After missing the first couple of months of the season with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, Seattle right-hander George Kirby appears to be rounding into top form.
He’ll need to be there, considering the pitchers who are penciled in to oppose him in his final two starts before the All-Star break.
First, Kirby (2-4, 4.85 ERA) is set to go against Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes (4-7, 2.03), the National League’s reigning Rookie of the Year, on Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
And if all goes to plan, Kirby will face 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on Saturday in Detroit.
“I don’t care who throws with me,” Kirby told The Seattle Times before the Mariners’ 1-0 victory over the Pirates on Saturday. “I can’t control that stuff, so I am just going to go out, limit the runs, and give six or seven innings and do my thing.”
Following a rocky first few starts after coming off the injured list, Kirby struck out a career-high 14 batters June 8 in a victory against the Los Angeles Angels. In each of his past two starts, Kirby has gone six innings, allowing one run on three hits.
“Last two have been good,” said Kirby, who is 1-1 with a 7.59 ERA in two career starts against the Pirates.
“I just want to be able to keep stacking these starts because I know what I’m capable of,” he added. “I just want to be able to go out and get a quality start every time, six or seven innings. … That’s what I want to do, that and just keep getting swings and misses. I want to get strikeouts and put guys away quicker. If I do that, I know it’s going to be a good game.”
Skenes is in line to start his second consecutive All-Star Game for the NL. He leads the league in ERA and batting average against (.182), is second in WHIP (0.92) and innings pitched (111), is tied for fourth with 12 quality starts, and is tied for sixth with 115 strikeouts. The Pirates have just nine runs in is seven starts.
The full All-Star rosters will be announced Sunday afternoon. The game will be July 15 in Atlanta.
“I’d love to (start). I haven’t really paid attention to who else could be,” Skenes told TribLive. “My goal is that I want to throw in the All-Star Game. I have a pretty good feeling that I’ll be there. If I’m going, I want to throw in it. (The Los Angeles Dodgers’) Dave Roberts is the manager this year, so it’s his decision. It’s out of my control. I’ve just got to pitch well.”
On Sunday, Skenes will pitch at T-Mobile Park for the first time, though he’s faced the Mariners once before. He beat them 5-3 last Aug. 16 in Pittsburgh despite allowing a home run to Luke Raley. Skenes went six innings and gave up two runs on three hits, with four walks and six strikeouts.
The Pirates brought a six-game winning streak to Seattle but have been blanked in the past two games. Those came after Pittsburgh shut out the St. Louis Cardinals in all three games of a series at home.
On Saturday, the Pirates managed just two hits against Seattle starter Luis Castillo over seven innings, both by leadoff hitter Spencer Horwitz.
“Castillo threw the ball really well,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “When you see the two-seamer, the four-seamer (and) he’s able to mix it up and throw his off-speed in there, veteran guy that kept us off-balance, and he utilized his two fastballs really well against us.”
–Field Level Media
