By the time all 18 innings of what was tied for the longest postseason game in Major League Baseball history was over, George Kirby was probably ready to pitch again.
And by the time it was over after six hours and 22 minutes, it might have almost been possible to forget Kirby had ever pitched in the first place.
But no one should.
None of that history would have been possible without Kirby, who turned in a performance that belied his status as a rookie.
In what was the first postseason start for the 24-year-old — and just his 26th overall — Kirby held the 106-win Astros to just six singles in seven innings with five strikeouts and no walks.
Afterward, a player who has the description “confident” often attached to his name acted almost incredulous when asked how he thought his first postseason start had gone.
“Seven shutty,” he said. “So, I’m pretty damn happy.”
The 6-4, 215-pound Kirby, who didn’t make his first major-league start until May 8, kept the Astros off-balance throughout by alternating his sinker with a four-seam fastball.
“That sinker, I think everybody saw how devastating that was to them,” said catcher Cal Raleigh. “He did a great job of mixing that with his four [four-seam fastball] and a few spins [breaking balls]. He was great tonight.”
He was never better than when it mattered most, at the times when the Astros looked like they were ready to break the game open early.
Three times Kirby got out of situations with two runners on, including with the bases loaded in the fourth, when he enticed Chas McCormick to fly out.
Most impressive, though, was the seventh, when with runners on first and second he got Christian Vazquez to fly out and then struck out Jose Altuve with a four-seam fastball that appeared to be at least half-a-foot high of the strike zone.
But with the count at 0-2, that was the plan — to try to get Altuve to chase something out of the strike zone. It was the fourth time Kirby faced Altuve in the game, and he retired him all four times — three times on pop-ups, including one that turned into a bizarre double play when Houston’s Martin Maldonado strayed off first in an apparent attempt to distract Seattle first baseman Ty France, and was instead tagged out by him.
“Great pitch,” Raleigh said of the final strikeout of Altuve. “He’d been throwing sinkers all day and then he throws that four and it looks like it rises straight up and it’s 98 (miles an hour).”
Some wondered if manager Scott Servais might take Kirby out instead of having him face Altuve for a fourth time and replace him with Andres Munoz.
Kirby, though, said there was no discussion of that possibility.
How did he feel when Altuve swung and missed?
“Very pumped,” he said. “Very pumped.”
So was the sellout T-Mobile crowd, which in that moment roared as loud as it may ever have.
Kirby stared down Altuve as he left the mound, finishing a performance that validated the faith the Mariners had that Kirby could deliver in a win-or-go-home situation.
“To fire him out in a must-win game and you get seven shutout innings out of a rookie against that club, you can’t ask for any more,” said manager Scott Servais. “I thought he was outstanding, commanded, was in total control. … George has been great the whole second half. But no bigger stage than tonight. There’s 47,000 people here against a team that’s really good, really deep lineup. He just kept pounding the strike zone. He was really effective at the top of the strike zone, got a lot of swings and misses, a lot of soft contact, pop-ups, fly balls. He was awesome.”
Kirby had gotten a taste of the postseason when he got the save in the clinching Game 2 of the wild-card series against Toronto. Saturday’s start made him the first rookie in 74 years to get both a save and a postseason start since Gene Bearden did it for Cleveland in the 1948 World Series.
He also became the first rookie to pitch seven or more shutout innings in the postseason since Walker Buehler of the Dodgers did it in the World Series against Boston in 2018.
But Kirby didn’t care about making history.
“Pitching against the Astros, that’s all the energy you need right there,” he said. “Go out and compete and be confident, and I thought I did that today.”
What he also did is keep the Mariners in the game, inning after scoreless inning, saying he was never frustrated.
“I had all the faith in our guys to get the job done,” he said. “I’m just glad to be part of a game like that. Pretty awesome.”
And while the game ended in painful defeat, Kirby said he felt the Mariners and their young core — of which he is a significant part — proved they belonged.
“We’re just as good as that team,” he said. “Just some things didn’t go our way.”
Raleigh to see thumb specialist
That Raleigh had been playing with a sore thumb had been known for a while. What wasn’t known was the extent of the damage.
Raleigh revealed after the game he has torn ligaments in his left thumb and a piece of bone chipped off. He said he’ll see a specialist in a few days to determine a course of action for recovery.
What will also need a little time to heal are his legs after Raleigh caught all 18 innings and 234 pitches.
Raleigh said he’d never caught that many innings before.
Raleigh said his legs actually felt fine as he stood talking to reporters late.
“But I’m sure they will be a little tired later,” he said.
By the numbers
Yep, a little bit of history was made Saturday in a game few will ever forget.
Here are some of the more notable numbers:
— The game was the longest postseason game in Mariners history both in innings (the previous high was 15 against the Yankees in Game 2 of the 1995 ALDS) and time, at six hours and 22 minutes.
— It was the first 1-0 game in Mariners postseason history.
— Julio Rodriguez’s sliding catch in the 16th inning had a catch probability of just 5%, according to Statcast.
— The paid attendance of 47,690 was more than the 47,378 that T-Mobile Park holds, with standing-room only included. But it was not a T-Mobile postseason record. That still belongs to the 48,052 who attended Game 2 of the 2001 ALDS against Cleveland.