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George Kirby outlasts Paul Skenes, Mariners post third straight shutout of Pirates

Adam Jude, The Seattle Times on

Published in Baseball

SEATTLE — In a pitching matchup that lived up to the hype, George Kirby outlasted Paul Skenes to combine on the Mariners’ third consecutive shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 1-0 victory Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

It’s the first time in franchise history the Mariners have posted three straight shutouts.

Randy Arozarena hit another home run — his sixth in seven days to conclude the homestand — off Pirates reliever Carmen Mlodzinski for the game’s only run in the sixth inning.

Skenes narrowly escaped a first-inning jam when center fielder Oneil Cruz threw out J.P. Crawford at the plate. The Pirates’ 23-year-old pitching phenom was nearly untouchable after that, finishing with five shutout innings, with five hits allowed, no walks and 10 strikeouts.

Kirby was even better.

The Mariners’ 27-year-old right-hander pitched into the seventh inning for just the second time this season, scattering four hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings.

Kirby struck out nine with no walks, and left to a standing ovation from much of the crowd of 35,174 after manager Dan Wilson made a call to the bullpen with one out in the seventh.

Mariners pitchers have not allowed a run in 29 straight innings.

After missing the first two months of the season because of shoulder inflammation, Kirby has settled in nicely.

He has allowed just two runs in his past three starts, with a 17-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his last 18 1/3 innings.

And in seven starts since June 3, Kirby has a 2.68 ERA, with 42 strikeouts and six walks over 40 1/3 innings.

Carlos Vargas relieved Kirby and recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning.

 

After Vargas allowed a leadoff single in the eighth, Gabe Speier came in and struck out all three batters he faced.

Andrés Muñoz picked up his 21st save on the same day he was named to his second AL All-Star team.

The Mariners looked like they were going to take an early lead off Skenes in the first inning.

Crawford lined Skenes’ first pitch up the middle for a single and advanced to second when Skenes hit Cal Raleigh in the back foot with a first-pitch slider.

Jorge Polanco followed with a line-drive single over the shortstop’s head. Crawford waited momentarily to make sure the line drive would drop in the outfield, then turned the corner at third and headed home for what initially looked like a sure run.

Instead, Cruz fired a missile home right on target to catcher Henry Davis.

Crawford failed to slide on the play — and Arozarena, the on-deck hitter, did not signal to Crawford to slide — and Davis applied the tag on runner’s leg just before Crawford touched the plate.

The out call was upheld after the umpires’ review.

Dominic Canzone was 3 for 3. He had two singles off Skenes, the first hitter to record multiple hits off Skenes since May 28.

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©2025 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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