Mariners August Review (21–6)

TEAM NOTES…the Mariners finished August with a record of 21–6 (.778)…went 7–1–0 in series, 7–2 in day games, 14–4 at night…went 9–4 at T-Mobile Park and 12–2 on the road…were 16–3 when scoring at least 4 runs and 5–3 when scoring 3 runs or fewer…finished the month tied for first place in the AL West with Houston.

ODDS AND ENDS

Hello Seattle — 2 players made their Major League debut with Seattle in August: Emerson Hancock (8/9 vs. SDP) and Ryder Ryan (8/11 vs. BAL).

Winningest Month in Franchise History — the Mariners finished the month of August with a 21–6 (.778) record, the most wins in a single calendar month in franchise history…they also had the second best record in the majors during the month, they ranked behind only the Dodgers (24–4, .857)…the Mariners went on two 8-game winning streaks and have now gone 53–29 (.646) in August games since 2021.

Historic Julio — After recording 4+ hits in 4 consecutive games (8/16–8/19) Julio Rodríguez became just the 2nd player in MLB history to accomplish this feat, joining Milt Stock of the Brooklyn Robins (6/30–7/33, 1925)…his 17 hits over those 4 games are the most hits in MLB history in a 4-game stretch, surpassing Milt Stock’s 16 hits…over that 4-game span Julio batted .773 (17x22) with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 8 RBI and 5 stolen bases…due to this performance Julio was named American League Player of the Week for the week of August 14–20.

Save Me — Gabe Speier recorded his 1st career save on August 20 at Houston…Speier pitched 1.0 inning and allowed just 1 hit while striking out 2…he finished August with 13 strikeouts which is a new career high for strikeouts in a single month.

What a Debut — Right-handed pitcher Luke Weaver made his Mariners debut on August 23 at Chicago-AL…in that game Weaver pitched 2.0 scoreless innings and struck out the first 5 batters he faced…he retired all 6 batters he faced on 26 pitches, 21 strikes.

Refuse to Lose — Cade Marlowe recorded his first career grand slam on August 3 at Los Angeles-AL…his grand slam came in the 9th inning to give the Mariners a 5–3 lead…Marlowe became the first Mariners player with a go-ahead grand slam in the 9th inning or later with his team trailing since Richie Sexson on Sept. 19, 2005 at Toronto.

THE J-ROD SHOW…Julio Rodríguez enjoyed a career month after he hit .429 (45x105) with 10 doubles, 7 home runs, 30 RBI, 8 walks and 11 stolen bases in 23 games…he reached base at a .474 clip and slugged .724 (1.198 OPS)…Julio set new career-highs in batting average, hits, doubles, RBI, stolen bases, OBP, OPS and total bases (76) in August…he also matched his career high in home runs for a single month…Julio ended the month on a 13-game hit streak (Aug. 13–28) during which he hit .516 (32x67) with 13 runs, 6 doubles, 5 home runs, 21 RBI, 4 walks and 8 stolen bases…this 13-game hitting streak is the longest of his career…Julio ended the month leading the American League in batting average, hits, doubles, RBI, stolen bases, total bases, OBP, slugging, OPS and fWAR (2.4).

TEO’S CAREER MONTH…in 26 games played in the month of August, Teoscar Hernández hit .365 (38x104) with 9 doubles, 7 home runs, 22 RBI and 4 walks…he reached base at a .396 clip and slugged .654 (1.050 OPS)…Teo’s .365 batting average is a new career high for a single month…Hernández finished the month on a 9-game hit streak during which he batted .395 (15x38) with 1 double, 5 home runs, 15 RBI and 1 walk…he recorded 6 multi-hit games during his hitting streak and had 11 multi-hit games throughout the month, including a 5-hit game on August 15 at Kansas City…Teo went 5-for-5 with 1 double, 1 home run and 3 RBI that day…his 5 hits matched a career high (also: Sept. 13, 2021)…he finished the month ranking in the top 5 in the American League in extra-base hits (16), hits, doubles, RBI, batting average and total bases (68).

CLOSING TIME…in 14 appearances in the month of August, Andrés Muñoz had a 1.93 ERA (3 ER, 14.0 IP) with 7 walks, no home runs and 20 strikeouts…he also recorded 9 saves which led the American League and set a new career high for saves in a single month…Muñoz also recorded career-highs in games (14) and innings pitched (14.0) for a single calendar month…overall in his career Muñoz owns a 2.39 ERA (10 ER, 37.2 IP) with 20 walks, 12 saves and 59 strikeouts in August…he has yet to give up a home run during the month of August in his career.

KIRBY’S DREAMLAND…George Kirby made 4 start in the month of August and ended with a 2.60 ERA (8 ER, 27.2 IP) with 23 strikeouts and no walks allowed…this was Kirby’s first month in his career where he has not given up a single walk…his 0.795 WHIP and .220 (22x100) opponent batting average were also the lowest of any single month in his career…on August 12 Kirby pitched 9.0 scoreless innings and allowed just 3 hits with 7 strikeouts against Baltimore…despite his stellar outing and new career high in innings pitched Kirby ended the game with a no decision.

SCORELESS IN SEATTLE…Justin Topa led the team with a 0.73 ERA (1 ER, 12.1 IP) in August…Topa did not allow an earned run until his last outing of the month on August 30…before that he had allowed only 5 hits and 3 walks with 12 strikeouts through his first 13 games…opponents finished the month batting just .171 (7x41) against Topa…Topa’s 0.73 ERA was a new career best for any month in his career as were his games (14), innings pitched and opponents average while his 12 strikeouts tied his career high for a single month.

TRADE ACQUISITIONS…the Mariners acquired Josh Rojas, Dominic Canzone and minor leaguer Ryan Bliss from the Arizona Diamondbacks at this year’s trade deadline…Rojas batted .288 (19x66) with 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 10 RBI, 4 walks and 4 stolen bases in August…Rojas had a 6-game hitting streak (Aug. 20–26) during which he hit .444 (12x27) with 4 multi-hit games…Canzone finished the month batting .234 (18x77) with 7 doubles, 2 home runs, 3 RBI, 5 walks and 1 stolen base…Canzone recorded his first career 4-hit game on August 20 at Houston…in that game he went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles and 1 RBI.