Mariners Game Notes — May 6 at Minnesota

AS YOU KNOW…the Mariners are the only team in the Majors that has yet to allow an opposing starting pitcher to complete 7.0 innings this season, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that the Mariners have gone a franchise-record 34 games to begin the season without allowing an opposing starting pitcher to complete 7.0 innings?…Seattle has gone 10+ games into a season without a starting pitcher completing 7.0 innings 5 times in franchise history, with the previous record of 21 games set in 2019…the New York Yankees went an MLB record 56 games in 2020 before allowing a starting pitcher to complete 7.0 innings according to Elias Sports Bureau.

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue the 7-game road trip tonight with the 1st of 4 games against the Minnesota Twins…the Mariners are coming off a series win at Houston (2–1) on the current road trip…following Thursday’s series finale in Minnesota, the Mariners return home for a 6-game homestand where they will host Oakland (3 G, May 10–12) and Kansas City (3 G, May 13–15)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT Sports with Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers on the call, and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) with Rick Rizzs and Dave Sims on the call.

ODDS AND ENDS…Seattle defeated the Astros 5–4, earning their 6th-consecutive series win…the Mariners are 9–4 over their last 13 games (4/21-c), 13–5 over their last 18 games (4/15-c) and 15–7 over their last 22 games (4/10-c).

• High Water Mark — The Mariners sit 4 games above .500, matching their high water mark for the season (also: 17–13 after April 30).
• Well, First Off… — The Mariners (19–15) are in 1st place in the AL West Division by a half-game over the 2nd place Texas Rangers (19–16) and 2.5 games over the 3rd place Oakland Athletics (17–18).
• Series Openers — The Mariners are 8–4 in series openers this season.
• Comeback Kids — The Mariners earned their 5th comeback win of the season in yesterday’s game, including their 2nd when trailing after the 7th inning…Cal Raleigh recorded his 2nd go-ahead home run in the 9th inning-or-later, the only player with multiple such home runs this season (also: 4/10 at TOR).
• Nuke Raley — Luke Raley hit his 1st homer with the Mariners in yesterday’s game, a 407-foot blast to right field…since the start of last season, 13 of his 20 home runs have traveled at least 400 feet.

HOW ABOUT SEVEN?…Seattle has won each of its last 6 series, the first time the Mariners have won 6+ consecutive series since July 21-Aug. 9 last season (6 consecutive series wins)…during that stretch, the Mariners went 14–4…during the current stretch, Seattle has won consecutive series vs. Cincinnati (3–0, 4/15–4/17), at Colorado (2–1, 4/20–4/21), at Texas (2–1, 4/23–4/25), vs. Arizona (2–1, 4/26–28), vs. Atlanta (2–1, 4/29–5/1) and at Houston (2–1, 5/3–5)…the Mariners are looking to win 7+ consecutive series for the first time since June 21-July 17, 2022, when they won 8-consecutive series.

RED HOT ROJAS…Josh Rojas went 3-for-4 with 1 double, 1 triple, 1 RBI and 1 BB in yesterday’s game, finishing a home run away from the cycle…over his last 18 games (4/9-c), Rojas is batting .370 (20x54) with 9 runs, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 4 RBI, 10 walks and 3 stolen bases, getting on-base at a .469 clip and slugging .667 (1.136 OPS)…overall this season, Rojas is batting .360 (27x75), 11 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 7 RBI, 3 stolen bases, a .442 on base percentage and a .587 slugging percentage (1.029 OPS)…Rojas leads AL players with at least 80 plate appearances in wRC+ (198), batting average and on base percentage, while ranking 2nd in OPS and 3rd in slugging percentage.

I WANT TO ROCK!…Luis Castillo is 3–1 with a 1.38 ERA (4 ER, 26.0 IP), 4 walks, 31 strikeouts and a 0.77 WHIP over his last 4 starts (4/14-c)…overall this season, Castillo ranks among the AL leaders in strikeouts (5th, 49), SO/9 (6th, 10.58), BB/9 (9th, 1.73), SO/BB (8th, 6.13) and fWAR (9th, 1.1)…since his Mariners debut on Aug. 3, 2022, Castillo leads AL pitchers and ranks 2nd in the Majors with 345 strikeouts, trailing only Spencer Strider-ATL (362)…during that span he also ranks 2nd in the Majors and leads AL pitchers with 776 swings-and-misses, trailing only Strider (800).

HISTORIC PITCHING OVER LAST 22 GAMES…since April 10, the Mariners pitching staff has led the team to a 15–7 record with a 1.74 ERA (38 ER, 197.0 IP), 54 walks and 203 strikeouts…during that stretch, Seattle pitchers lead the Majors in ERA, fewest runs allowed (49), quality starts (18), WHIP (0.87), hits-per-9 innings (5.39) and opponent batting average (.171/118x692), ranking 3rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.76), T-5th in strikeouts-per-9 innings (9.27) and T-3rd in walks-per-9 innings (2.47).

QUALITY AND QUANTITY…Seattle’s 21 quality starts lead the Majors this season, ranking ahead of Philadelphia (20)…the Mariners have 5 pitchers with 3+ quality starts: Logan Gilbert (6), Bryce Miller (4), Luis Castillo (4), George Kirby (4) and Emerson Hancock (3)…the Mariners starting rotation is the only team in the Majors to have 5 pitchers record 3+ quality starts, with San Francisco, Tampa Bay and Baltimore being the only teams to have 4 different pitchers record 3+ quality starts.

rockin’ WITH polo…Jorge Polanco has hit safely in 7 consecutive games (4/28-c), batting .290 (9x31) with 4 runs, 1 double, 2 home runs and 5 RBI with an .806 OPS during that stretch…Polanco is a career .263 (412x1568) hitter with 89 doubles, 12 triples, 45 home runs, 206 RBI and a .753 OPS at Target Field…Polanco’s 45 home runs at Target Field are 5th-most among active players.

THE BULLY ‘PEN…seven of the 8 current members of the Mariners bullpen have an ERA under 3.00…Cody Bolton (1.74 ERA), Andrés Muñoz (2.03), Tyson Miller (2.08), Tayler Saucedo (2.08), Gabe Speier (2.45), Austin Voth (2.63) and Trent Thornton (2.70) all tote sub-3.00 ERA’s…Muñoz leads Mariners relievers in strikeouts (17), while Speier (15), Voth (13), Saucedo (13), Thornton (11), Ryne Stanek (11) and Miller (11) all have reached double-digits.

Twin Connections…Jorge Polanco returns to Minnesota for the first time as a visiting player after he was acquired by Seattle from Minnesota this offseason…Polanco was signed by the Twins in 2009 and spent 14 years in the Minnesota organization…Mitch Garver was drafted by the Twins and spent 5 seasons in Minnesota…Luke Raley also spent 1 season in the Twins organization…Julio Rodríguez made his MLB debut in Minnesota on April 8, 2022 and recorded his first hit on April 9, 2022.

NEXT HOMESTAND…following Thursday’s series finale in Minnesota, Seattle will return home for a 6-game homestand against Oakland Athletics (3 G, 5/10–12) and Kansas City Royals (3 G, 13–15)…the upcoming homestand is highlighted by Cal Raleigh Funko POP! Night (May 10), Mother’s Day — Mariners Crossbody Bag (May 12), Little League Day — J.P. Crawford Poster (May 12) and 3 Mariners Value Games from May 13–15 with tickets as low at $10.