Mariners Game Notes — August 18 at Houston

AS YOU MAY KNOW…Cal Raleigh hit his 22nd home run of the season in yesterday’s game, which leads all Major League catchers, and…AS YOU MAY ALSO KNOW…Raleigh’s 10 home runs since July 22 are the most in the American League, and trail only Matt Olson-ATL (11 HR) and Pete Alonso-NYM (11) for the Major League lead during that span, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that Cal’s pinch-hit home run in yesterday’s game was his first since his Postseason-clinching blast off of Domingo Acevedo on Sept. 30, 2022 vs. Oakland?

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue a 10-game road trip (3–1) today with the 1st of 3 games against the Houston Astros…Seattle is coming off a series win against the Kansas City Royals (3–1)…following the series in Houston, the Mariners will close out the road trip at the Chicago White Sox (3 G, Aug. 21–23)…tonight’s game in Houston will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Ryan Rowland-Smith on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr. on the call.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners won yesterday’s game by a 6–4 score to secure a series win against the Kansas City Royals…the Mariners are 11–3 over their last 14, 13–4 over their last 17, 16–5 over their last 21, 19–7 over their last 26 and 28–13 over their last 41 games…the Mariners are 51–19 when scoring at least 4 runs and 15–36 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 34–28 at T-Mobile Park and 32–27 on the road this season…they are 22–20 in day games and 44–35 at night.

• Since July 1 — The Mariners have the 2nd-best record in the Majors since July 1…Seattle is 28–13 (.683) since then, trailing only the Dodgers (.718/28–11), while ranking ahead of Baltimore (.634/26–15) and Houston (.625/25–15).
• Rising Tide — With a win today, the Mariners would set a new high water mark of 12 games above .500…Seattle has now been 11 games above .500 twice (also: Aug. 11, 63–52).
• Series-ly Great — Seattle has won 7 of its last 8 overall series and each of its last 6 road series.
• Deputies — José Caballero and Dylan Moore have combined to hit .296 (8x27) with a .803 OPS at shortstop since J.P. Crawford was placed on the 7-day Injured List on Aug. 11.
• Programming Note — Sunday’s Mariners at Astros game will be televised and streamed live on Peacock.

THE J-ROD SHOW IS MUST-SEE TV…Julio Rodríguez went 5-for-5 with 1 double, 1 home run and 5 RBI in yesterday’s game…overall in the 4-game set with the Royals (8/14–17), Julio hit .571 (12x21) with 3 doubles, 1 home run, 11 RBI, 3 stolen bases and a 1.448 OPS…his 12 hits in the series were the most in any single series in franchise history and the most in the Majors since Adalberto Mondesi-KC also had 12 hits from Sept. 24–27, 2020 vs. Detroit…since July 1, Julio is batting .326 (57x175) with 25 runs, 15 doubles, 7 home runs, 36 RBI and 12 stolen bases, getting on base at a .379 clip and slugging .531 (.910 OPS) while his 2.2 fWAR ranks 4th in the AL…Julio has reached base safely in 14-of-15 games in August, hit safely in 12-of-15, including 8 multi-hit games…with 4+ hits in tonight’s game, Julio would become the first player in franchise history with 3-consecutive 4+ hit games, and the first in the Majors since Charlie Blackmon-COL (6/13–15, 2019).

JULIO HAS 20/30 VISION…Julio Rodríguez hit his 20th home run of the season in yesterday’s game, becoming the 4th player in franchise history with 20+ HR and 30+ SB in a single season…Julio joined Alex Rodriguez (42 HR/46 SB, 1998), Mike Cameron (2x, 25 HR/34 SB, 2001 & 25 HR/31 SB, 2002) and Ruppert Jones (21 HR/33 SB, 1979) as the only other Mariners players to accomplish the feat…Rodríguez also became the first player in Mariners history with 20+ home runs in each of his first 2 Major League seasons…he also joins Bobby Witt Jr.-KC (2022–23) as the only players in MLB history with 20+ stolen bases and 20+ home runs in each of their first 2 Major League seasons.

