Mariners Game #151 Preview, 9/19/23: SEA at OAK

The good news is the Mariners control their own destiny. The bad news is the Mariners control their own destiny. The M’s badly need to sweep the A’s this week, and with the torrid history they have in playing in Oakland in September, you would be right to be more than a little concerned. With tougher AL West opponents looming, there's no beating around the bush: the Mariners must take advantage of the weakened A’s in order to stay in contention.

Today’s Lineups

Seattle Mariners

Today’s Game Information

Tonight's game will start at 6:40 PM PST. It will be televised on ROOT SPORTS. The radio call will be on 710 AM Seattle Sports and Mariners.com

The Mariners announced that the final weekend of the regular season against the Rangers is sold out; limited tickets remain for the Astros series the week prior, so if you want to get out to a game before the season (potentially) ends, hurry up and secure your tickets now.

Milestone Watch

• Julio Rodríguez needs just one more RBI for a 100-RBI season, and would become just the third player with a 30-30/100 RBI season age-22 or younger, joining Ronald Acuña Jr. and Alex Rodriguez.
• Julio Rodríguez is also just 2 home runs away from having 60 home runs, 60 doubles and 60 stolen bases over the course of his first two major league seasons.
• Cal Raleigh is only 2 home runs away from becoming the 29th catcher in MLB history with 30+ home run season. Raleigh is also only one extra-base hit away from breaking a tie with Mike Zunino for most extra-base hits by a catcher in a single season in franchise history.
• Julio Rodríguez (99 RBI), Teoscar Hernández (89 RBI), and Eugenio Suárez (89 RBI) all have a chance to reach 100 RBI this season. They could become just the 7th trio of Mariners with 100 RBI in a season and the first since Bret Boone, Mike Cameron, and Edgar Martinez in 2001. Only 18 different players in franchise history have had 100 RBI in a season, most recently done by Mitch Haniger (100 RBI) and Kyle Seager (101 RBI) in 2021.

Today in Mariners History

• 1982 - With Edwin Nunez, 19, pitching, and Orlando Mercado, 20, behind the plate, the Mariners fielded the youngest battery in the club’s history. Mercado’s first Major League hit, a grand slam, powered Nunez to his first ML victory in a 9-7 win vs. Texas.
• 1984 - Alvin Davis collected his American League rookie-record 13^th game-winning RBI, as the Mariners defeated the Cleveland Indians, 4-3, completing their first-ever three game sweep of the Tribe.
• 1988 - Named the AL Player of the Week for Sept. 12-18, Mike Moore was 2-0 in two starts with an ERA of .50. He recorded two complete games (a 2-hitter and a 5-hitter), a shutout, with 14 strikeouts and a walk.
• 1995 - Doug Strange stung his former team with a game-tying, pinch-hit, two run HR in the ninth inning. Griffey’s single in the 11^th scored Strange with the game winner, 5-4 vs. Texas.
• 1997 - Jay Buhner hits 37^th HR and 250^th career. Ken Griffey Jr. sets new mark in AL for an African-American with his 53^rd HR on the season.
• 2001 - Jamie Moyer sets a career-high with his 18^th victory of the season in a 5-0 win vs. Anaheim.
• 2001 - With the 5-0 victory, Seattle clinches its third AL West Championship. The Mariners post-game celebration of a short prayer and a parade in front of the fans with the American Flag is deemed the mix of respect and celebration in the post 9/11 climate.
• 2011 - Alex Liddi hit his first career home run, the first homer by an Italian-born Major Leaguer since 1961, in a Mariners 12-6 win over the Indians in a rain-shortened 7-inning game. Mike Carp went 2-for-4 with a double, grand slam and 5 RBI.
• 2014 - The Mariners pulled to within ½ game of the 2nd AL Wild Card with a 10-5 drubbing of Houston. Dustin Ackley recorded his second career multi-HR game, and Kyle Seager and Mike Zunino each hit 3-run homers in the win.
• 2021—Jake Bauers clubs a 460-foot homer at Kansas City, the longest homer by a Mariner in the 2021 season.
• 2022 – Carlos Santana homers as a right-handed batter and a left-handed batter in the same game, becoming just the 5^th Mariners player to accomplish the feat, and first since Justin Smoak in 2012.