George Kirby’s second rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma was a little rougher than his first.
Kirby threw three innings on Saturday night for the Rainiers and was tagged for three runs on four hits against Sacramento. Kirby threw 54 pitches with 36 for strikes as he continued to build his pitch count after throwing 42 pitches in his first rehab start.
There’s expected to be one more start in the minors next week before the Mariners consider adding him to the major-league roster.
The right-hander opened the season on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation and was stellar in his first rehab start with Tacoma last week allowing only a solo home run in three innings of work in Las Vegas.
On Saturday, Kirby struck out five, but also uncharacteristically issued a pair of walks, both of them to Sacramento leadoff hitter Grant McCray. Jerar Encarnacion had an RBI double in the first inning to score McCray and both players scored in the third inning on Daniel Johnson’s double just inside the bag at first on a curveball left in the middle of the plate.
The good news for the Mariners is Kirby’s velocity was there, sitting 97 mph with his fastball, and he threw all of his secondary pitches. Former UW star and brief one-time Mariner Jake Lamb accounted for two of Kirby’s five strikeouts.
Mariners general manager Justin Hollander indicated Friday that it was likely Kirby would make one more start in the minors no matter the results against Sacramento. Pitching every sixth day, Kirby would be in line to make that third start in Albuquerque next Friday.
If all goes well, that means Kirby could be activated near the end of the Mariners’ upcoming three-city road trip, likely around the start of a series in Houston on May 22.
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