I SEE FRANCE ON THE BASES…over his last 19 games since July 28, Ty France is batting .323 (21x65) with 7 runs, 4 doubles, 3 home runs and 12 RBI, getting on base at a .436 clip and slugging .523 (.959 OPS)…during that span, France has more walks (10) than strikeouts (9)…overall this season, France has 22 hit-by-pitch, which leads the Majors, ranking ahead of Andrés Giménez-CLE (17 HBP)…France is on pace for 29 hit-by-pitch, which would break his franchise record of 27, set in 2021.

MARLOWE CAN YOU GO?…since he was called up on July 20, Cade Marlowe is batting .293 (17x58) with 12 runs, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs and 7 RBI, getting on base at a .397 clip and slugging .483 (.880 OPS) in his first 22 career games, with the Mariners going 16–6 in those contests…Marlowe has reached safely in 17 of 22 games and hit safely in 11 of 22 (6 multi-hit games).

SUÁREZ, RODRÍGUEZ & FRANCE: THE GOLD STANDARD ON DEFENSE…Eugenio Suárez leads qualified American League third basemen (min. 1,000 innings) in fielding percentage (.982) this season, committing just 5 errors and ranking ahead of Matt Chapman-TOR (.971) and Alex Bregman-HOU (.961)…Suárez also ranks tied for 2nd in Outs Above Average (6), trailing only Maikel Garcia-KC (10)…Julio Rodríguez leads Major League outfielders with 12 outs above average, ranking ahead of Luis Robert Jr.-CWS (10)…Rodríguez trails only Dansby Swanson-CHC (14 OAA) and Bobby Witt Jr.-KC (13 OAA) for the MLB-lead at any position…Ty France leads qualified AL first basemen (min. 1,000 innings) with a .999 fielding percentage, having committed only 1 error, while ranking ahead of Nathaniel Lowe-TEX (.997) and Spencer Torkelson-DET (.994).

WHAT A RELIEF SINCE JULY 1…the Mariners bullpen is 24–21 with a 3.42 ERA (152 ER, 400.0 IP) with 156 walks (13 intentional) and 447 strikeouts this season…they rank 2nd in MLB in ERA, trailing only the Yankees (3.19)…over the team’s last 40 games (7/1-c), Seattle relievers lead the Majors with a 2.45 ERA (35 ER, 128.1 IP), notching 17 saves with 47 walks and 151 strikeouts…during that span, Justin Topa, Tayler Saucedo, Gabe Speier, Isaiah Campbell, Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash all have a sub-3.00 ERA, led by Topa’s 0.54 ERA (1 ER, 16.2 IP), Saucedo’s 1.10 ERA (2 ER, 16.1 IP) and Speier’s 1.50 ERA (2 ER, 12.0 IP)…Topa (11 G, 9.1 IP) and Speier (11 G, 9.1 IP) are tied for the 3rd-longest active scoreless streak in the AL, trailing only Bryan Abreu-HOU (12 G, 11.2 IP) and Austin Pruitt-OAK (12 G, 14.2 IP).

POWER SURGE…Since July 22 the Mariners lead the American League and are tied for 2nd in the Majors (also: Chicago-NL) with 39 home runs, trailing only Atlanta (48 HR)…during that span the Mariners also rank in the top 10 in the Majors in on base percentage (5th, .344), slugging percentage (4th, .472), OPS (5th, .816), average (5th, .263/221x833) and wRC+ (2nd, 129)…Cal Raleigh leads AL hitters and ranks T-3rd in the Majors during that span with 10 home runs, while Julio Rodríguez (7 HR), Dylan Moore (4 HR), Eugenio Suárez (3) and Ty France (3) have all hit 3+ homers, while 13 different Mariners have left the yard since July 22.