Mariners Game #109, 7/30/24: SEA @ BOS

The first game in the post-deadline era!

The dust has just begun to settle after the 3:00pm trade deadline has passed, and the M’s final addition has been some more bullpen help.

You may recall JT Chargois as a solid, if unspectacular contributor to the 2021 Mariners bullpen before being shipped off to the Rays along with Austin Shenton for Diego Castillo at that year’s trade deadline. For the Marlins, he put up 16 innings of 1.62 ERA ball, although by nearly every peripheral measure - including a perfect strand rate of 100% - he’s had more than his fair share of luck going his way. Still, though, his slider has been very effective, and if there’s one thing the Mariners love, it’s tinkering with a guy’s arsenal to have them throw their best pitches more frequently. With the return only being a 23-year-old righty having a solid season in Low-A Modesto - and who went undrafted last year - Chargois should help further stabilize a rickety Seattle bullpen.

Onto today’s tilt!

Lineups:

Justin Turner will be making his Mariners debut, playing first base and manning cleanup, while Randy Arozarena is back in the lineup after a brief injury scare in last night’s game. Leo Rivas also gets a rare start at shortstop; he notched his first career RBI in Sunday’s win over the White Sox. Luis Castillo will look to build off a fabulous start in Seattle, and help preserve a tired bullpen that worked 6.1 innings in yesterday’s tilt.

As for the Red Sox, old friend James Paxton will be starting for them after coming over from the Dodgers last week. The Big Maple has stayed remarkably healthy this year, but career-worst strikeout and walk rates have held him back all season despite a gaudy 8-2 record. Sometimes it pays to have a good offense behind you.

Game Info:

Today’s game starts at 4:10pm Pacific time, and can be followed at the usual spots: Dave Sims and Mike Blowers have the call on ROOT Sports NW, while Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith are broadcasting on 710 AM Seattle Sports.

This Day in Mariners History:

• 1996 - The Mariners acquired Jamie Moyer from Boston for outfielder Darren Bragg.
• 1998 - The Mariners play the longest game (innings) in Kingdome history but lose to Cleveland 9-8 in 17 innings. The game takes 5:23 to complete.
• 2003 - Rafeal Soriano struck out seven consecutive batters over two games (July 26, 6 & July 30 1) to set a new Mariner record.
• 2011 - Michael Pineda (6.1 IP), Jeff Gray (1.2) and Brandon League (1.0) combined on a 1-hitter in a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the 14th game the Mariners have allowed 1 or fewer hits in a game, with 2 no-hitters, 11 individual 1-hitters and now 2 combined 1-hitters. The Mariners also traded RHP David Pauley and RHP Doug Fister to Detroit in exchange for OF Casper Wells, LHP Charlie Furbush, INF Francisco Martinez and PTBNL.
• 2012 - Hisashi Iwakuma struck out a club rookie record 13 batters in 8.0 innings in a 4-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. After the game, pitchers Steve Delabar (to the Blue Jays) and Brandon League (to the Dodgers) were traded.
• 2014 – Félix Hernández set a Major League record with his 14th consecutive start allowing 2 runs or fewer in at least 7.0 innings, breaking the record set by Tom Seaver in 1971. Felix suffered the loss allowing 2 runs in 7.0 innings, with Indians ace Corey Kluber throwing an 85-pitch shutout in the 2-0 Indians win at Progressive Field.
• 2015 - The Mariners acquired outfielder Ramon Flores and right-handed pitcher Jose Ramirez from the New York Yankees in exchange for outfielder Dustin Ackley.
• 2017 - James Paxton got his 6^th win in the month of July, becoming the first pitcher in club history to earn 6 wins in any single calendar month. His 1.37 ERA in the month of July was the lowest in a calendar month by a Mariners pitcher since Félix Hernández posted a 1.22 ERA in June 2014. The Mariners beat the Mets 9-1.
• 2018 – James Paxton set a single-season career high in strikeouts against the Astros. With 8 strikeouts in the 2-0 win against Houston, he upped his season total to 163, surpassing his previous career high of 156, set in 2017.