For the past couple of decades, the Seattle Mariners have had few reasons to check the out-of-town scoreboard at this point in the season.

After all, they hadn’t been in first place in the American League West this late in a campaign since 2003.

Until now, that is.

The Mariners, who have won nine of their past 10 games, are tied with the Texas Rangers for the division lead. Seattle will look to continue its surge in a Saturday afternoon game against the visiting Kansas City Royals.

J.P. Crawford hit the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning for a home run, Eugenio Suarez had three hits and three RBIs, and Andres Munoz escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth as the Mariners beat the Royals 7-5 Friday.

“We look at (the standings) all the time, or at least I do,” Crawford said. “There’s a lot at stake right now. All these games matter, and if there’s a chance to see a score or something, yeah, I’m looking at it. …

“That’s the goal at the beginning of the season — try to win the division and go for the World Series, and we’re in a good spot. If we just keep playing the way we are and everyone has each other’s backs, we’re going to be in a good spot.”

The Mariners were 10 games out of first place on July 19 before going on a 25-8 run.

“It’s a credit to our players, the staff and the organization,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We got off to a rough start this year with really high expectations.”

The Royals, meanwhile, are headed in the opposite direction, having lost eight of their past 10 games.

Kansas City’s Kyle Isbel, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs Friday while making a couple of strong plays in center field.

“He swung the bat great,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He had a great night offensively and defensively.”

The Saturday matinee is scheduled to feature a pair of right-handers — Kansas City’s Jordan Lyles (3-14, 6.20 ERA) and Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (11-5, 3.77).

Lyles took a 4-3 loss Sunday against the host Chicago Cubs despite pitching an eight-inning complete game. He allowed four runs on five hits.

Lyles is 2-5 with a 6.36 ERA in 13 career appearances against Seattle, including 11 starts. He didn’t get a decision in a 10-8, 10-inning loss to the Mariners on Aug. 15 in Kansas City. Lyles went five innings in that game and allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits, with Seattle launching four home runs off him.

Gilbert defeated the Houston Astros 10-3 last Saturday, when he went six innings and gave up two runs on eight hits.

Gilbert is 1-0 with a 6.64 ERA in four career starts against the Royals. He didn’t get a decision in Seattle’s 7-6 loss Aug. 14 at Kansas City. He was knocked out after 4 1/3 innings, having allowed four runs on seven hits.

–Field Level Media

The revival of the Washington Nationals continues.

Washington, which was in last place in the National League East most of the season, is suddenly hot, going 15-7 in August.

The Nationals beat the host Miami Marlins 7-4 in the opener of a three-game series on Friday. With a win either Saturday or Sunday, the Nationals would seal their fifth straight series win.

“They play hard,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of the Nationals, who have 10 wins in their past 13 games. “They play the game the right way. They have a good manager (Dave Martinez), and their (young players) are becoming very good major-leaguers.”

The Marlins, who are 2-7 in their past nine games, will try to turn things around on Saturday afternoon when they start Eury Perez (5-4, 2.91 ERA) in a battle of rookie right-handers. Washington will start Jake Irvin (3-5, 4.47).

Miami is 6-8 when starting Perez, who was at his best in his most recent start, pitching six scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 19. He struck out a career-high 10, walked none and allowed just two hits en route his fifth quality start of the season.

However, he didn’t get much run support, and the Dodgers rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to earn a 3-1 win.

Perez has faced the Nationals just once, beating them 5-3 on May 18. He allowed just one run on three hits in five innings, with one walk and six strikeouts.

Washington is 9-10 when starting Irvin, who has made two back-to-back quality starts, allowing just two runs in his past 12 2/3 innings. For the season, he has made six quality starts.

Irvin has faced Miami just once, taking a no-decision on June 17 in a 5-2 Marlins victory. In that game, Irvin gave up one run on four hits and two walks in five innings. He fanned four.

