Mariners Game #117 Preview: SEA vs TBR

The Mariners will retire Ichiro’s number Saturday and then try to keep their hot streak going.

The Mariners mostly tread water into and out of the All-Star break. Over the last week, however, they took three of four from Rangers before sweeping the White Sox; they now find themselves in a position to win their third consecutive series and sixth consecutive game. They could finish the day with the same number of wins as the Astros and a half-game back in the AL West.

Before Saturday’s game, the Mariners will retire #51 to honor Ichiro’s induction into the Hall of Fame last month. Ichiro joins Ken Griffey Jr. (#24), Edgar Martinez (#11) and Jackie Robinson (#42) as the only numbers retired by the Mariners. Ichiro was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27 as the team’s third member, following Griffey (2016) and Martinez (2019). The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. PDT.

Lineups

Logan Evans is on the mound for the Mariners tonight. Evans is the Mariners’ fifth starter, and he’s mostly pitched like a fifth starter this year, with a 4.30 ERA and 5.01 FIP in 13 outings. Evans has been quite dominant on his first pass through the order in a game. He’s given the Mariners at least a 50-50 shot most nights he pitches, and they have a 7-6 record in his starts.

Joe Boyle goes for the Rays. He’s gone back and forth between starter and reliever this year but appears to be in the rotation for now. He has a 2.30 ERA, 3.56 FIP and 4.61 xFIP — lots of strikeouts and walks but few home runs allowed. David Adler recently wrote for MLB.com about Boyle’s new arm slot that appears to be helping the 6-foot-8, 100 mph hurler.

Game Info

Ichiro speech begins: 6 p.m. PDT
Game begins: 6:40 p.m. PDT
TV: ROOT Sports NW, with Aaron Goldsmith, Angie Mentink, and Jay Buhner
Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

On this date

·       1988 – Alvin Davis becomes the Mariners all-time home run leader with his 106^th career home run off of California’s Mike Witt.

·       2010 – Mariners dismiss manager Don Wakamatsu, bench coach Ty Van Burkleo, pitching coach Rick Adair, and released performance coach Steve Hecht from the team. They are replaced by interim manager Daren Brown, head coach of the Tacoma Rainers, Roger Hansen as the bench coach, and Carl Willis as pitching coach.

·       2010 – The Mariners turn the 10^th triple play in franchise history, turning a 5-4-3 triple play in a 3-1 win over the Oakland Athletics.  The last time the Mariners turned a triple play was on July 13, 1995.

·       2014 – Lou Piniella became the 8th member of the Mariners Hall of Fame in a pre-game ceremony.

·       2018 – The Mariners hit for the cycle in reverse order to start the game against the Astros and Justin Verlander. Mitch Haniger led off with a home run, Denard Span followed with a triple, Jean Segura doubled and Nelson Cruz singled. The Mariners are the first team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to have its first four batters of a game hit for the cycle in reverse order. Seattle won the game 8-6.

·       2022 – The Mariners win an instant classic over the Yankees, 1-0 in 13 innings…Mariners starter Luis Castillo tossed 8.0 shutout innings in his T-Mobile Park debut, while the Mariners bullpen tossed 5.0 innings of hitless relief…Luis Torrens plated the winning run with a pinch-hit, walk-off single in the bottom of the 13^th.

·       2023 – Emerson Hancock makes MLB debut against Padres…Hancock was selected by the Mariners with the 6^th overall pick in the 2020 MLB First-Year Player Draft.