Despite visible improvements, Kirby displeased with start vs. Orioles

BALTIMORE -- Forget the season-high 10 strikeouts, increased velocity and mostly rebounded effort.

Mariners starter George Kirby was still visibly upset in the aftermath of a 7-2 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday night.

"This game finds a way to slap you in the face all the time,” Kirby said. “So the more and more you go through it, the more you learn from it. So that's what I'm trying to do. I'm still gonna be mad, still gonna be angry -- but use it in a different way to approach the next start."

Kirby had ample cause to be frustrated, given that he turned in his best start in a full month. But a three-run spot in his sixth and final inning still simmered, and there was zero run support for Seattle’s bats to buoy this one towards a positive outcome.

The Mariners have now lost four of Kirby’s past five starts, a frustrating trend after he looked like a legitimate All-Star candidate through his first nine starts.

“There have been a lot of moments that have come up this year, the last month -- kind of like fight-or-flight moments -- and I feel like I've been doing a good job of that, mentally,” Kirby said. “Those results will start coming my way eventually. But I've been thinking about it the right way and doing the right things.

“So, man, to get 1-0, and then it's game over…,” he finished mid-sentence.

The game’s inflection point was a booming home run that Kirby surrendered to Pete Alonso to lead off that fateful sixth. That said, it was only a solo shot, and up to that point, Seattle had collectively held the two-time Home Run Derby champion silent all series -- including four hitless opportunities with the bases loaded.

Kirby was on the mound for one of those at-bats, and it came at another key moment in the third, when he loaded the bases with no outs. The uber-competitive righty then zeroed in to punch out Alonso, generate a shallow flyout to Colton Cowser and K Leody Taveras to escape unscathed.

Then he was audibly booed walking off the mound.

The punchout of Alonso began a stretch of nine straight hitters that Kirby retired before the sixth. And that’s when things turned, as he also gave up a double to Taveras and a ground-rule double to Blaze Alexander. Two of the run-scoring knocks, including Alonso’s homer, were on pitches outside the strike zone.

“I think they’re still good calls in those moments,” Kirby said. “You’ve just got to tip your cap.”

On paper, this was a quality start -- and one that Kirby can build on. His velocity was up 0.6 mph on his four-seamer (97.2 mph average) and 0.8 mph on his sinker (97.7 mph average), and he generated 13 whiffs, one shy of a season high. The latter part was a point of emphasis after he lasted just four innings his last time out, a start that ended the Mariners’ eight-game win streak.

He seems far more well-equipped mentally to move forward, too, than in the days of “Furious George” -- thanks to extensive work within this arena of the game.

But there’s no doubt that the incredibly talented Kirby is being tested right now, and how he responds remains a leading storyline for a team deploying a six-man rotation. As such, his wait to rebound is longer than usual and a full week away.