Mariners Game #101 Preview: 7/21/24, HOU @ SEA

What if the Mariners tried winning a game?

Things are not going well for the Seattle Mariners. They’re currently on their first five-game losing streak of the season and they’ve also lost the division lead for the first time since May 11. The Mariners used to hold the record for the fastest any team had ever made up a 10-game deficit in the division. But after the past month, they now have the record for the fastest any team has surrendered a 10-game division lead. Their playoff odds have slipped below 50% at FanGraphs for the first time since April 19.

To stanch the bleeding, they’ll turn to Bryan Woo. While Woo has had a series of injuries and unavailability, this will actually mark his tenth start of the season. He hasn’t faced the Astros yet, but the one time he did last season went very, very well for him (though the Mariners still lost).

Lineups

The bats will have to do their best against the Astros’ Ronel Blanco, who’s in the middle of a breakout season. The Mariners did get to him when they faced him in May, with home runs from Jorge Polanco and Dylan Moore, both of whom are back in the lineup today. Victor Robles gets his second start in the two-hole while Mitch Garver and Ty France both sit.

Game Info

First pitch: 1:10 PT
TV: ROOT (Goldy and Blowers makes his return to the booth)
Radio: 710 am and Mariners dot com (Sims and Rizzs)

This Day in Mariners History

• 1978: The Mariners strike out four times in an inning to Cleveland’s Mike Paxton
• 1988: The Mariners trade Ken Phelps to the Yankees for Jay Buhner and others. Frank Costanza remains baffled
• 1998: Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the fastest player to ever hit 40 homers in a season, doing so in the team’s 100th game
• 2008: While with the Diamondbacks, Randy Johnson becomes the first player to strikeout 2,000 batters for two different teams
• 2018: Félix Hernández becomes one of just four pitchers since 1970 to strike out 1,300 batters in a single ballpark

In Case You Missed It

Kate wrote up the promising young career of under-the-radar-ish prospect Michael Morales

Pregame Discussion Poll