Randy Arozarena homered and George Kirby outdueled Paul Skenes as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 Sunday afternoon.
The Mariners blanked Pittsburgh in all three games of the interleague series, after the Pirates did the same against visiting St. Louis. It was the first time in major league history a team didn’t allow a run in a three-game series and then failed to score in the following three-game set. It was also the first time the Pirates didn’t score in a three-game series since 1959 against the Milwaukee Braves.
It also marked Seattle’s first time winning three consecutive games via shutout in franchise history.
Arozarena went deep to left off Pirates reliever Carmen Mlodzinski (2-6) with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. It was Arozarena’s sixth homer on the Mariners’ seven-game homestand, on which they went 5-2.
The anticipated pitching duel between Skenes and Kirby didn’t disappoint.
Skenes, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, pitched five scoreless innings and allowed five hits. The right-hander struck out a season-high 10 without a walk. Skenes threw 78 pitches, 52 for strikes.
It was the third consecutive Skenes start in which the Pirates failed to score while he was in the game.
Kirby (3-4), a former All-Star who missed the first two months of the season with right shoulder inflammation, went 6 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up four hits. He didn’t walk a batter and fanned nine. Of his 93 pitches, 66 were strikes.
Carlos Vargas finished off the seventh, Gabe Speier struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth and Andres Munoz worked the ninth for his 21st save of the season.
The Mariners nearly scored off Skenes in the first inning. Leadoff hitter J.P. Crawford lined the first pitch to right-center field and, an out later, Cal Raleigh was hit by a pitch. Jorge Polanco lined a single to left-center, but Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz unleashed a 105.2-mph throw that took one hop to catcher Henry Davis to nab Crawford at the plate. It was the second-hardest throw by an outfielder since Statcast began tracking those in 2020.
