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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Pregame: James Paxton goes for No. 5 in July, lineups and starters

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton delivers during the fifth inning against the Houston Astros on July 19, 2017, in Houston. (Eric Christian Smith / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

Game 101: Boston Red Sox (55-45) at the Seattle Mariners (49-51) at 7:10 p.m. in the first of a three-game series at Safeco Field.

The Mariners closed a four-game series with a 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday, dropping three of the four games – the first series win for New York in six weeks.

Seattle is 6-4 in its last 10 games and 17 games behind A.L. West leading Houston. The M’s are 28-25 at home this season.

Boston is 4-6 in its last 10 games and 26-27 on the road. The Red Sox lead the A.L. East by 2 1/2 games over the Yankees.

M’s starter James Paxton is 4-0 in four starts this month. The last Mariners pitcher to win five games in a single month was Jason Vargas, who went 5-0 in July of 2012. Since the start of the 2004 season, Felix Hernandez is the only other Mariners pitcher to win five games in a single month (5-0 in Sept. 2009). Paxton likely has two starts remaining this month (including tonight). No Mariners pitcher has ever won six games in a single month.

Transactions: The Mariners officially announced signing utility infielder Danny Espinosa and he will be in uniform against the Red Sox tonight, wearing No. 6. Espinosa hit .162 with 27 runs, eight doubles, six home runs and 29 RBI in 77 games with the Los Angeles Angels this season. Last year he hit a career high 24 home runs and 74 RBIs while batting .209.

Taylor Motter was optioned to AAA-Tacoma to make room on the active roster and Hisashi Iwakuma was transferred to the 60-day D.L. to make room on the 40-man roster.

Lineups and starters

Courtesy @MarinersPR
Courtesy @MarinersPR

Starters: LHP James Paxton (9-3, 3.05) vs. RHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-2, 3.66)

Mariners Notes

  • In 48 games at Safeco Field this season, Danny Valencia is batting .300 (51 170) with 26 runs, six doubles, two triples, five home runs, 32 RBI, a .356 OBP and a .447 slugging mark. Among team leaders at home, he ranks second in RBI, OBP and OPS, trailing Nelson Cruz in each category.
  • OF Ben Gamel is the 14th Mariner in club history to record three distinct hitting streaks of at least 10 games each in a single season (last: Robinson Canó, 2016). Gamel is only the second Mariners rookie to accomplish this feat. He joins Ichiro, who had 10 seasons with Seattle in which he had at least 3 hitting streaks of 10-plus games, including his debut season of 2001.
  • Canó is one home run shy of recording his eighth season with at least 20 home runs. With his next home run, he’ll become the first American League second baseman (min. 100 G at 2B) with eight seasons of 20-plus homers.
  • Reliever Nick Vincent has not allowed a run in 20 2/3 innings pitched over 22 appearances at Safeco Field this season. His scoreless innings streak is currently 17th-longest in club history in a single-season and longest since Hisashi Iwakuma tossed 21 1/3 scoreless innings at home, July 16-Aug. 8, 2016

This Day in Mariners History

In 1977, John Montague tied an A.L. record by retiring 33 consecutive batters. He retired the last 13 Oakland batters he faced on July 22 and then retired 20 straight California Angels on July 24. Both appearances were in relief.

In 1993, Jay Buhner hit his 100th career home run, at Cleveland off Matt Young.