Mariners have clear mission in George Kirby-Tarik Skubal grudge match

The Mariners are coming off of arguably their best series of the season in a 22-1 shellacking of the New York Mets. It's just in time, as they head to Detroit looking for revenge against the Tigers who took it to the Mariners in Seattle last week, just narrowly missing out on a sweep. The headliner? It's part 2 of the battle between the Cy Young favorite and a dark horse in that same race... Tarik Skubal vs George Kirby.

Skubal got the upper hand in the first matchup, going 7 strong while allowing just three hits and two runs, backed by nine strikeouts. Meanwhile, Kirby struggled, giving up three runs in five innings while having to throw 97 pitches. It was his worst outing since May 24th and tied for his most baserunners allowed since May 19th.

The Mariners have a clear goal against Tarik Skubal

What the Mariners can't do in the opener is let Tarik Skubal get deep into the game once again. It looks like they are going to be throwing bullpen games in both game two and three, as the starters haven't been announced yet with the Tigers sporting a short rotation since the deadline. Knocking Skubal out after five innings doesn't happen often, but if the Mariners can work counts as they've shown in the past, it's possible.

The Astros are hot, and have won five straight games so the Mariners cannot let anything easy past them. Getting to the pen early against the Tigers could be the key to the series, ensuring that guys are stretched past their comfort zones in the final two games of the series.

On the other end of things, the Mariners are coming off a great series by their starting pitchers that saw all of them make it six or more innings, and should have a fresh pen. If Kirby can get back to his run of nine straight Quality Starts that was recently broken, all the better for keeping them fresh when needed. If not, they should be ready to jump in if he struggles a bit like he did last time against Detroit.

The Mariners, once again, have a great opportunity to take a series against a team that was in sell mode at the deadline. With the offense waking up a bit (or a lot) against the Mets, and Julio Rodriguez back, they are in prime position to take the series. Now, they just need to do it.