Mariners vs. Red Sox: Rojas ramps up, Kirby's streak ends, new guys show out

After a refreshing sweep in Chicago, Seattle came back down to Earth when faced with a surging Red Sox team. Despite the final result, the Mariners still managed to put up some offense, scoring a combined 19 runs across three games, a significant improvement over their usual output. Oddly enough, the team's usual strength, starting pitching, is what ultimately failed them.

Best Hitter: Josh Rojas

11 PA, .400/./455/.700, 4 H, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K

Rojas might be rediscovering the mojo that made the start of his season so great. After a .607 OPS in May and a .594 OPS in June, his July OPS of .654 was a slight improvement. Moreover, he's slashing .286/.423/.619 over his last seven games. The biggest drag on his numbers has been his horrid performance against lefty pitching (.355 OPS over 41 plate appearances) but he's still able to hold his own against righties.

Honorable Mention: Dylan Moore

14 PA, .364/.500/.636, 4 H, 3 2B, 1 R, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP, 1 SB

Moore did a little of everything in the series, getting on base seven times. He was an RBI machine, batting .600 with runners in scoring position. Moore is having a particularly interesting year given the vast difference in his OPS at home (.500) and his OPS away (.900). He's still got an OPS+ of 111 but his hitting away puts him into elite hitter territory.

Best Pitcher: George Kirby

5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Kirby's quality start streak of nine had to come to an end eventually and the Red Sox were the team to do it. Despite keeping it to just two earned runs, his pitch count was at 95 and he still needed two more outs to extend the streak. He had just six whiffs but amassed 17 called strikes, seven of which were from his slider. Of his seven hits, three came against his four-seam fastball, and two came against his splitter.

Honorable Mention: Luis Castillo

6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Although he managed to net the only win of the series, Castillo's start left a little to be desired. He had nine whiffs, three of which were foul tips, and 13 called strikes, six of which came against his four-seam fastball. Nonetheless, it was a quality start and put his July ERA at 1.99 over his five starts, a major improvement over the 5.13 he had in June.