George Kirby was lifted after walking a career-high five and giving up two runs in 4 1/3 innings Wednesday against the Angels.
The Mariners scored three times in the top of the fifth to take a 5-2 lead, but Kirby didn’t get a chance at a win after a J.P. Crawford error and one last walk with one out in the fifth. Kirby had never walked more than three batters in an outing before until tonight. His 4.0 percent walk rate was the fourth lowest mark of pitchers with 800+ innings in the expansion era, behind only Josh Tomlin (3.4 percent), Dan Quisenberry (3.8) and Bob Tewksbury (3.8). Kirby, though, has issued more walks the last two years than he did in his first three seasons. Some thought that might be a good thing — that he used to simply throw too many strikes — but it hasn’t worked out this year. Kirby is 1-3 with a 5.37 ERA in his last 10 starts. He should face the Astros next week.
