Mariners GameDay — July 16 at Los Angeles-AL

Game #92: Mariners (48–43) at Angels (45–44) | First Pitch: 6:38 pm PT | Angel Stadium

Starting Pitchers: RHP Chris Flexen (8–3, 3.51) vs. LHP Andrew Heaney (5–6, 5.38)

Radio: 710 ESPN Seattle and the Mariners Radio Network…also Mariners.com (for MLB.tv subscribers)

TV: The game will be televised in HD on ROOT SPORTS

Live Stats: MLB Gameday (live box score with pitch-by-pitch data)

Starting Lineups: Starting lineups will be posted on MarinersMedia.com and Twitter when they become available

Pronunciations: Name pronunciations for the Mariners 40-man roster can be found on Mariners.com.

AS YOU KNOW…Chris Flexen enters today’s game with a 3.51 ERA (36 ER, 92.1 IP) through his first 16 starts with the Mariners, but…DID YOU KNOW?…Flexen’s 3.51 ERA is the 11th-lowest in club history through a players first 16 starts with the Mariners?…his 3.51 ERA is the lowest by a Mariners pitcher over his first 16 starts since Chris Young posted a 3.18 ERA over 16 starts in 2014…Flexen completed his 16th start for the Mariners at age 27.009, becoming the youngest pitcher since James Paxton (age 25.320, 2014, 2.73 ERA) to record an ERA of 3.51 or better over his first 16 starts with the Mariners.

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners open the second half with a 6-day, 5-game road trip to Los Angeles-AL (3 G) and Colorado (2)…following the current road trip, will return home for the first homestand of the second half against Oakland (4 G) and Houston (3 G)…tonight’s game will be televised on ROOT SPORTS, as well as broadcast on 710 ESPN Seattle and the Mariners Radio Network.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners enter the second half with a record of 48–43, 7.0 games back from the division lead and 3.5 games out of a Wild Card spot…are 14–7 over their last 21 games, 17–8 over their last 25 and 27–17 over their last 44…are 19–12 in day games and 29–31 at night…are 29–20 at T-Mobile Park and 19–23 on the road…are 39–13 when scoring at least 4 runs and 9–30 when scoring 3 or fewer runs…are 37–3 when out-hitting their opponent.

• Familiar Foe — The Mariners and Angels play the 4th of 6 consecutive games (2–0) against each other…the two clubs open the second half with a 3-game series in Anaheim after closing the first half with a 3-game series in Seattle…it is the first time in Mariners franchise history that they play the same opponent directly before and after the All-Star Break…the 6-game stretch against the Angels is the most consecutive games the Mariners have ever played vs. an opponent in a single season.
• Earlier Today — The Mariners recalled outfielder Jarred Kelenic from Triple-A Tacoma.
• After Hours — The Mariners are 36–20 (.643) between Thursday and Sunday this season, compared to 12–23 (.343) between Monday and Wednesday.
• Since May 24 — Seattle is 27–16 (.627) since May 24, 3rd-most wins in the American League in that span…they trail only Houston (29 wins) and Chicago-AL (28) in that span.
• Joy Division — Seattle is 19–14 (.576) against the American League West Division this season.
• On the Road Again — The Mariners are averaging 4.33 runs/game on the road this season, compared to 3.86 runs/game at home.

TRUE GRIT…entering the second half of the season, the Mariners hold a 19–8 record in one-run games, the most wins in games decided by one run in the Majors and also the best winning percentage (.704)…they lead the Mets (18) in one-run victories and the Angels (14–7, .667) in winning percentage… the Mariners are also 10–1 in extra innings through the first half, the most wins in extras in the Majors and also the best winning percentage (.909), ranking ahead of the Reds (8) in extra inning victories and the Cardinals and Pirates (4–1, .800) in winning percentage.

• Clutch — FanGraphs rated Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford as Major League Baseball’s most clutch hitter in the first half of the season with a 1.89 “Clutch” metric…third baseman Kyle Seager is rated as the 2nd-most clutch player (1.36) in the American League…the Clutch metric measures a batter’s performance in high-leverage situations.

