ARLINGTON -- This was the least optimal time for a George Kirby clunker.
And it was both compounded and made all the more perplexing by the opponent.
Kirby surrendered a career-high-tying four home runs through the third inning and promptly put a 7-3 loss to the Rangers out of reach on Monday afternoon at Globe Life Field.
Any early-innings deficit these days has been a heavy lift for Seattle’s scuffling lineup to overcome. The Mariners have rallied for an eventual victory when facing a deficit of at least five runs only once this season, on April 11 vs. Houston.
So, the hole Kirby created on Monday put the club in an even more precarious spot -- and ultimately led to the Mariners’ third loss in this four-game series against Texas, the team it is now chasing atop the American League West.
“We had different aspirations coming in here,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said, “and it didn't turn out that way. And we've got to turn it up.”
How do they turn it up?
“We need to find a way, and find a way to get Ws,” Wilson said. “This is the time of year where we have to get done.”
Making this more of a big-picture concern, the Rangers also clinched the season series between these teams, with three games remaining from Sept. 8-10 at T-Mobile Park. Overall, Seattle finished its regular-season slate in Arlington 1-6, when accounting for a three-game sweep in April.
And there’s a reality that, with next Monday’s Trade Deadline looming, the composition of the clubhouse could look different -- by both additions and subtractions.
“I don't think about any of that stuff,” Kirby said, “but like, it just stinks because we've been a better team than them, so it just stinks that we didn't come out and play to our potential.”
Monday’s runaway defeat came on the heels of one of the Mariners’ more uplifting moments one day prior, when Dominic Canzone delivered a swing-of-the-season candidate in Sunday’s comeback win.
Again, with these 2026 Mariners it’s been one step forward and one-and-a-half steps back, all year long. They’re now 52-55 and headed to Dodger Stadium, where the two-time defending champs await and look every bit the part of a three-peat contender.
Throughout their summer-long struggles, Kirby had been an outlier on an upswing, entering Monday with six straight quality starts, over which he carried a 2.61 ERA. And he’d been absolutely dominant over the Rangers dating back to his rookie season in 2022, with a 9-1 record and 1.33 ERA in 12 career starts against them.
His nine wins against Texas are tied for the most by any pitcher against a single opponent in that span, with Framber Valdez vs. the A’s and Merrill Kelly vs. the Rockies. Those opponents, however, have not been of the caliber of the Rangers, who won the World Series in 2023.
Basically, Kirby had exercised a reign of terror over the division rivals -- but one that Texas exacted on Monday, and from the get-go.
“There was a lot of just poor two-strike execution,” Kirby said. “I feel like I could kind of get it to where I wanted to early in the count, and then with two strikes, damage. I kind of just left a lot of things middle.”
Kirby gave up a homer to his very first batter, Joc Pederson, attempting to backdoor a sweeper in a 1-2 count that the lefty slugger instead deposited into the visiting bullpen beyond the opposite field.
Pederson came back for a curtain call his next time up, yanking a first-pitch fastball on his hands for a sky-high shot that hung for 7.1 seconds and just barely cleared the right-field wall. That came immediately after an infield single to speedster Nicky Lopez that Colt Emerson bobbled, then a two-out hit-by-pitch to No. 9 hitter Elias Díaz.
Leading off the third, Kirby was ambushed for the biggest blast of the day -- a 436-foot shot from Ezequiel Duran against a heater over the heart of the plate and in a 2-2 count. Later in the inning, Jake Burger went for the dagger, lifting a hanging sweeper to left in an 0-2 count, immediately after Kirby surrendered a one-out double to Evan Carter.
“I want all those at-bats back,” Kirby said. “I just had good opportunities to strike people out -- 0-2, 1-2, and just left the ball over the middle of the plate. So, 99 percent of the time, that doesn't happen.”