George Kirby's 14K career high helped the Seattle Mariners end their losing streak

George Kirby's signature post-strikeout moves: jumping up and down with the pitching motion, then turning sharply off the pitcher's mound — the whole routine flowed. Once you have seen this gesture, you will never forget it.

Kirby's pitching mechanism is minimalist and efficient, with almost no redundant movements from kicking to release, making this set of postures natural. But there is no doubt that the action carries a strong self-confidence - like the last stroke of the artist's pen, except that Kirby's brush is a baseball.

In the early hours of Monday Beijing time (Sunday afternoon local time in Los Angeles), Kirby soared a career-high 14 strikeouts at Angel Stadium - setting a new personal record, setting the most pitchers for a Sailor this season, and tying for the top single-game strikeouts in the 2025 major leagues (the same as Max Meyer in Miami). His pivotal performance helped the Mariners end their worst five-game losing streak of the season 3-2 and underscored the team's desperate need for the 2023 All-Star to return to his peak form.

Kirby also reached the 500-career strikeout milestone and became the third-fastest player in franchise history with 527.2 innings, behind James Paxton (492.2 innings) and Logan Gilbert (503.2 innings).

George Kirby made just 68 runs when he completed the 500K
Least pitcher ever to be picked at 500K: Koji Uehara (63)
Second Less: Shane Bieber (84)

Kirby's only flaw came under four innings: two outs, one good and two bad strikes when he was knocked out by Mike Trout, and three goals later Taylor Ward hit a 432-foot home run to equalize. Fortunately, Jorge Polanco and Donovan Solano hit two points late in the half-game to help the Mariners regain the lead.

The Mariners had 11 hits but 11 bases, and had 16 hits and 4 hits on the lap, which could have given Kirby more support. Prior to this game, the Angels' home stadium was a nightmare for the Mariners: seven defeats in eight games since July 12 last year, five of which were lost by one point.