Irvin will attempt to emulate the outing produced by Washington’s Joan Adon on Friday. Adon fired six scoreless innings, holding the Marlins without a hit for the first 5 2/3. He gave up two hits total.

Schumaker lamented postgame, “We haven’t done a good job lately of getting to the starting pitcher. We have to figure out how to attack starters. It’s not for a lack of trying or urgency or game-planning. We just have to execute. That’s the mission.”

The Nationals, though, have had no such problems lately. On Friday, they jumped on top in the first inning, and they wound up getting a two-run homer from Carter Kieboom in the sixth and three RBIs from Joey Meneses.

Kieboom, a Nationals first-round pick in 2016, was called up from the minor leagues this week for his first major league duty since 2021. He missed last season following Tommy John surgery.

In three games since his promotion, he has two home runs.

Things are going so well for the Nationals that they don’t seem to miss the play of Stone Garrett, the Marlins’ eighth-round pick in 2014.

Garrett broke his left leg on Wednesday while trying to catch a ball at the right-field wall.

“When he went down, my heart dropped,” Martinez said of Garrett, who hit .378 in his last 11 games before landing on the injured list. “We wish him a fast recovery.”

Martinez, meanwhile, is pleased with his 1-2 catcher combo of Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams. On Friday, Adams caught while Ruiz served as the designated hitter, and they went a combined 3-for-9.

“Catcher is a tough position to play six or seven times a week,” Martinez said. “Being able to have two young guys to do the job allows us to keep them both fresh.”

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to continue their hot August when they play the middle contest of a three-game road series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon.

Los Angeles is 20-3 this month after registering a come-from-behind, 7-4 win Friday in the series opener.

While Freddie Freeman had four hits and three runs, the return of Mookie Betts for his first-ever road game in Boston was the major story. The former Red Sox star doubled and scored twice.

“I had the time of my life playing here. I think a lot of people do,” said Betts, who was traded to the Dodgers in February 2020 after winning a World Series and an American League MVP trophy with the Red Sox in 2018. “I knew every day you put the uniform on, you’ve got to play well, no matter what. Or the fans, the people, will let you know. … That’s why I enjoyed it.”

Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias (11-6, 4.15 ERA) will aim for his fifth consecutive win when he takes the ball on Saturday. He is 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA in five starts since his last loss, on July 19 at Baltimore.

Urias, the reigning National League ERA champion, has pitched seven innings in back-to-back outings, matching his career high. Last Saturday against the Miami Marlins, he yielded one run on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

The southpaw’s hot streak also includes a 12-strikeout performance against the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 13.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “You can really finish strong and make it a great year. There’s still plenty of baseball left.”

Urias has made just one career regular-season appearance against Boston, pitching two perfect innings of relief on July 13, 2019. He also pitched three times out of the bullpen against the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series, giving up one run in three innings.

The Red Sox had won five of their past seven games before falling on Friday, a stretch that featured a 17-1 win at Houston in which they set season-high marks for runs and hits (24).

On Friday, Alex Verdugo and Trevor Story homered to help Boston’s 14-hit attack, but it wasn’t enough.

“Obviously, there for like a month and a half, we struggled in the power department,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “But lately some of the big boys are finding their stroke and hitting the ball in the air and out of the ballpark.”

For Story, it was his first homer of the season in his 14th game. He missed the first 112 games while recovering from right elbow surgery.

“I feel like we’re at the point where we’re playing a lot of really good teams,” he said. “We’re going to find out who we are and if we’re going to be in the postseason.”

Boston southpaw James Paxton (7-4, 3.79 ERA) will make the start on Saturday. He has pitched at least five innings in 13 of his 17 starts this year, but he took a loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits across four frames on Monday against the Astros.

Paxton has been excellent at home this season, pitching to a 2.58 ERA in 38 1/3 innings. In two career starts against the Dodgers, HE is 1-0 with a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings.

–Field Level Media