J.P. ON A ROLL…since June 1, J.P. Crawford is batting .320 (47x147) with 25 runs scored, 13 doubles, 3 home runs, 15 RBI, 15 walks, 2 stolen bases….during that span (6/1-c), his 47 hits are tied for 5th most in the Majors, while his .320 batting average ranks 16th…has tallied 1.5 WAR (Fangraphs) since June 1, tied for 9th-most in the American League.

MITCH IS ON…Mitch Haniger has reached base safely in 15 consecutive games dating back to June 25, batting .305 (18x59) with 13 runs scored, 1 double, 4 home runs, 11 RBI, 5 walks, 3 hit-by-pitch, a .388 on-base percentage and a .525 slugging percentage (.913 OPS) during that span…among American League players with at least 60 percent of their games played in the outfield, he ranks 1st in runs scored (58), T2nd in extra-base hits (37), T2nd in total bases (165), 4th in homers (20), T3rd in RBI (52) and T5th in hits (87).

NO RUNS ALLOWED…since June 3, Paul Sewald has not allowed an earned run in 16.2 innings over his last 18 relief appearances…during this stretch he has held opponents to an .088 (5x57) average, while walking 5 and striking out 29….Sewald ranks 4th in the Majors (min. 20 IP) with 15.43 strikeouts-per-9 innings pitched, trailing only Aroldis Chapman-NYY (15.78) Josh Hader-MIL (15.61) and James Karinchak-CLE (15.56)…also ranks among American League relief leaders (min. 20 IP) in opponent batting average (3rd, .141), wins (T7, 5) and ERA (4th, 1.40).

CY OF RELIEF…Seattle relievers compiled the 2nd-most Wins Above Replacement (FanGraphs) in the Majors over the first half of the season with 4.3 WAR…the Mariners bullpen trails only the New York Yankees (4.5), ranking just ahead of Tampa Bay (3.9)…in total, Seattle relievers are 24–14 with 24 saves and a 4.13 ERA (160 ER, 349.0 IP) with 124 walks and 353 strikeouts…the bullpen has a 1.23 WHIP and a .230 opponent batting average.

CATCHING UP…in 30 games since June 15, Mariners catchers have combined for 1.0 WAR (FanGraphs), leading all American League catchers by team…Seattle catchers trail only San Francisco (1.7) and Colorado (1.1) for most WAR in the Majors during that span and out-pace Tampa Bay (0.9) and Detroit (0.9) in the AL…during that span (6/15-c), Mariners catchers lead the American League in OPS (.885), wRC+ (144) and are tied for the Major League lead with 8 home runs (also: Detroit and New York-AL)…overall in that span, Mariners catchers have combined to bat .252 (26x103) with 19 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 triple. 8 home runs, 19 RBI and 17 walks in 34 games.

THE FIELDING…Seattle’s infield recorded a .984 fielding percentage in the first half, tied for 2nd-best in the American League with Houston, Oakland and Texas…the trio of AL West infields trail only Tampa Bay’s .985 fielding percentage…as a whole, Seattle’s defense has recorded a .985 fielding percentage, tied for 5th-highest in the American League.

TO BE THE BEST…the Mariners are 1 of 7 MLB teams with a winning record against at-or-above-.500 teams this season…Seattle (31–29, .517) is joined by Houston (42–22, .656), San Diego (28–21, .571), New York-NL (16–15, .516), Boston (32–24, .571), San Francisco (24–17, .585) and Tampa Bay (37–27, .578).

CAN’T TELL THE PLAYERS WITHOUT A SCORECARD…53 players appeared in a game for Seattle in the first half, most in the American League and tied for most in the Majors with Milwaukee…the Mariners used 30 pitchers in the first half, tied for 2nd-most in the AL with Baltimore, trailing only Toronto’s 31…the 2019 Mariners set a pair of Major League records by using 67 total players and 40 pitchers…at the 2019 All-Star Break, the club had also used 53 players.