The Seattle Mariners expect to welcome slugging outfielder Randy Arozarena to the lineup for Saturday’s visit to the Chicago White Sox after acquiring him in a trade with Tampa Bay late Thursday.
A stagnant Mariners attack sure looked strong on Friday without Arozarena in the opener of a three-game series.
Seattle slugged four home runs in Friday’s 10-0 rout of the dreadful White Sox, including back-to-back-to-back blasts from Josh Rojas, Dylan Moore and Victor Robles to punctuate an eight-run first inning.
It turns out Arozarena reached the stands, too, sitting in the left-field bleachers to watch the Rays at Tropicana Field on Friday before departing the organization. That’s the kind of personality he looks to bring to Seattle.
“He’s an electric player,” said Mariners outfielder Luke Raley, Arozarena’s Rays teammate the past two seasons. “He’s really loved by his teammates and fans, and he’s going to be a fun addition for sure.”
The Mariners had scored just 14 runs in their past eight games before Friday. An early barrage proved to be plenty of support for George Kirby, who pitched seven shutout innings for his ninth consecutive quality start.
Chicago lost its 12th game in a row while falling to 52 games under .500. The White Sox were shut out for the 13th time this season.
Tommy Pham contributed three of the team’s seven hits. Rookie right-hander Drew Thorpe pitched just 2/3 of an inning.
“Just try to forget it,” Thorpe said. “Look at it tomorrow, see what went wrong. But you can’t let it snowball like that. One or two or three or four is fine. Just got to be able to get out of the first inning.”
Right-hander Bryan Woo (4-1, 2.54 ERA) will aim to pitch the Mariners to only their second series victory in the past 11.
Woo rebounded from an uneven outing against the Angels on July 12 by defeating the Houston Astros on Sunday. He scattered two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings while striking out five.
“Trying to get back to the basics, get back to the simple approach,” Woo said. “Be in the middle of the zone to start and then you can expand from there. Be aggressive, make your pitches. It doesn’t really matter how aggressive or not a team is, I still need to get ahead, I still got to do my part, and I think that’s what I did a much better job of [Sunday].”
Woo is 0-0 with a 2.79 ERA in two career starts against the White Sox, covering 9 2/3 innings.
Erick Fedde (7-3, 2.98) is aiming to close a sterling July as he gets the call for the White Sox. Fedde, who took a no-decision at Texas on Monday after pitching 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball, is 2-0 with a 1.56 ERA in three starts this month.
Fedde spaced one run and five hits in seven innings during a June 10 no-decision at Seattle in a game the Mariners went on to win. He is 0-2 with a 2.60 ERA in three starts versus Seattle.
–Field Level Media
