George Kirby's badass response to terrifying line drive is why Mariners fans love him

In a start in which he figuratively took one on the chin with his third loss in as many appearances, it's only fitting that Seattle Mariners ace George Kirby quite literally took one on the chin after the last pitch he threw on Tuesday.

Don't worry. He's fine. In fact, the 102.7 mph line drive by Ramón Urías that caught Kirby off the right side of his face in the top of the fifth had the righty channeling the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

“I didn't even hurt, honestly,” Kirby said after the game, via MLB.com's Daniel Kramer. “It got my hand — like 50/50, hand/mouth, but we're good. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

With wins hard to come by, Mariners fans need this kind of toughness from the players

The other notable part of Kirby's effort on Tuesday is that it was his best of the season despite ending in a 5-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. After allowing 11 earned runs in 8.2 innings in his first two starts off the injured list, he allowed only two earned runs in 5.0 innings yesterday.

He did give up eight hits, but that was largely a case of buzzard luck for the 28-year-old. Five of the knocks off him weren't even 90 mph off the bat, with two not even cracking 80 mph.

“I think they just got a little lucky with some of the hits getting through,” Kirby said, via Kramer. “But I definitely executed a hell a lot better this week. So, I’m super happy about that.”

Kirby had every right to be rattled by the experience of that line drive clanking off his face. Batted balls like that can turn into a pitcher's worst nightmare, and he'd already had a close call on a 89.7 mph liner by Dylan Carlson that buzzed his noggin in the second.

That Kirby avoided serious injury on Urías' liner is obviously the good news, but the way he took it in stride is nothing if not a nice bonus.

Mariners fans will surely recall that Kirby's toughness came under fire in late 2023 when he let his frustration get the better of him and lamented being asked to throw more than 90 pitches in a start. But he owned that, and he went right back to being one of the most dependable pitchers in baseball in 2024. In the end, he crossed 190 innings and led the majors in K/BB ratio for a second year in a row.

This is the Kirby the Mariners need right now. Whereas his return from shoulder inflammation was meant to boost a struggling rotation, the club has lost all three of his starts. It's one of many frustrating elements amid a 12-15 stretch that has seen the Mariners cough up first place in the AL West.

Compared to, say, playing better baseball, mental and physical toughness aren't going to get the Mariners out of this slide. But like Kirby's face on Tuesday night, such things can't hurt.