Mariners Game Notes — Sept. 15 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

AS YOU KNOW…Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has 16 home runs over his last 47 games (7/22-c), leading Major League catchers with 28 home runs overall this season, and…AS YOU MAY KNOW…with 2 more homers, #29 would become the 29th catcher in MLB history (min. 60% of games at catcher) with a 30+ home run season, but…DID YOU KNOW?…Cal already has 57 career home runs in 296 games, ranking 7th-most in MLB history by a catcher over their first 300 games (min. 60% games as catcher)?…he trails only Gary Sánchez (86 HR), Rudy York (77 HR), Mike Piazza (68 HR), Will Smith (62 HR), Earl Williams (60 HR) and Wilin Rosario (59 HR).

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue a 7-day, 6-game homestand (2–1) with the 1st of 3 games against the Los Angeles Dodgers…Seattle opened the homestand with a series win over the Los Angeles Angels (2–1)…following Sunday’s series finale vs. the Dodgers, the Mariners will embark on their final road trip of the season to Oakland (3 G, Sept. 18–20) and Texas (3 G, Sept. 22–24)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Mike Blowers on the call…the game will also be broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith on the call.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners defeated the Angels by a 3–2 score in Wednesday’s rubber match, securing their first series win in the month of September…the Mariners are 18–10 over their last 28 games, 26–13 over their last 39, 28–14 over their last 42, 31–15 over their last 46, 34–17 over their last 51 and 43–23 over their last 66 games…the Mariners are 62–24 when scoring at least 4 runs and 19–41 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 41–30 at T-Mobile Park and 40–35 on the road this season…they are 27–25 in day games and 54–40 at night.

• Déjà Vu All Over Again — The Mariners were also 81–65 after 146 games during the 2022 season.
• Interleague Play — This weekend’s series vs. the Dodgers is the final interleague series of the 2023 regular season for Seattle…the Mariners are 22–21 (.512) in interleague games this season.
• Long Division — Of Seattle’s 16 remaining regular season games, 13 are against AL West Division opponents (OAK 3, TEX 7, HOU 3).
• Clemente Award Nominee — Marco Gonzales was named today as the Seattle Mariners nominee for the 2023 Roberto Clemente Award…it’s Gonzales’ 2nd-consecutive year being nominated for the award, which is presented annually in recognition of a Major League player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

TEOSCAR HERNÁNDEZ EXTENDS ON-BASE STREAK TO 28…Teoscar Hernández went 1-for-4 with 1 RBI in Wednesday’s game vs. the Angels, extending his on-base streak to 28 games (8/15-c), longest active on-base streak (via H, BB or HBP) in the Majors and the longest streak by a Mariners player this season, surpassing Julio Rodríguez (27 G, July 1-Aug. 2)…Teo’s 28-game on-base streak is Seattle’s longest on-base streak since Robinson Canó’s 34-game on-base streak from April 30-June 5, 2016…Hernández during his streak is batting .368 (42x114) with 16 runs, 8 doubles, 8 home runs, 28 RBI and 6 walks, getting on base at a .400 clip, slugging .649 with a 1.049 OPS.

ZONING OUT…George Kirby enters his start today with a 9.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio, leading the Majors ahead of Zach Eflin-TB (7.13), Logan Webb (6.10) and Logan Gilbert (5.68)…Kirby’s 9.44 SO/BB ratio is on pace to be the best by any pitcher in Mariners history and 4th-best in Major League history (1900-c), trailing only Phil Hughes-2014 (11.63), Cliff Lee-2010 (10.28) and Curt Schilling-2002 (9.58).

MASS QUANTITIES OF QUALITY…Luis Castillo recorded his 17th quality start of the season in Wednesday’s game, joining George Kirby and Logan Gilbert with 17 quality starts apiece this season…Seattle is the only team in MLB this season to have 3+ pitchers with 15+ quality starts…Castillo, Gilbert and Kirby are just the 7th trio of starters in Mariners history to each record 17+ quality starts in a season…they are the first since Félix Hernández (22 QS), Michael Pineda (19 QS) and Jason Vargas (18 QS) in 2011.

WELCOME TO THE J-ROD SHOW…Julio Rodríguez went 1-for-3 with 1 run, 1 double, 1 RBI and 1 walk (IBB) in Wednesday’s game…Julio has hit safely in 6 consecutive games, batting .480 (12x25) with 8 runs, 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 6 RBI and 1 walk, while reaching base at a .500 clip and slugging .920 with a 1.420 OPS…overall this season, Julio leads the American League in hits (171), ranking ahead of Marcus Semien-TEX (169)…Julio ranks 2nd in the AL in total bases (299) behind Shohei Ohtani-LAA (325), 3rd in RBI (99), 4th in extra-base hits (66), 7th in home runs (30), T-4th in runs (94) and 3rd in stolen bases (36).

• 30/30 Club — Julio (30 HR, 36 SB) is the 4th player age 22-or-younger with 30+ home runs and 30+ stolen bases in a season, joining Alex Rodriguez-SEA (1998), Mike Trout-LAA (2012) & Ronald Acuña Jr.-ATL (2019)…Julio, who wears #44, is the 44th individual to join the 30/30 club in MLB history.
• Keeping It 100 — Rodríguez is 1 RBI away from a 100-RBI season…Julio would join Alex Rodriguez-SEA (1998) & Ronald Acuña Jr.-ATL (2019) to become just the 3rd player age 22-or-younger with a 30/30 season and 100 RBI in the same year…Julio would join Ken Griffey Jr. (2x, 1991–92) and A-Rod (2x, 1996, ’98) as the only Mariners with 100+ RBI in age 22-or-younger seasons.

PITCH PERFECT…the Mariners pitching staff leads the Majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.59) and walks-per-9 innings (2.54), ranking T-1st in ERA (3.71) with Toronto, 2nd in fewest runs allowed (594), 2nd in fWAR (20.0), 2nd in WHIP (1.18), T-1st in FIP (3.80), 2nd in quality starts (69), 5th in opponent batting average (.236) and 7th in strikeouts-per-9 innings (9.11).

CAREER YEAR FOR CRAWFORD…J.P. Crawford went 1-for-4 in Wednesday’s game and remains 1 RBI shy of his career-high 54 RBI registered during the 2021 season…the Mariners shortstop this year has already tallied career-highs in home runs (15) and walks (83) and is on pace to set career-highs in on-base percentage (.377), slugging (.422) and OPS (.799).

THE SEATTLE DOZEN…the Mariners have 12 players with 50+ plate appearances and a wRC+ of at least 100 this season, most in the Majors: Tom Murphy (139 wRC+), Julio Rodríguez (135), J.P. Crawford (129), Mike Ford (122), Cal Raleigh (116), Josh Rojas (116), Dylan Moore (115), Cade Marlowe (111), Teoscar Hernández (111), Jarred Kelenic (108), Ty France (103) and Eugenio Suárez (102).

I’VE GOT THE POWER…the Mariners have hit 84 home runs in 49 games as a team since July 22, most home runs in the American League during that span, ranking ahead of Houston (80) and 3rd-most in the Majors behind Atlanta (98) and Philadelphia (86)…Julio Rodríguez leads the AL with 17 homers in that span and Cal Raleigh ranks tied for 2nd in the AL with 16 homers (also: Corey Seager-TEX, 16 HR).