It’s the primary Friday Night Fireworks of the season as Pittsburgh makes a uncommon go to to Seattle
Good afternoon/early night! It’s a fully beautiful day within the Seattle space on this Friday earlier than Memorial Day, also referred to as the unofficial opening of the summer season season. Also an indication of summer season: tonight is the Mariners’ first fireworks evening of 2023. It’s additionally the sophomore run for the Mariners City Connect jerseys after their residence debut, so between that and the Pirates, count on numerous yellow within the ballpark tonight.
And if all that wasn’t sufficient pleasure, tonight’s pitching matchup pits two potential Cy Young favorites in opposition to one another—the 27-year-old Mitch Keller vs. the 25-year-old George Kirby. Pitching nerds, preserve your smelling salts helpful.
Tonight’s lineups:
Seattle Mariners Baseball Information
Don’t know something concerning the Pirates? Don’t fret, our Jake Mailhot has you lined with this delightfully nautical-themed collection preview.
Mitch Keller is perhaps the poster youngster for “development isn’t linear”; after struggling to some extent each season since he made his massive league debut in 2019, the 27-year-old has put collectively the breakout season many dreamed on when the Pirates drafted him within the second spherical in 2014. Keller throws three variations on the fastball—a four-seamer, cutter, and sinker—and throws all of them often, over 20% of the time, rounding out his arsenal with a curveball and a swing-and-miss sweeper. He’s been among the many sport’s finest at limiting laborious contact, so the Mariners are going to should string collectively some stable at-bats in opposition to the potential Cy Young contender.
But the Mariners might be buffered by their very own Cy Young contender, going up in opposition to a lineup that’s scuffled some since getting off to a scorching begin to start the season. Preemptively asking the hitters to get Kirby some run help tonight. We know this lineup can hit a fastball; can they hit Keller’s varied variations of it? The Mariners might be rolling out their lefty-heaviest lineup tonight; Kelenic, Trammell, and Cal Raleigh, taking cuts from the left aspect, had been all out for early BP.
News and notes from Scott Servais’s pregame presser:
- Servais says his expectation is that this collection might be comparatively low-scoring, partially due to the pitching and partially as a result of these are two groups who don’t know one another properly, so execution might be key if the Mariners need to win. “You’ve gotta move runners along, you’ve gotta make the plays defensively, you don’t want to give up any free bases.” He notes the Mariners have been one of many league’s higher groups in that respect so far as not strolling hitters and never making errors, and in the event that they preserve executing in that method, they’ll be in fine condition.
- On beginning Ty France again after he bought hit within the hand with the fastball: “You have to trust your players and ultimately, that’s what I do in those situations. You know the guys want to be out there but they know when they need a blow, they know when they’re ready to go, and you have to trust them that they know their body better than I do. And I do trust all of our guys.”
Tonight’s sport info:
Tonight’s sport begins just a little later – 7:10, so it is going to be at the very least just a little darkish when the fireworks begin, theoretically. If you’re out and about, you’ll be able to hearken to the sport on 710 AM Seattle Sports with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr. on the decision. On the tv aspect, ROOT Sports NW can have the gorgeous shifting footage, with Aaron Goldsmith and Ryan Rowland-Smith doing tonight’s duties. I hope Hyphen retains his pocket sq. helpful to fan himself throughout what guarantees to be an thrilling pitcher’s duel. Okay, however all jokes apart, it’s nice to have ROOT’s finest pitching analyst on tonight’s sport, specifically. Also, make sure you keep tuned after the sport for the fireworks!
Today in Mariners historical past:
1995: The anniversary of Griffey’s wrist-fracturing catch. The ecstasy, the agony. But additionally: do not forget that after Griffey was out and the staff appeared destined to fall out of playoff competition completely, they as an alternative went on a miraculous run. Baseball! Anything can occur, and sometimes does.
Also, at present is the day of walk-offs and extra-innings wins, for some motive. We have Jason Bay’s walk-off single within the thirteenth inning in 2013, Kyle Seager’s two-home run sport together with a grand slam and a game-winning homer in extras in opposition to the Rays in 2015, and Mike Zunino’s second-decker walk-off residence run in opposition to the Twins in 2018. Portents of future occasions?
Read extra
