The Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday to end a five-game losing streak and avoid a sweep. While it was a difficult week for Seattle, they got a great start from their stopper on Sunday. George Kirby shined for the Mariners, striking out 14 batters in seven strong innings. Angels manager Ron Washington tipped his cap to the opposing ace after the strong outing.
“He’s one of the top young, elite pitchers in the game,” Washington said, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. “What I noticed out there is that he can put you away. And that’s what you want to see out of your starting pitchers.”
Kirby’s best trait as a pitcher is his pinpoint location. He has led MLB in strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks-per-nine in each of the last two seasons. That precision has the Mariners’ star in elite company in just his fourth season in the big leagues.
George Kirby surpassed 500 career strikeouts today to go with his 68 walks in 93 games started.
The only other MLB player in the modern era (since 1901) to have 500+ Ks and fewer than 70 BB in any span of 93 starts is Greg Maddux. pic.twitter.com/uiTFfwkwLA
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 8, 2025
“George Kirby surpassed 500 career strikeouts today to go with his 68 walks in 93 games started,” OPTAstats posted. “The only other MLB player in the modern era (since 1901) to have 500+ Ks and fewer than 70 BB in any span of 93 starts is Greg Maddux.”
Last season, the Mariners opened up a ten-game lead in the division and collapsed all before the All-Star Break. They could not catch the Astros, fell out of the Wild Card, and missed the postseason again. It was their offense, with the second-worst batting average in baseball, that cost them last year. Cal Raleigh is lifting them to mediocrity, which may be enough to get them over the line this season.
The Mariners have to get back on track if they finally want to make a deep playoff run. They have the pieces in place, but have not been able to string together a strong season. They stay on the road for a series in Arizona this week.
The post Mariners’ George Kirby gets Ron Washington take after 14 Ks vs. Angels appeared first on ClutchPoints.
