Kirby's 10-K gem lifts Mariners' spirits in wake of Kelenic news

SEATTLE -- As Mariners manager Scott Servais described it, a metaphorical “dark cloud” lingered in the home clubhouse at T-Mobile Park on Thursday morning, and his club badly needed someone, anyone, to lift their competitive spirits.

And in the wake of Jarred Kelenic’s left foot fracture, there might not have been a more fitting player for the task than George Kirby, the uber-competitive and self-described “savage” who was coming off one of the most trying starts of his young career.

Indeed, Seattle’s second-year starter put his teammates on his shoulders, twirling seven shutout innings to lift the Mariners to a 5-0 win over the Twins and help them avoid a series loss.

Five days after he surrendered an uncharacteristic six runs, Kirby racked up a career-high-tying 10 strikeouts while surrendering just four hits and only once allowing a runner to reach scoring position. Kirby, who entered play leading MLB qualifiers with 0.9 walks per nine innings this year (11 in 112 2/3 innings), issued zero free passes on Thursday, perhaps motivated after his lone walk on Saturday resulted in a run.

Three times this season Kirby has surrendered five earned runs in a start, and three times he followed up with a scoreless effort. And after Luis Castillo punched out 11 on Wednesday, Seattle’s All-Star tandem became the first pitchers since Roenis Elias and Taijuan Walker in June 2015 to record double-digit strikeouts in consecutive outings.

“It’s just hard to get me twice,” Kirby said.

Kirby also generated a career-high-tying 20 whiffs and flashed arguably his most electric four-seam fastball of the year. He threw 49 heaters, and only nine were put in play. He also dropped in a gnarly splitter to Alex Kirilloff for an inning-ending strikeout in the first, arguably the best of the new pitch that he added in Spring Training.

“The confidence has been a lot better,” Kirby said of the splitter. “It's such a hard pitch to feel consistent on because I've got to get it off a certain seam off my finger to kind of feel. It's almost like I have to hear it when I get that good movement."

Kirby has also been toying with a cutter and even joked that he has a knuckleball in his back pocket.

Kirby received and needed just two runs of support, both of them from Teoscar Hernández, who ripped an RBI single in the first inning, when Seattle loaded the bases with no outs but could only come away with the one run, and a solo homer in the fourth, his 16th of the season. Both came against Twins All-Star and former Mariners prospect Pablo López.

Mike Ford gave the bullpen a cushion with a two-run blast in the eighth, helping the Mariners’ pitching staff to their ninth shutout, tied for fifth-most in MLB. The timing was notable, too, given that the Twins’ offense, which like Seattle, has been their issue all year, had scored five or more runs in six straight games.

“He is not afraid,” Servais said of Kirby. “He loves the competition. I think that's what sticks out more than anything else. When you watch him pitch, he just loves the, 'Bring it on. I will give you my best effort.' And he usually ends up on the right side of things. Awesome outing.”

After Ford homered, some minor tensions brewed after Twins reliever Jorge López couldn’t find the strike zone and hit three batters. Then, after López was pulled, Cole Sands threw a wild pitch that allowed an insurance run to score.

The teams meet next week at Target Field for a three-game series.

“A good bounceback,” Servais said. “Again, we'll see what happens tomorrow. It's kind of been the story of our season.”

It appears that the Mariners’ high-caliber rotation has found its footing after a shaky first time through to begin the second half, when none of the five starters went deeper than five innings, forcing the club to add bullpen reinforcements.

The Mariners climbed back to .500 for the 13th time since the start of June and remain five games out of the final AL Wild Card spot. Pitching performances like Kirby’s are a large reason they’re still in the hunt, and they’ll need to continue receiving them if they hope to continue remaining afloat leading into the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.