Mariners lose George Kirby's debut; Julio Rodríguez scratched vs. Astros

Tim Booth, The Seattle Times on May 22, 2025

Published in Baseball

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HOUSTON — Two and a half hours before he stepped back onto a major league mound for the first time in eight months, George Kirby stood in the Mariners dugout, looking out at the field while his teammates went through their pregame routines.

It all should have looked and felt familiar. The last time he pitched in a major league game was in this stadium last September before a troublesome shoulder landed Kirby on the injured list in March and delayed his start to the season.

If only the results from last September — when Kirby was nearly flawless — could have carried over to Thursday night.

Kirby’s return to the mound ended in a loss as the Mariners were thumped, 9-2, by the Astros in the opener of a key four-game series before 29,512 at Daikin Park. His return was a welcome sight considering some of the injuries the Mariners are dealing with and should have been the primary storyline.

But another concern arose pregame when Julio Rodríguez was unexpectedly scratched from the lineup.

Rodríguez was in the clubhouse pregame and went through batting practice on the field, but about 30 minutes before first pitch the M’s announced he was out of the lineup with an update to come after the game.

It was bad news before Kirby ever threw a pitch — which perhaps appropriately enough was a 97-mph fastball that slipped and dotted Jeremy Peña on Kirby’s first windup of the season.

It seemed to set the tone for a night where Kirby faced his struggles, the Mariners squandered a number of good scoring chances and Jose Altuve provided a reminder of his history tormenting the M’s.

And as a final blow, Bryan Woo appeared to get clipped by a foul ball off the bat of Isaac Paredes in the bottom of the eighth inning inside the Mariners dugout, although he appeared OK when captured by TV cameras at the end of the inning.

It was that kind of night.

Kirby ended up going 3 2/3 innings and was lifted after being unable to escape a jam in the fourth. He exited following 72 pitches and allowed five earned runs. He walked one and struck out four. His first strikeout of 2025 came on a three-pitch K of Yainer Diaz, swinging. His last strikeout of 2024 was a three-pitch K of Yainer Diaz, swinging.

Beyond the straightforward numbers, the M’s will be thrilled that there were no concerns about Kirby’s velocity, which nearly topped out at 98.8 mph. Some of his issues putting away batters seemed in part due to a lack of sharpness, which is to be expected in a first outing.

What will frustrate Kirby was the opportunities to escape trouble in the third and fourth innings he was unable to navigate. In the third, Kirby hit Peña with an 0-2 splitter to load the bases and Ben Williamson misplayed a grounder from Isaac Paredes. A run was going to score no matter what on Paredes’ grounder, but Williamson’s bobble meant the M’s couldn’t turn a double play and Altuve’s fly ball that followed was a sacrifice fly that tied the game at 2-2.

In the fourth, Kirby retired the first two batters before giving up a single to Jake Meyers, walked Cam Smith on a 3-2 pitch, saw Mauricio Dubón single on a 1-2 pitch and Pena followed with a two-run triple to end Kirby’s day.

Altuve then feasted on the Mariners bullpen. After not homering since April 28, the perpetual Mariners menace went deep off Eduard Bazardo for a solo shot leading off the fifth inning and an inning later clocked a two-run homer off Jesse Hahn.

The M’s offense also lacked timely hitting. Rowdy Tellez’s RBI single in the first and Dylan Moore’s homer leading off the second accounted for the offense, but the M’s were unable to knock out Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. after he was staggered early on.

The M’s left runners at the corners in the first following Tellez’s RBI single and had runners at first and second with one out in the second before McCullers struck out Jorge Polanco and Cal Raleigh.

McCullers was eventually knocked out after singles by Raleigh and Randy Arozarena with one out in the fifth. The M’s loaded the bases after Tellez’s single but they never moved as Leody Taveras struck out and Moore was jammed and popped out to end the inning.

The M’s finished 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, left 12 on base and struck out 15 times.