Mariners Game #99 Preview: HOU at SEA, 7/19/24

Move over Christmas in July, now we have playoffs in July

Tonight the Mariners open the second half of their season with the most important series to date, hosting the division rival Astros, who are positioned to take over first in the AL West with a strong showing at T-Mobile Park. The Mariners slid into the break with a disappointing last month ending with a disastrous series against the Angels; meanwhile, the Astros have reloaded their pitching and have been playing the best baseball in the league over the past month. They come into T-Mobile Park with all the momentum, and it’s not overselling it to say this is the playoffs, round one, if the Mariners aim to keep any hope alive of their own run at the playoffs and not let the Astros run away with the division.

Lineups:

Victor Robles remains in the lineup in place of Canzone, with Jonatan Clase and Ryan Bliss available off the bench, along with Dylan Moore, who gets yet another off-day in favor of Jorge Polanco, who was hitting much better on the past road trip.

The last time Hunter Brown faced the Mariners, he struck out nine hitters, mostly by flipping his pitch mix away from his normal fastball-heavy approach, instead throwing sliders and changeups over half the time. Those pitches aren’t as polished as his fastball and the sinker, which is newer but has given him even more depth to his repertoire, but Brown seemed plenty confident in the pitches when he was throwing tons of off-speed against the Mariners and striking them out last time. In order to change their fortunes against Brown, the Mariners hitters need to keep honest and not expand the zone, and force him to put his hittable pitches on the plate.

The Astros remain without Kyle Tucker, instead using an outfield mix of rookie Joey Loperfido, Trey Cabbage, and Jake Meyers.

News:

• LHP Gabe Speier completed two rehab outings in the Arizona Complex League and rather than send him to a full-season affiliate for more work, the Mariners opted to reinstate him today. In order to make space for Speier, the Mariners DFA’d Mike Baumann. Hopefully Baumann will clear waivers and remain with the organization, because his stuff is tantalizing, but the command has to be refined before he’s a usable option out of the ‘pen.
• OF Dominic Canzone is with the team and rehabbing but not ready yet to be sent on a rehab assignment; he’s still a couple of weeks out from that.

Today’s game information:

Game time: 7:10 PT

Television: ROOT Sports NW, with Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Dave Sims and Gary Hill Jr.

Since the team was on the road for July 15, the actual date of the inaugural game played at T-Mobile Park (née Safeco Field), the organization will honor the 25th anniversary of T-Mobile Park tonight with a special fireworks display.

Today in Mariners history:

• 1994: Four Kingdome ceiling tiles fall prior to game vs. Baltimore, causing the first game postponement in Kingdome history.
• 1998: Alex Rodriguez hits home run #30 on the year and becomes the third shortstop in history to have two or more seasons with at least 30 home runs.
• 2013: Astros CF Brandon Barnes hits for the cycle, but the Mariners win against the Astros anyway, 10-7. Brad Miller went 3-for-5 with the first two home runs of his MLB career, and drove in a career-high five runs.
• 2016: Edwin Díaz records his 39^th strikeout, the most in Major League history (since 1913) in a reliever’s first 20.0 career innings or fewer. Diaz had thrown 39 strikeouts over 19.2 innings pitched in his first 19 career appearances.