Game 2 - Mariners call on ol' reliable(s)
Familiar faces bailed out the new guys on Friday as the Mariners got their first win of the season.
George Kirby simply overwhelmed the Red Sox for 6.2 scoreless innings. He pounded the zone with fastballs and quickly worked ahead in counts. He got 17 whiffs on 49 swings, striking out eight and giving up just two hits.
Kirby shocked everyone and maybe even himself when he began his season by walking two of the first three batters. He looked some combination of flustered and pissed. Ryan Divish wrote after the game that Kirby didn’t realize a pitch clock violation had been called during the first at bat, and was caught off guard when ball three turned into ball four. He managed to escape the inning, and went on to set down 19 of 21 batters.
Kirby became a runaway, strike throwing machine, building momentum with each batter he started 0-1 then 0-2. He worked so fast the Red Sox no time to adjust as he simply overwhelmed the zone with strikes, drowning the Red Sox in the count. At one point, he struck out four consecutive batters on 16 pitches.
It was an encouraging start to a highly anticipated season for Kirby.
Friday also provided the first look at the high leverage wing of the Mariners bullpen. Andrés Muñoz was dominant in a four-out save, topping out at 100 mph and getting whiffs on five of eight swings. Ryne Stanek also made his first appearance. He made big pitches when it counted, but had trouble finding the zone.
J.P. Crawford provided the only offense of the night, barreling a solo home run down the line in right for the Mariners singular run.
The rest of the lineup looked outmatched by Nick Pivetta. To be fair, Pivetta somehow pounded the zone even more relentlessly than Kirby. He had electric, sharp, accurate stuff, and the Mariners had no answer. There were a lot of bad, noncompetitive plate appearances.
It was a bit of a disappointing day for the non-core players. Jorge Polanco struck out three times. Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone had some ugly swings. Mitch Garver was scratched before the game. Luis Urías actually looked decent at the plate but spiked a throw across the infield with two outs and a runner on third. Again, even Stanek looked shaky.
Clearly there are still some early season jitters, especially for those still looking for their place with the team. It’s great to be able to rely on Kirby and JP to step up when needed, but hopefully things settle down soon.