Mariners Game #89: 7/4/24, BAL at SEA

The Mariners try to avoid their first sweep of the season, but it won’t be easy

The Mariners are on an incredibly tough stretch of baseball right now, but somehow have avoided being swept all season. That streak is in danger today, though, with the Mariners down 0-2 in this series against Baltimore, and Bryce Miller—who got absolutely lit up by the Orioles last time out—on the hill against Baltimore’s ace, Corbin Burnes. If you want to skip out on this one and enjoy the Fourth with family or friends, by all means do so; we’ll have the recap for you here post-game, as always.

Lineups:

Mitch Garver returns to the lineup and bats in the two-hole.

You sure about that, admin?

News:

Some good news on the Mariners injury front: RHP Bryan Woo came out of his last bullpen feeling good, and will make a rehab start up in Everett this weekend. RHP Gregory Santos will also be in Everett to make an appearance, so if you’ve been meaning to get to an AquaSox game, now might be the time. Also, LHP Gabe Speier is on track in his recovery and is scheduled to throw a live bullpen in the coming days.

The Mariners also announced they claimed OF Duke Ellis off waivers from the Mets and optioned him to Triple-A Tacoma. While technically coming from the Mets, the 26-year-old Ellis is a product of the White Sox, having been signed by Chicago as an undrafted free agent in the 2020 pandemic-shortened draft. A light-hitting outfielder, Ellis’s plus tool is speed; he swiped 34 bases in Double-A this season before being promoted to Triple-A and given a brief cup of coffee with the White Sox before being DFA’d to make room for former Mariner Matt Festa. Similar to fellow speedster Jonatan Clase, here’s the kind of havoc Ellis can wreak on the bases:

Today’s game info:

Game time: 1:10 PT

TV: ROOT Sports NW, with Dave Sims and Mike Blowers

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith

Today in Mariners history:

The game notes were wrong yesterday so these are the same as yesterday. We regret the error and assure you the guilty parties have been thoroughly punished.

• 1985: Mike Moore tossed a complete game, allowing only four hits, as the Mariners defeated the Brewers 7-1. Forty years later, I would struggle to remember that Mike Moore is the Mariner, Matt Moore is the Angel.
• 1991: Jay Buhner has the first two-homer game of his career as the Mariners squeak past the White Sox, 3-2.
• 2010: Ichiro and Cliff Lee are elected to the All Star team. It is Ichiro’s 10th selection, and Lee’s 2nd.
• 2022: This Julio homer:

Julio also stole a base in this game, becoming the fastest player in MLB history to reach 15+ steals and 20+ stolen bases, reaching the milestone in just 81 career games.

• 2023: Logan Gilbert’s complete game shutout against the Giants. Also, Mike Ford finishes a triple shy of the cycle as the Mariners win 6-0 over San Francisco.