The Seattle Mariners will conclude their nine-game road trip on Sunday when they send ace George Kirby to the mound in the rubber match of their three-game series against the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves posted a 6-2 victory in the series opener on Friday before the Mariners evened the set with a 7-3 win on Saturday. Seattle is 4-4 on its trip.

Kirby (5-2, 2.45 ERA) will face Atlanta left-hander Jared Shuster (0-2, 7.24) in the finale.

Kirby will make his ninth start of the season and brings a three-game winning streak into the contest. The right-hander has pitched six-plus innings in his last seven outings. His four total walks are the fewest in baseball among pitchers with at least eight starts. His 10.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks third in the majors among starters.

“George is truly a special talent,” Seattle catcher Tom Murphy said.

In his last start on Monday at Boston, Kirby pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts in a 10-1 Seattle win.

Kirby has made one career start against the Braves. He recorded the win last season after working six innings and allowing only one unearned run on three hits with six strikeouts.

Seattle manager Scott Servais said, “He’s smothering them. That’s the way I like to term it.”

Shuster, ranked as Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect, was the team’s first-round draft pick in 2020 and has been ushered into the rotation with Max Fried and Kyle Wright on the injured list.

Shuster will make his fourth career start. In his last outing on Tuesday at Texas, the rookie pitched five innings and allowed three runs and three hits with two walks and three strikeouts. All three runs came in the fourth inning after he opened the game by retiring the first eight batters.

“Just came undone there in that one inning,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “But overall, it was a lot better. If you would have told me we’re going to get five innings out of him, I would have said that’ll be great.”

This will be Shuster’s first appearance against Seattle.

Seattle’s J.P. Crawford continues to produce at the plate. He was 2-for-4 on Saturday and extended his on-base streak to 16 games. He has 16 hits and 10 walks over 69 plate appearances during the streak, and his 27 walks is best on the team.

Neither team has crushed the ball during the series. Atlanta has two homers from Matt Olson, and Seattle has only one from Eugenio Suarez. That should not be surprising: Seattle has allowed the fewest homers in the majors (32) and Atlanta has allowed the second-fewest (38).

Atlanta continues to score in the first inning. The Braves got two runs in the opening frame on Saturday.

Ronald Acuna Jr. is hitting .512 (21-for-41) with a 1.385 OPS in 45 first-inning plate appearances this year.

–Field Level Media

The Washington Nationals look to win just their second home series of the season when they face the Detroit Tigers in a rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday.

Washington’s lone series win at Nationals Park was when it took three of four games against the Chicago Cubs from May 1-4.

At 9-15, Washington has the worst home record in the National League.

The Nationals, who ended a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win on Saturday after dropping the series opener 8-6 on Friday, will turn to their ace in Sunday’s series finale.

Right-hander Josiah Gray (3-5, 2.73 ERA) held the Miami Marlins to two runs (one earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks in a 5-4 loss in his last start this past Tuesday.

Gray has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of his past eight starts.

After giving up three homers in his first start of the season on April 1, he’s only given up two in his past eight starts combined.

“He’s thrown the ball really well, (and) he’s got an unbelievable game plan and routine,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of Gray, who will be making his first career appearance against the Tigers. “He wants to battle. He wants to pitch deep into games.

“I think he’s learned in these high-leverage situations to control the heartbeat and get through it.”

On Saturday, the Nationals trailed 2-1 before taking the lead for good in the fifth on Lane Thomas’ two-out, two-run single to left. The Nationals extended their advantage to 4-2 in the sixth on Keibert Ruiz’s run-scoring single. Jeimer Candelario, who hit a solo homer in the fourth, capped the scoring in the eighth with a double that scored Thomas, who hit a leadoff double.

“Those guys are good hitters, too, professional hitters,” said Detroit starter Alex Faedo, who allowed three runs on five hits and no walks in five innings on Saturday. “They took advantage of a couple mistakes and also hit a couple of decent pitches. Tip the cap to them.”

Candelario is hitting .522 (12-for-23) with four doubles, a triple, two homers, five RBIs and five runs in his past six games.

“The biggest thing is getting out of his mind about trying to hit home runs every at-bat,” Martinez said of Candelario. “Just stay on the ball. He’s got enough power that when he hits the ball and gets it in the air, he’ll hit home runs. … That’s who he is.”

Thomas, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs on Saturday, has reached base in 17 straight games, hitting .348 during that span.

The Tigers will counter with left-hander Joey Wentz (1-3, 6.38), who yielded three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and a walk in just 2 2/3 innings of a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners last Sunday.

“I didn’t contribute to the win,” said Wentz, who will be making his first career appearance against the Nationals on Sunday. “But nonetheless, great job by the guys.”

–Field Level Media

The Pittsburgh Pirates and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks will both be looking to pick up a series victory when they play the rubber match of their three-game set on Sunday afternoon.

Pittsburgh got to Arizona’s ace, Zac Gallen, on Friday in a commanding 13-3 win.

“I felt OK,” Gallen said. “I wasn’t super sharp.”

The Diamondbacks countered with a 4-3 win on Saturday, when it was Arizona’s turn to face the opposition’s ace, Mitch Keller, the reigning National League Player of the Week. Keller had not allowed a run in his previous two starts, totaling 16 innings.

Keller seemed to be responding to the challenge but was pulled after six innings after giving up two runs on three hits and striking out eight on 84 pitches. His replacement, Robert Stephenson, gave up the deciding hit in the seventh, a two-run homer by Pavin Smith.

“In the sixth inning there, he kind of lost his delivery a little bit,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of his decision to pull Keller. “We saw the pitches start to not have the same action.”

The loss came after Pittsburgh had won three of four as it tries to regain its footing following a stretch in which it lost 11 of 12 games.

Arizona has won six of its last eight.

Both teams could have somewhat depleted bullpens Sunday. The Pirates used four relievers, including closer David Bednar, on Saturday. Arizona also used four relievers, including Kyle Nelson, who got the win.

In the series finale, Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly (4-3, 2.92 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Pittsburgh right-hander Roansy Contreras (3-4, 4.40).

Kelly is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA in his past four starts.

In last Monday’s outing against Oakland, Kelly did something he had never done before — got ejected.

Kelly got tossed shortly after being lifted in the eighth inning following an ejection of Arizona manager Torey Lovullo. Both were arguing about a check swing that was called a strike.

“It was my first ejection ever,” Kelly said. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten thrown out of a game in my whole life. But I just felt like that was a terrible call. I thought it was a very, very obvious swing. I’ve seen the video of it and, in my mind, it was a very obvious swing.”

The heat of that moment most likely isn’t what will linger. Instead, it will be Kelly’s performance. In seven-plus innings, he gave up two runs (one earned) and four hits, with nine strikeouts and one walk.

“(Monday) was probably the most in control of my delivery, rhythm, everything that I’ve felt all year,” Kelly said.

Kelly is 2-0 with a 3.71 ERA in three career starts against the Pirates.

Contreras has lost three straight starts, giving up at least one homer in each.

Most recently, Contreras gave up two runs, both on homers, in seven innings and got no offensive support in Pittsburgh’s 2-0 loss to Baltimore on May 13.

“I think (May 13) was probably the best stuff Ro’s had all year long,” Shelton said of Contreras’ tough-luck loss. “He gives up two solo homers … but other than that, I thought he was outstanding. He was pretty much in control other than that. Not a lot of contact, he got fly balls and he did a really nice job.”

Contreras has faced Arizona once in his career and did not earn a decision after giving up one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings on June 4, 2022.

–Field Level Media