

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners begin an 8-day, 7-game road trip today with the first of 3 games at Houston…following the current series against the Astros, Seattle will travel to Minnesota (4 G, 5/6–9) to conclude the trip…Seattle is coming off a 4–2 homestand with a pair of series wins against the Diamondbacks (2–1) and Braves (2–1)…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 Wednesday’s game to the Braves by a score of 5–2 after winning the first 2 games of the series…the Mariners are 7–3 over their last 10 games, 11–4 over their last 15 games (4/15-c) and 13–6 over their last 19 games (4/10-c)…Seattle remains in 1st place in the AL West by a 0.5 game over Texas…the Mariners are 14–4 when scoring first in a game this season.

• Butterfly Effect — Seattle has won 5 consecutive series…Seattle has won 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), vs. Arizona (2–1, 4/26–28) and vs. Atlanta (2–1, 4/29–5/1).
• Modern Jam — The Mariners have held each of their last 5 opponents their lowest run total in a series this season…the Mariners held Cincinnati to a season-low 5 runs (3 G), Colorado to 4 runs (3 G), Texas to 8 runs (3 G), Arizona to 5 runs (3 G) and Atlanta to 8 runs (3 G) during their respective series.

K-POP…George Kirby enters today’s game with an active 14.0 scoreless inning streak, the 5th-longest active scoreless streak in the Majors behind Sam Moll-CIN (22.0 IP), Max Fried-ATL (15.0 IP), Yashinobu Yamamoto-LAD (15.0 IP) and Cole Irvin-BAL (14.1 IP)…Kirby is coming off a career-high 12 strikeouts in his last outing on April 27 vs. Arizona when he tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, while allowing only 3 base runners (2 H, 1 BB)…Kirby has made 3 scoreless starts of 5.0+ IP this season, tied for 2nd-most in the Majors trailing only Yashinobu Yamamoto-LAD (4 GS) for most such starts.

ASTROWORLD…the Mariners went 6–1 (.857) at Minute Maid park in 2023, compiling the most wins of any visiting team at the ballpark last season…Seattle’s .857 winning percentage at Minute Maid Park was 4th-best all-time among visiting teams that played at least 5 games at the ballpark in a season…the 2023 Mariners (6–1, .857) trailed only the 2000 Giants (6–0, 1.000), 2013 Rangers (9–1, .900) and 2013 Athletics (8–1, .889)…overall, the Mariners are went 9–4 against the Astros during the 2023 season, outscoring Houston 63–42 (+21) over 13 games…Seattle batters scored 4.8 runs/game, batting .270 as a team, while Mariners pitchers limited the Astros to 3.2 runs/game and a .234 team batting average.

OH MY, WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME…since April 10, the Mariners pitching staff has led the team to a 13–6 record with a 1.58 ERA (30 ER, 171.0 IP), 43 walks and 186 strikeouts.

• Straight Up! Dominant — Since April 10, Mariners pitchers lead the Majors in ERA (1.58), WHIP (0.84), hits-per-9 innings (5.32), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.33), opponent batting average (.168), opponent OPS (.522) and quality starts (16).
• Star(t)gazing — Since April 10, Mariners starters are 11–4 with a 1.47 ERA (19 ER, 116.1 IP) with 29 walks and 127 strikeouts, leading the Majors in ERA, Opp. AVG (.165), WHIP (0.83), while ranking 2nd in SO/9 (9.83) and 5th in BB/9 (2.24).
• Pick Up The Phone, Baby — Since April 10, Seattle’s bullpen has 5 saves and a 1.81 ERA (11 ER, 54.2 IP) with 14 walks and 59 strikeouts…they lead MLB in ERA, WHIP (0.88) and opponent OBP (.249), while ranking 2nd in Opp. AVG (.175) and 2nd in SO/BB (4.21) in that span.

SICKO MODE…while Mariners pitching has been particularly sensational over its last 19 games, on the season overall Seattle ranks 1st in MLB in WHIP (1.03), 1st in walks-per-9 innings (2.41), 1st in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.93), 1st in hits-per-9-innings (6.87), 1st in opponent batting average (.208), 1st in quality starts (19), 2nd in ERA (2.96) and 4th in strikeouts-per-9 innings (9.48).

I GET THOSE GOOSEBUMPS EVERYTIME…Seattle’s 19 quality starts lead the Majors this season, ranking ahead of Philadelphia (18), San Francisco (15) and Kansas City (15)…the Mariners have 5 pitchers with 3+ quality starts: Logan Gilbert (5), Bryce Miller (4), Luis Castillo (4), George Kirby (3) and Emerson Hancock (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.

I FEEL LIKE I’M CHOSEN, I’M COVERED IN GOLD…Julio Rodríguez went 3-for-5 with 1 run and 1 double in Wednesday’s game against Atlanta…Julio is batting .349 (22x63) over his last 15 games (4/15-c) with 9 runs, 3 doubles, 1 home run, 6 RBI, 3 walks, 5 stolen bases and a a .823 OPS during that span…Julio has tallied 4 Outs Above Average (via. Baseball Savant) this season, 2nd-most by any outfielder in the Majors behind only Daulton Varsho-TOR (7 OAA).

NO BYSTANDERS…7 of 8 current members of the Mariners bullpen have an ERA under 3.00…Gabe Speier holds a team-low 0.84 ERA (1 ER, 10.2 IP) and is followed by Trent Thornton (1.38 ERA), Cody Bolton (1.80), Andrés Muñoz (2.25), Tyson Miller (2.35), Tayler Saucedo (2.45) and Austin Voth (2.63)…Muñoz leads Mariners relievers in strikeouts (16), while Speier (15), Voth (13), Saucedo (12), Thornton (11), Stanek (11) and Miller (10) all have reached double-digits.

ESCAPE PLAN…the Mariners are the only team the Majors that has yet to allow an opposing starting pitcher to complete 7.0 innings against them this season…Mariners hitters are tied for the Major League lead, averaging 4.06 pitches-per-plate appearance this season (also: New York-NL), ranking ahead of Los Angeles-AL (4.05) and Pittsburgh (4.00).

WE SEE THE HYPE OUTSIDE, RIGHT FROM THE HOUSE…following the current road trip vs. Houston and Minnesota, Seattle will return home for a 6-game homestand against the Oakland Athletics (3 G, 5/10–12) and Kansas City Royals (3 G, 13–15)…the upcoming homestand is highlighted by Cal Raleigh Funko POP! Night (May 10), Mother’s Day — Mariners Crossbody Bag (May 12), Little League Day — J.P. Crawford Poster (May 12) and 3 Mariners Value Games from May 13–15 with tickets as low at $10.