Hancock (7 K's) delivers much-needed quality start in place of Kirby

BOSTON -- A 2023 All-Star with a career 3.43 ERA who helped lead the Mariners’ rotation to be one of baseball’s best in ‘24.

George Kirby left big shoes to fill when he was sidelined by right shoulder inflammation and placed on the injured list to start this season.

After a rocky try-on, Emerson Hancock has settled into those shoes rather nicely in his past two outings, with his latest start a strong contender for the best in his young career.

Hancock built off a decent last outing vs. Cincinnati with a dominant night at hitter-friendly Fenway Park, holding Boston to two runs and notching a career-high seven strikeouts in an 8-5 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday. Perhaps most significant for Seattle, Hancock went six innings to give a heavily taxed Mariners bullpen some much-needed rest.

“Haven’t been able to get our starters really deep into games and would love to see that from Emerson today,” manager Dan Wilson said pregame. “Good sinker, good changeup. Hopefully can stay under some bats, get some ground balls.”

Hancock nearly followed his manager’s words to a tee, generating four whiffs on his sinker (31 pitches) and changeup (18) and retiring the side in the sixth on three straight groundouts.

“He was attacking the zone with the fastball and [the] breaking ball was really getting ahead early in the count,” said Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas, who crushed a three-run homer in the eighth. “It made it tough for us to [get] into an at-bat trying to be aggressive, because he was throwing the ball in the corner so well.”

Two of Hancock’s strikeouts came against Boston slugger Rafael Devers, including one on an eight-pitch at-bat to strand the speedy Jarren Duran at second in the third inning.

“Tremendous hitter, I’ve got tremendous respect for him,” Hancock said. “In that situation, you’re just trying to make the best pitch possible. And when you get a chance to execute one, you’ve got to do it and we were able to do that in there.”

Over his past two starts, Hancock has begun rewriting a script that had a rough beginning. The 25-year-old recorded just two outs, giving up six earned runs on seven hits, including a homer, in his first big league start of the season. The short debut landed Hancock back in Triple-A Tacoma, where he recorded a 3.72 ERA with 12 strikeouts over two starts before he was recalled on April 17.

“Coming out of Spring Training … he had a lot of confidence going, ran into that tough first start, but when he came back the last time and pitched in Cincinnati, he looked very good and was back to that confidence,” Wilson said on Tuesday. “He continues to learn as he goes, there’s a great group around him that has a lot to offer and he keeps getting better and better and more confident as he goes.”

As Kirby prepares to take the next step in his rehab by facing live hitting at T-Mobile Park, it’s no secret that Hancock’s time in the rotation could soon be coming to an end -- though the Mariners have been cautious not to put a hard timeline on Kirby’s return.

In the meantime, Hancock’s confidence and preparedness has translated onto the mound over his last 11 innings, which has put the Mariners in good hands.

“I think the biggest thing is just trusting it,” Hancock said. “Trusting the work and the preparation that you put in. We got a really good team, I’ve got some great guys behind me, so my job is to go out there and fill up the strike zone, let those guys play behind me and get them back to the plate as quick as possible.”

Hancock’s efforts to get his guys back to the plate paid dividends, as the Mariners recorded at least 10 hits for the eighth time this season. While Seattle’s pitching has fallen short of the standard they were projected to set at the outset of the season, its offense has done its part to make up the difference. That continued on Wednesday, in large part courtesy of the bottom of the order.

Having watched seven of his teammates combine for 14 home runs over the Mariners’ past seven games, J.P. Crawford sparked the offense with a three-run homer off Boston starter Sean Newcomb in the fourth. Nos. 7-9 hitters Ben Williamson, Leo Rivas and Crawford went a combined 7-for-12 with five RBIs and four runs.