STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.
By Canadian Press

Mariners’ George Kirby apologizes to manager Scott Servais for wishing for earlier removal

Sep 9, 2023 | 2:09 PM

ST. PETERBURG, Fla (AP) — Seattle Mariners pitcher George Kirby apologized to manager Scott Servais for saying he wished he wasn’t sent back to the mound for the seventh inning of a 7-4 loss to Tampa Bay after reaching the 90-pitch mark.

Servais said he talked with the 25-year-old right-hander “for a long time” both Friday night and Saturday morning.

“He said ‘Skip, that’s not who I am,” Servais said before Saturday’s game. “We all know George is a very fiery — he’s a competitor. He’s learning. It’s an opportunity to learn moving forward. The biggest think with George is, we move forward. Love having him out there.”

Seattle led 4-2 when Kirby returned to the mound in the seventh. After Taylor Wells grounded out, Jose Siri doubled and René Pinto followed with a tying homer on Kirby’s 102 and final pitch.

“When you make mistakes that only affects yourself, it’s not that big of a deal,” Servais said. “But once it starts affecting other people, that’s kind of when you take notice. I think this is one George will learn from.”

Kirby is 10-9 with a 3.48 ERA in 27 starts this season.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press