George Kirby Rewrites the History Books as Mariners Beat D'Backs on Saturday

The Seattle Mariners topped the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night to win their third straight game. In the victory, M's starter George Kirby dominated, making history on multiple fronts.

Apr 27, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby (68) / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle Mariners' starter George Kirby dominated on Saturday night as the M's beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-1, at T-Mobile Park.

Kirby, who had a slow start to the year, was steadily throwing 97-98 MPH and featured an excellent breaking ball in the win. He went 7.0 innings in all, allowing just two hits and one walk. He struck out 12 and is now 3-2 with a 4.18 ERA this year.

Furthermore, his performance re-wrote the record books in multiple ways.

First, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

most swings & misses on 4-seamers, single game MLB-wide since start of 2023:

6/9/23 Luis Castillo: 20
Today George Kirby: 18
6/30/23 Bryce Miller: 18

most swings & misses on 4-seamers, single game MLB-wide since start of 2023:

6/9/23 Luis Castillo: 20
Today George Kirby: 18
6/30/23 Bryce Miller: 18 https://t.co/0HPnuiFJd4

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 28, 2024

What's insane about that is that that is a baseball-wide stat, yet all three pitchers on that list are Mariners.

Then there's this, also from Langs:

most strikeouts with 2 or fewer hits and no runs allowed, Mariners history:

6/8/97 Randy Johnson: 15
5/16/93 Randy Johnson: 14
Today George Kirby: 12
8/8/23 Logan Gilbert: 12
8/15/12 Félix Hernández: 12 (perfecto!)
8/14/91 Randy Johnson: 12

most strikeouts with 2 or fewer hits and no runs allowed, Mariners history:

6/8/97 Randy Johnson: 15
5/16/93 Randy Johnson: 14
Today George Kirby: 12
8/8/23 Logan Gilbert: 12
8/15/12 Félix Hernández: 12 (perfecto!)
8/14/91 Randy Johnson: 12 https://t.co/TvQACLfTcS

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 28, 2024

Any time you can join Johnson (a Hall of Famer) and Hernandez (a team Hall of Famer), you've done something right.

And then there's this piece of historic information, which revolves around the entire M's starting staff, per @OPTAStats:

The @Mariners have now had their starter notch 4+ strikeouts while allowing 2 or fewer ER in each of the last 15 games.

That's the longest streak by any MLB team's starters since ER became an official stat in both leagues in 1913 (no other team has had a streak longer than 12).

The @Mariners have now had their starter notch 4+ strikeouts while allowing 2 or fewer ER in each of the last 15 games.

That's the longest streak by any MLB team's starters since ER became an official stat in both leagues in 1913 (no other team has had a streak longer than 12). pic.twitter.com/nX4Up3Y8wn

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 28, 2024

After starting out 4-8 this year, the M's have ridden that good pitching to a 15-12 record. They are currently in first place in the American League West by 1.5 games.

Seattle sends Gilbert to the mound on Sunday against the Diamondbacks for the series finale.

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