Rays pull away from Kirby, Mariners late

ST. PETERSBURG -- It was the way the outing started that made the turnaround that much sweeter for George Kirby on Friday night. Yet, in that same vein, the rise made the eventual fall sting that much more.

Kirby’s frustration still simmered over an hour after he left the mound at Tropicana Field following a game-tying two-run homer to René Pinto in the seventh inning that sent Seattle toward an eventual 7-4 defeat against the Rays.

• Games remaining: at TB (2), vs. LAA (3), vs. LAD (3), at OAK (3), at TEX (3), vs. HOU (3), vs. TEX (4)
• Standings update: The Mariners (79-62) remain a half-game behind the Astros (80-62) for the AL West lead, with the Rangers (76-64) 2 1/2 games behind Seattle, as both Texas and Houston lost on Friday. The Mariners are in the second Wild Card position, one game ahead of the Blue Jays (78-63), with Texas 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the final spot. The Mariners are also within 6 1/2 games of the Rays (86-56) for the top Wild Card spot.

“I wish I wasn’t out there for the seventh, to be honest,” Kirby said.

When asked why, Kirby said: “Because I was at 90 pitches. I didn’t think I needed to go any more. But it is what it is.”

Kirby was actually at 93 pitches and staked to a 4-2 lead after the sixth, a line that looked unreachable after he labored through 31 pitches in the first.

It wasn’t just the economics of his pitch tally in the opening frame and the challenge it would be for him to relieve a heavily taxed bullpen; he also looked wildly uncharacteristic of his trademark self, with two rare walks, a hit-by-pitch and two runs, including an RBI on a tough-luck blooper that landed in shallow left field after Dominic Canzone lost the ball in the bright lights on The Trop’s ceiling.

Yet, his turnaround from there was resounding.

Kirby went on to retire 15 of 17 Rays in the second through sixth innings while needing just 62 pitches to cover those five frames, even with five strikeouts in that stretch. The velocity on both his two- and four-seam fastballs was up, too.

With Kirby in such a groove -- and with Seattle’s bullpen as heavily taxed as it's been all season -- Mariners manager Scott Servais sent him back out for the seventh to face the Nos. 7-9 hitters (Taylor Walls, Jose Siri and Pinto). As Kirby took the mound, righty Isaiah Campbell and lefty Gabe Speier were both warming.

“He had done a really good job handling those guys at that point,” Servais said before Kirby met with the media. “We were thin in the bullpen tonight, so you're trying to stretch a little bit. But he had plenty in the tank.”

Asked if there was a conversation in the dugout about the decision, Kirby said: “It’s probably a conversation soon.”

An All-Star in just his second season this year, Kirby has struggled to regain some of his form of the first half, when he was arguably Seattle’s best starter. He’s surrendered 15 runs (14 earned) in 21 innings for a 6.00 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in his past four starts -- including three Mariners losses. Opposing hitters are slashing .310/.326/.529 (.855 OPS) in this stretch.

His most recent outing, on Sunday at Citi Field, was pushed back after he was scratched five days prior due to an illness. Then, against the Mets, he needed 73 pitches to clear three innings, during which he surrendered four runs (three earned) and after which he was relieved.

“I feel really good,” Kirby said. “I just can’t catch a break. I’m just looking forward to next week, to be honest.”

Kirby’s final pitch on Friday, the homer to Pinto, was on a 95.6 mph fastball intended for a chase above the zone, evidenced by where Cal Raleigh’s glove was set up. But it landed on the inner half and turned into a laser of a pull-side homer. Just prior, Siri ripped a 102.5 mph first-pitch double on a 95 mph heater low and in.

“I'm just not happy how, the way it ended, obviously,” Kirby said. “But I thought I grinded it out as good as I could. And like I said, it's just not going my way right now.”

Kirby reached 102 pitches, one shy of his career high from Aug. 12 against Baltimore, when he threw nine shutout innings but exited in a scoreless tie, which led to an extra-innings loss.

After Kirby departed on Friday, Campbell walked his first batter and gave up a dagger of a two-run blast to Harold Ramírez. Then Dominic Leone gave up a solo blast in the eighth, his fourth among his first 13 batters faced since being claimed off waivers last weekend.

Seattle’s bullpen was without its two highest-leverage arms, Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash, after both had pitched three days in a row leading into Friday -- the first time in his career for Muñoz and the second for Brash.

Moreover, the Mariners are dealing with a workload situation in regard to rookie Bryan Woo, whose turn on Saturday will be skipped, with that contest “looking more like a bullpen game,” Servais said, noting that Luke Weaver will see “bulk” innings.

“The challenges that lie ahead, we have [21] games to go -- every game is really important,” Servais said pregame of the bullpen. “I say that, and you don't want to put anybody in danger or anything like that. You need all these guys clicking as the season goes along.”

The Mariners are in an all-hands-on-deck stretch with a little over three weeks remaining and will continue to lean into a pitching staff that’s put them in this postseason position. But the challenges that they’ve faced with workloads were at the forefront on Friday.