Mariners game notes — May 28 vs. Houston | by Mariners PR | May 2024

AS YOU MAY KNOW…Julio Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with 2 stolen bases in last night’s win… Julio went 3-for-5 with a home run, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases in his previous game on May 26 at Washington, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that J-Rod is the first Mariners player with 2+ stolen bases in consecutive games since Ichiro Suzuki on September 8-9, 2011?…Julio is the 6th Mariners player overall to accomplish this feat, joining Ichiro (5x ), Julio Cruz (3x), Vince Coleman, Rickey Henderson and Harold Reynolds… no Mariners player has ever recorded multiple stolen bases in 3 consecutive games.

Tonight’s tilt…the Mariners continue their 7-game homestand with the 2nd of 4 games against the Houston Astros (1-0)…Seattle just completed a 10-game road trip (4-6) at Baltimore (1-2) , New York -AL (2-2) and Washington (1-2)… on the current field, Seattle will also host Los Angeles-AL (3 G, 5/31-6/2) at T-Mobile Park for the first times clubs. match of 2024… tonight’s match will be broadcast live on ROOTS SPORTS with Dave Sims and member of the Mariners Hall of Fame Dan Wilson on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (7:10 a.m.) with Rick Rizes And Aaron Goldsmith.

BUTTS…the Mariners beat the Astros by a score of 3-2 in the series opener last night…Seattle has won back-to-back games…Seattle is 16-10 at home and 13-16 on the road… Seattle is 23-3 (.885) when scoring more than 4 runs this season and 25-11 (.694) when its starting pitcher goes more than 6.0 innings.

• Against Houston — The Mariners are 12-5 (.706) against Houston since the start of 2023… Seattle has the 2nd best record against Houston over this period (min. 10 G), behind the Yankees (.786/11-3 ) .
• Close it — Seattle is 22-0 when leading after 7 innings (23-0 after 8 innings) this season.
• Feats of strength — The Mariners played the 2nd “toughest” schedule in the Majors according to Baseball-ReferenceThe measure of Seattle’s “strength of schedule”…Seattle is behind only the Chicago White Sox.
• Good series — Seattle enters the current series against Houston with a record of 8-3-1 in its last 12 series and a record of 5-0 in its last 5 home series.
• Type them — The Mariners are 22-3 (.880) when beating their opponents this season.

FIRST PLACE… Seattle (29-26) holds 1st place in the American League West Division, 3.5 games ahead of 2nd place Texas (25-29) and 4.5 games ahead of 3rd place Houston (24-30)… the Mariners have held 1st place for a season-high 16 consecutive days (5/12-c) and 27 of the last 33 days (4/25-c).

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME…the Mariners are 16-10 (.615) at T-Mobile Park this season, the 5th-best home record in the American League and tied for 8th-best in the Majors…as of April 15, Seattle has a 12-4 record (.750). ) at home, 2nd best home record in the AL and 3rd best in MLB during that span, behind the Phillies (.900/18-2) and Guardians (.833/15-3), while ahead of the Yankees. (.700/14-6), Orioles (.684/13-6) and Royals (.684/13-6)… the Mariners have won every home series during this stretch (Series record 5- 0), with a record of 3- 0 against the Reds (4/15-4/17), 2-1 against the Diamondbacks (4/26-4/28), 2-1 against the Braves (4/29- 5/1), 2 –1 against the Athletics (5/10-5/12) and 2-1 against the Royals (5/13-5/15).

PLEASURE IN ONE TIME…the Mariners are 10-4 (.714) in 1-run games this season, the Majors’ best record in 1-run contests, ranking ahead of the Rays (.692/9-4) and the Twins (.692/ 9-4)… since Scott Serviais took over as manager of the Mariners (2016-c), Seattle has by far the most 1-run wins (224) in MLB, ranking ahead of 2nd-ranked San Francisco (208)… Winning percentage of Seattle by 0.567 (224-171). ) in 1-run games during that span is tied for first in the Majors with Milwaukee (206-157).

ANDRÉS MUÑOZ: THE BINDER OF THE MONTH?…during appearances on May 10, right-handed Andrés Munoz is 1-0 with 6 saves and a 0.79 ERA (1 ER, 11.1 IP) with 1 walk and 16 strikeouts… Muñoz has been one of the best relievers in baseball in 2024…in 22 appearances, he has gone 11 of 12 in save opportunities with 3 strikes and a 1.54 ERA (4 ER, 23.1 IP) with 8 walks on walks and 32 strikeouts… he locked down his 11th save of the year in last night’s win, pitching a 1–2–3 inning with two strikeouts… the 25-year-old is l One of 5 MLB pitchers (min. 15.0 IP) with an ERA below 2.00, 12.0+ strikeouts per 9 innings and a 4.0+ SO/BB ratio, along with Mason Miller-OAK, Cade Smith-CLE, Matt Strahm-PHI and Jeremiah Estrada-SD.

CAL THE TWO-WAY STAR…Cal Raleigh has 11 home runs this season, tied with Shea Langeliers-OAK for most among Major League catchers… Cal has 9 caught steals behind the plate, tied with Elias Diaz-COL for most in the Majors… Cal led MLB in both home runs (30) and CCS (24) in 2023, becoming the first player to lead MLB catchers in both categories in the same season since Mike Piazza for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1993 .

CAL IN ELITE COMPANY…Cal Raleigh has 70 career home runs (2021-c), making him one of 9 catchers in MLB history with 70+ home runs in his first 4 MLB seasons, although he has not only participated in 47 games during his rookie campaign (2021) and 49 games so far this season… the other 8 receivers are Mike Piazza (92 HR), Rudy York (88), Johnny Bench (87), Earl Williams (83), Will Smith (72), Gary Sánchez (71), Carlos Santana (71) and Brian McCann (70).

BEAUTIFUL NIGHT AT THE BALLPARK…infielder Ryan Happiness made his Major League debut last night, starting at second base and batting 8th… Bliss went 0-for-2 with one walk in 3 plate appearances… the 24-year-old was selected yesterday from the Triple -At Tacoma, where he led the Pacific Coast League in stolen bases (28) this season…infielder Jorge Polanco was placed on the 10-day injured list (right hamstring strain), while infielder/flyer Sam Haggerty was recalled and placed on 60 day IL (torn right Achilles).

QUALITY PRODUCTS…the Mariners starting rotation has 32 quality starts this season…the 32 outings of 6.0+ innings and 3 earned runs or fewer by Seattle starters lead the Majors…Logan Gilbert (9 QS) is tied for the most in Majors… Gilbert (9), Luis Castillo (7), Bryce Miller (6) and George Kirby (5) and the Yankees (Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman) are the only clubs to have 4 pitchers making 5+ QS this season.

RALEY “NUKE”…Luc Raley hitting .323 (21×65) with 13 runs, 2 doubles, 4 homers, 9 RBIs, 3 walks and 2 stolen bases, getting on base at a .371 clip, hitting .539 with a .910 OPS during games on May 21…the outfielder/first baseman recorded a career-high 8 game hitting streak from May 13-21, hitting .424 (14×33) during the streak… in 20 games at T-Mobile Park this season, Raley is hitting .314 (16×51). ) with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 9 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.

ON THE HOUSE…the Mariners are at home for a 7-game homestand through June 2 against the Houston Astros (5/27-5/30) and Los Angeles Angels (5/31-6/2)… home game is highlighted by the AANHPI Heritage Night and Bark at the Park on May 29, country music fireworks night on May 31, Pride Day on June 1 and Mariners Value Games on May 28 and 30 with tickets only $10.