All-Star Kirby goes into Houston and dominates ... again

HOUSTON -- The last time George Kirby faced the Astros, he emphatically roared after striking out Jose Altuve. The whiff on Kirby’s 97.7 mph high fastball ended a brilliant seven-inning scoreless start in the Mariners’ 18-inning loss in Game 3 of the 2022 American League Division Series.

Catcher Cal Raleigh said then he felt like the rookie Kirby was “just scratching the surface” of his potential.

Now, halfway through his sophomore season and with an All-Star nod to his name, Kirby is reaching it. In Friday’s 5-1 win at Minute Maid Park, the 25-year-old was almost as dominant as last October.

“George likes pitching against the best teams in the league, and certainly Houston is one of them,” manager Scott Servais said. “So he gets up for it.”

Facing an Astros’ lineup missing Yordan Alvarez and Altuve to injury, Kirby took care of business by doing what he does at a historic pace: throwing strikes. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on six hits.

The right-hander “wasn’t the sharpest we’ve seen him,” Servais said. Some hard-hit batted balls found fielders, and Kirby notched just six swings-and-misses and three strikeouts. But he hardly needed any more in an efficient 93-pitch outing, which included three six-pitch innings and one walk.

“We kept trying to get in the stretch. We couldn't get that leadoff man on and he wasn't walking people,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “He was getting strike one, which is the secret to pitching, really.”

Kirby relied on his slider -- which was up 1.6 mph compared to his season average -- and showcased a strength Servais has repeatedly mentioned as a key development toward the right-hander’s 3.09 ERA in his sophomore season: game planning and attacking hitters’ weaknesses.

“I just tried to stay in on them, make them uncomfortable [and] used the slider a lot,” Kirby said. “[The slider] feels really good. I’m able to locate it really well, throw it a little harder. And it’s still got good movement. So I’m in a good place with it.”

Kirby’s lone run allowed came in the seventh on a ground ball that barely eked fair past the third-base bag for an RBI double. And while there was no effort to sway Servais to let him close the seventh this time around, Kirby exited by putting a bow on a special first half.

His final outing before his first All-Star Game appearance gave Kirby the American League lead in quality starts (14), just ahead of Toronto’s Kevin Gasuman. He leads the Majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.9) with the lowest walk rate (0.84 BB/9) of all qualified pitchers.

Unlike the Game 3 ALDS outing, the Mariners gave Kirby plenty of run support this time. Eugenio Suárez went deep twice for his 14th career multi-homer game, J.P. Crawford hit a solo shot and Raleigh lined an RBI single along with two walks.

The single scored Suárez after he doubled in his 5,000th plate appearance, with his wife and two kids sitting right behind the dugout cheering.

“It was a very special moment for me,” Suárez said. “I was able to see my kids and wife happy and cheering for me. … They live in Miami, go to school in Miami and right now, I’m enjoying [the time] I have with them the most I can because most of the time they aren’t [able to come]."

Suárez’s night at the plate and Kirby’s performance on the mound propelled the Mariners to their fifth win in the last six games. And the way the young right-hander is pitching and progressing, there will be a lot more similar wins coming in the future. Maybe even in big playoff games.