Pesky Angels offense bests Kirby, Mariners

SEATTLE -- George Kirby unleashed the changeup in a 1-1 count, intending to land it on the outer black on a night where he worked the edges masterfully. But the offspeed offering didn’t bleed away from the plate, and the only black it met was the thickest part of Shohei Ohtani’s night-shaded barrel.

Kirby, who’d given up only one homer since June 27 of last season, knew immediately what the mistake in that fateful fifth inning would turn into, craning his neck straight to the sky in unison with the ball’s trajectory while turning towards center field. He then spun a 360 and asked for a new ball before the one that just left his hand had landed in the J-Rod Squad beyond center field.

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Ohtani also knew right away, walking five full steps towards first before breaking into a trot, admiring the 431-foot blast just after it left his bat at 110.3 mph.

The deep fly proved decisive in a 7-3 Mariners loss on Monday at T-Mobile Park, pushing Seattle’s skid to four games in this young season. It’s their longest losing streak since being swept in four games last May 19-22 at Fenway Park.

Unfortunately, it also proved to be the defining moment in Kirby’s 2023 debut.

“I'm not going to be scared of him,” Kirby said of Ohtani. “I probably just could've let that changeup go down a little bit more. I left it up. But I thought I attacked well tonight, just a couple of pitches I'd like to have back.”

Kirby either lived -- and thrived -- on the edges, or the Angels ambushed him when he caught too much plate, perhaps a byproduct of his well-chronicled reputation of filling up the zone as much as anyone. It led to him surrendering nine hits after only giving up that many in three of his 26 starts last year, including the postseason.

"They were swinging a lot,” Kirby said. “I could have gone inside a lot more today because that makes my four-seam so much better, when I'm going in with the two[-seamer]. So that's something we've got to do next week more. But yeah, I'm just going to keep attacking the zone and try to beat guys in the zone.”

After Ohtani’s homer, Kirby surrendered a single to Hunter Renfroe before striking out Jake Lamb, but at 84 pitches he’d reached his threshold and was pulled after 4 1/3 innings. The Mariners deliberately slow-played Kirby this spring and will continue to be diligent about his workload.

There was some frustration brewing one plate appearance before Ohtani’s big blast, when he fell behind 3-0 to Mike Trout, worked the count full then narrowly missed with ball four on a four-seamer outside. If homers were Kirby’s top outlier last year, walks were a close second, with a 4.1% walk rate that ranked fifth best in MLB (min. 130 innings pitched).

“George is going to fill up the zone, that's what he does,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “He's really good at it. We couldn't quite get them off rhythm or off timing tonight. They were certainly on it.”

Trout has tormented the Mariners for years and crushed five homers in his most recent series here last June. He reached base in each of his five plate appearances on Monday, including a hit by pitch and 105.3 mph single against Kirby.

But Luis Rengifo has become the Angels’ most pesky hitter against the Mariners. The second baseman had a pair of RBI singles off Kirby in his first Seattle act of 2023. Last year, Rengifo hit .301/.329/.658 (.986 OPS) with seven homers and 12 RBIs against the Mariners. Rengifo originally signed with Seattle as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2013, before being dealt to Tampa Bay in a minor trade in ‘17 and to the Angels in ‘18.

And now after the Halos tagged Kirby, the Mariners now look to avoid dropping five straight after their Opening Day win.

“It's been a struggle here early on,” Servais said. “It's not for lack of trying or lack of effort or preparation. But at the end of the day, you've got to get it done, and we haven't done it here the past three or four games.”