Mariners celebrate Hispanic Heritage Day with big win, shut out Rangers 7-0

Mariners honor Roberto Clemente’s spirit of service by gifting fans an easy, breezy win

Today, Roberto Clemente’s legacy was honored across baseball; Edgar Martínez and Kristopher Negrón, both of Puerto Rican heritage, wore Clemente’s 21, as did Justin Turner (2022 Roberto Clemente Award winner), Josh Rojas and J.P. Crawford (RCA nominees), and Randy Arozarena, who celebrated Hispanic Heritage Day at the ballpark by marking a personal milestone with his fourth consecutive 20/20 season and an epic trip around the bases—that may or may not have fueled some bad blood between the two teams later in the game.

The Mariners jumped out to an early lead in this one thanks to some good two-out work in the first by Justin Turner, who singled on a slider, followed by Arozarena working a walk. Mitch Garver then pounced on a first-pitch fastball from Rangers starter Andrew Heaney (“fastball” being sort of a generous term here) for a 408-footer that came off his bat at 108.5 mph:

After that exciting beginning, though, the Mariners didn’t do much in the way of adding on against Heaney, scattering some traffic—Victor Robles had his second hit of the game already in the second inning, but was stranded when Julio flew out on a changeup; in the third, Garver and Dylan Moore worked back-to-back two-out singles but were left stranded when Luis Urías, getting the start over Josh Rojas against the lefty Heaney, struck out; and a two-out Arozarena double went nowhere in the fifth when Josh Smith was able to snare a liner off Mitch Garver’s bat. The Mariners did accomplish one thing with all this traffic: they ran Heaney’s pitch count up to 89 by the end of five innings, meaning another early appearance from the woeful Texas bullpen.

Former Mariner Matt Festa had the sixth and got his first two outs, sandwiched around an Urías hit by pitch, but then gave up a parachute fly ball single to J.P. Crawford, followed by Victor Robles’s third hit of the game, first-pitch-swinging of course, driving in Urías from second and making the game 4-0.

The only real bummer part of this is that Robles had to exit the game after this inning, as he appeared to aggravate a foot injury, probably because he’s been used as a human pincushion over the past few weeks.

The Mariners got to their magic number of five runs scored in the bottom of the seventh, with a solo blast from Randy Arozarena off Gerson Garabito:

If you noticed Randy enjoying this one a little extra, it’s because with that home run he secures his fourth consecutive 20/20 season, an accomplishment only he and José Ramírez share. “[20/20] was a goal I set for myself at the beginning of this year,” he said postgame. “I’m very happy to do that today, on Roberto Clemente Day, thanks to God.”

Someone who did not enjoy Randy’s accomplishment: Rangers catcher Jonah Heim, seen here in a series by Lindsey Wasson I like to call “portraits in red-assery”:

That would come back to bear in the eighth, The Mariners added a couple more on against Garabito in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases against him and driving in another pair with sac flies to make it 7-0. It wasn’t totally without drama—because this team loves to be dramatic—as Arozarena got hit with a pitch, probably not intentionally but possibly related to Arozarena’s earlier celebration on his round-tripper, which as we’ve discussed was a big milestone for him personally, and also hitting people intentionally is so stupid it beggars belief. But Arozarena did make a big show of calming the dugout down, and Julio was standing on the top step looking fully murderous, so it was probably the right thing to do.

“It means a lot that they were ready to defend me,” said Randy postgame, pointing out he’s had a lot of experience getting hit by pitches, but he also knows how important it is that no one get suspended for fighting at this point in the season.

“Those are always tough situations,” said Dan Wilson postgame. “I thought Randy handled it like a pro. And I don’t want to that to be something that overshadows what was an afternoon of great baseball by this club.”

The Rangers were already two relievers deep before the Mariners brought out their first reliever of the night, thanks to a sterling, seven-inning performance by George Kirby. Kirby only allowed one runner to reach base: Ezequiel Duran, in the second, who was promptly eliminated by a double play. Kirby’s defense played well behind him, as well, even when they didn’t:

“Quality strikes,” said Kirby postgame when asked what made him so tough against the Rangers today. “That’s where I’ve kind of been lacking, and I did a really good job with that today. I didn’t really miss today. It was a great feeling.”

Kirby only struck out three today, relying on boatloads of weak contact, but he did end his day with an exclamation point of a strikeout, getting ahead of Wyatt Langford 0-2 but letting the rookie work the count to 2-2 before growing tired of the battle. This is what we call in the business an “f-you strike”:

This is the second time Kirby has faced the Rangers, and the second time he’s earned a win against them. Kirby has been especially good against the Texas teams: Rangers hitters have a .594 OPS against Kirby, while Astros have a .460 OPS against him. “I guess Texas and Houston bring out the best in me,” he joked postgame.

With Kirby firing on all cylinders and a healthy lead, it was easy sailing for the bullpen, but Trent Thornton and Eduard Bazardo stunted on the Rangers anyway, combining for two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Neither allowed a runner to reach, leading to this astounding fact:

It feels appropriate that on Hispanic Heritage Day, where the Latin players come out draped in the flags of their home countries, the Mariners’ pitching staff would pay homage to the (arguably) greatest Venezuelan pitcher of all time. It was also appropriate for Randy Arozarena, who stood on the field draped in the flags of the two countries he considers home—Cuba, and Mexico, where he defected in 2010 in order to establish himself as a baseball player and create a better life for his family following the sudden, tragic death of his father—to reach such a lofty personal milestone.

“It was an incredibly special moment,” said Arozarena postgame. “But at that time, I’m not thinking about Mexico, or Cuba. I’m thinking about everyone who sacrificed so much to achieve their dream, and the hard work to get there. And it’s special to me because I know that I’m an inspiration to a lot of kids, especially those just beginning their development in baseball. And that’s really special to me.”