– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — The first step of the Seattle Mariners’ aggressive posturing at the trade deadline three weeks ago has officially been completed: at the end of tonight’s action, they’re officially in first place. Now the second phase begins, where Seattle maintains their place at the top and ends the season as not only a playoff team nor only a division winner, but a serious World Series contender.
As long as they continue to get the pitching that they did tonight, the Mariners are looking good to do just that.
George Kirby went seven shutout innings, his fourth consecutive quality start, and came out on top in a pitcher’s duel that the Mariners won 1-0 over the Baltimore Orioles inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday evening. One of Seattle’s acquisitions near the trade deadline, Josh Naylor, drove in the only run of the game with a two-out RBI single in the first inning that turned out to be the only run of the game.
Closer Andrés Muñoz allowed a walk and a single in the ninth, but stranded the tying and winning runs on base by getting Ryan Mountcastle to ground out to short to end the game.
The win, plus Houston’s loss at home against the Boston Red Sox, pulls the Mariners into a first-place tie with the Astros, the first time Seattle has held a share of first place in the division since June 2.
In this stretch of dominant form on the mound, Kirby’s performance tonight was probably his best, striking out seven with allowing just three hits while not walking a batter. He matched Orioles counterpart Dean Kremer, who silenced the Mariners to the tune of eight innings while allowing just five hits and striking out six yet picked up one of the toughest of tough-luck losses in the league this season.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with photos taken by staff photographer Timothy Rice. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 30 pictures in total.
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