Mariners Game Notes — September 1 at New York Mets

AS YOU MAY KNOW…Teoscar Hernández had a monster month of August, batting .365 (38x104) with 15 runs, 9 doubles, 7 home runs and 22 RBI, getting on base at a .396 clip and slugging .654 (1.050 OPS), and…YOU MAY ALSO KNOW…that Teo ranked among the AL leaders in August in batting average (2nd), slugging percentage (4th), OPS (4th) and wRC+ (2nd, 190), but…DID YOU KNOW?…that his 1.050 OPS in August is the 2nd-highest OPS he has had in a full calendar month in his career?…his August OPS narrowly trails the 1.054 OPS he put up in 15 games during April 2018…AND FINALLY…Teo and Julio Rodríguez finished in the top 2 in the AL in wRC+ during August, joining Ronald Acuña Jr.-ATL and Eddie Rosario-ATL (June) as the only two duos to finish in the top 2 in wRC+ in their respective league during a calendar month this season.

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners open an 11-day, 10-game, 3-city road trip with the 1st of 3 against the New York Mets…the Mariners will also play the Cincinnati Reds (3 G, 9/4–6) and Tampa Bay Rays (4 G, 9/7–10) on the current road trip…the Mariners are coming off a 5–1 homestand against the Oakland Athletics (2–1) and Kansas City Royals (3–0)…tonight’s game vs. the Mets will be streamed live on APPLE TV+ with Wayne Randazzo and Dontrelle Willis on the call and Heidi Watney as the sideline reporter…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 won Wednesday’s game 5–4 over the Athletics, securing the series win…the Mariners are 13–2 over their last 15 games, 21–5 over their last 26, 23–6 over their last 29, 26–7 over their last 33, 29–9 over their last 38 and 38–15 over their last 53 games…the Mariners are 59–20 when scoring at least 4 runs and 17–37 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 39–29 at T-Mobile Park and 37–28 on the road this season…they are 26–21 in day games and 50–36 at night.

• Things Are Getting Series-ous — The Mariners have won 11 of its last 12 series and hold a 14–2–1 series record over their last 17 series.
• For Openers — The Mariners are 27–16 in series openers this season (13–8 on the road).
• High Water Mark — With a win, the Mariners would reach their high water mark of 20 games above .500…the Mariners have not been 20 games above .500 since July 30, 2018 (63–43).
• The Last Time We Met — The last time the Mariners and Mets played on May 15, 2022 the Mariners won 8–7 to secure a series win…Julio Rodríguez recorded his first career 4-hit game, going 4-for-4 with a HR and Diego Castillo got the save, stranding the tying and winning runs at 2nd and 3rd.
• Our Iron Man — Eugenio Suárez has played in all 133 games this season for the Mariners…only 4 different Mariners players (7 total seasons) have played in all 162 games: Ichiro Suzuki (3x, 2005, 2008 and 2010), Raúl Ibañez (2x, 2005 and 2008), Ruppert Jones (1979) and Willie Horton (1979).
• Roster Moves — The Mariners today have recalled INF/OF Sam Haggerty from Triple-A Tacoma, and RHP Dominic Leone has reported to the club…MLB rosters expand to 28 on September 1st.

HISTORIC MONTH…the Mariners went 21–6 (.778) in August, setting the franchise record for wins in a month, surpassing 6 previous 20-win months…the Mariners offense was outstanding, hitting .285 (272x954), scoring 159 runs (5.9 runs per game), hitting 46 home runs, getting on base at a .371 clip and slugging .493 (.864 OPS), leading the AL in slugging percentage, OPS and tying Minnesota for the AL lead in home runs, while leading the Majors in on base percentage and wRC+ (143)…the Mariners pitching was equally impressive with a 3.03 ERA (83 ER, 246.1 IP), 50 walks and 241 strikeouts…the Mariners 3.03 ERA trailed only the Los Angeles Dodgers (3.00 ERA) for the Major League lead during August.

DOMINATING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL…the Mariners are 38–15 (.717) over their last 53 games (7/1-c), best record in the American League during that span…since July 1, the Mariners offense leads the American League with an .816 OPS, trailing only the Braves (.861) and Dodgers (.840) for the Major League lead…the Mariners offense also leads the AL in on base percentage (.350), and wRC+ (129) during that span…Seattle pitchers have allowed the fewest runs (186) and posted the lowest ERA (3.18) in the Majors during that span.

JULIO RODRÍGUEZ: AL PLAYER OF THE MONTH?…since Aug. 1, Julio Rodríguez is batting .429 (45x105) with 19 runs, 10 doubles, 7 home runs, 30 RBI and 11 stolen bases, getting on base at a .474 clip and slugging .724 (1.198 OPS)…Julio led qualified AL players in August in hits, doubles, RBI, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and total bases (76)…he has recorded 13 multi-hit games during the month and 6 games with 3+ hits.

• Streaking — Julio has an active career-high 13-game hitting streak (8/13-c)…during the streak, Julio is batting .516 (32x62) with 13 runs scored, 6 doubles, 5 home runs, 21 RBI, 4 walks and 8 stolen bases, while reaching base at a .552 clip and slugging .855 with a 1.407 OPS…he has also homered in a career-high 3 consecutive games (8/26-c).
• Hits-toric Territory — Julio leads the AL with 153 hits and 47 multi-hit games this season…the 22-year-old has 28 hits over his last 10 games (8/16-c) with five 4+ hit games over that span…J-Rod surpassed Ichiro Suzuki (27 H, 5 different spans) for most hits over a 10-game stretch in Mariners history…the MLB record for most over an 11-game span is 31 hits, held by 3 players (Milt Stock, Heinie Manush & Rod Carew)…the Mariners record belongs to Ichiro (30 H, July 26-Aug. 5, 2004).

THE CATALYST…J.P. Crawford is batting .268 (112x418) with 76 runs, 28 doubles, a career-high 12 home runs, 44 RBI and a career-high 78 walks…J.P. has a .385 on-base percentage and an .806 OPS, which would also be career-highs…Crawford ranks 2nd in the American League in walks behind Shohei Ohtani-LAA (85) and 3rd in OBP behind Ohtani (.410) and Yandy Díaz-TB (.403).

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: AL RELIEVER OF THE MONTH?…in 14 August appearances, Andrés Muñoz had 9 saves and a 1.93 ERA (3 ER, 14.0 IP) with 7 walks and 20 strikeouts…Muñoz led American League relievers during the month in saves (9) and was tied for the lead in fWAR (0.6) with Trevor Stephan-CLE.

PICK IT DEFENSE…Ty France leads the AL in fielding percentage (.999), committing just 1 error in 991 total chances…Eugenio Suárez ranks T-2nd in outs above average (6 OAA) and 2nd in fielding percentage (.981) among AL third basemen and is the only third baseman in the Majors to record at least 125 assists without a throwing error…Julio Rodríguez ranks 3rd among MLB outfielders with 11 outs above average, trailing only Luis Robert Jr.-CWS (12 OAA) and Brenton Doyle-COL (12).