Kirby twirls Félix-like gem, but Mariners' streak ends at 8

SEATTLE -- On a night when the Mariners inducted Félix Hernández into the franchise’s Hall of Fame, it was impossible not to draw the painful parallels of what occurred on the mound to another homegrown pitcher brimming with elite talent.

George Kirby got a taste of one theme that became all too prevalent during The King’s grandest days -- run support, or lack thereof -- when he threw nine shutout innings before the Orioles rallied for a run against Andrés Mu?oz in the 10th to sink the Mariners in a 1-0 loss on Saturday night at T-Mobile Park.

The defeat snapped the Mariners’ season-high eight-game win streak and occurred on a day when the Blue Jays also lost, which could’ve catapulted Seattle into sole possession of the final American League Wild Card spot by a half-game.

Kirby was the talk of MLB throughout the night, with his velocity regularly climbing toward 100 mph to go with pinpoint location and efficiency. He needed just 103 pitches to record 27 outs, the last of which he notched himself on a foul popup on the first-base line, with Ty France and Cedric Mullins colliding behind him and Tom Murphy nearby.

“It looked like Murph didn't really know where it was, and Ty was playing back, so I was nervous, but I knew I had to take charge there,” Kirby said. “And it was pretty cool having me catch the last out like that. Yeah, I was fired up.”

With seven punchouts and zero free passes, he raised his MLB-best strikeout-to-walk ratio to 9.36, nearly two higher than second place.

“I was just hitting spots and being efficient, and in some of those games, it’s just like unconscious,” Kirby said.

It didn’t just feel like a Hernández-type start -- it also had statistical backing.

The last time a Mariners pitcher tossed nine or more innings in a team loss? Hernández, on July 26, 2013, against Minnesota, a 3-2 defeat in 13 innings. Over The King's 15-year career, his offense went scoreless 24 times in starts he pitched at least five innings.

Had the Mariners won in the ninth or later, Kirby would’ve been the first Mariner to pitch nine innings in a walk-off win since -- guess who -- Hernández, who was on the hill for that start on June 28, 2012. The score that day? 1-0.

“It's crazy, isn't it? The baseball gods, they are there,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “And if anybody doesn't think that's true, they're crazy.”

The positive takeaway on a tough night was that Kirby has clearly established himself as one of the game’s best young arms. And if the Mariners can continue to climb toward October, he’s also shown the pedigree as a “big-time pitcher,” as Servais noted.

Aside from the Hernández comparisons, Saturday’s contest also had similar characteristics to Game 3 of last year’s AL Division Series, a 1-0 Mariners loss in 18 innings to the Astros that ended their season. Kirby started that contest, too, throwing seven scoreless innings. Hernández was also in the building for the first time since his final start in 2019, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

“I love it,” Kirby said of pitching in big games. “It fires me up.”

Kirby said that he hadn’t conferred with Hernández this weekend, but he recalled meeting him shortly after he was drafted in 2019. Kirby had just reported to Short-Season Everett, and Hernández, recovering from a shoulder injury in his final season, made two appearances there on a rehab assignment.

“It was just really cool seeing him use his changeup and just look making those Short-Season hitters look like idiots,” Kirby said. “It was really fun to watch. I'm glad I was back there for that game.”

As for that lack of run support, the Mariners had their chances on Saturday, with the leadoff man reaching in the third and seventh innings. They also stranded runners on second and third base in the sixth after France walked and Cal Raleigh doubled, but Teoscar Hernández lined out.

Then in the ninth, Cade Marlowe nearly started a rally by stealing second base after singling, but upon a Baltimore challenge, replay review showed that he ever-so-slightly came off the bag while being tagged.

Overall, Seattle went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, stranded nine runners and for the third time finished nine innings with a 0-0 score, tied with Toronto for the MLB lead.