George Kirby gives M’s another solid outing from one of their young starters

OAKLAND, Calif. — Bryce Miller delivered in his major league debut on Tuesday.

Logan Gilbert came through on Wednesday night.

And George Kirby finished off the A’s on Thursday afternoon.

The three young right-handed starters combined for three quality starts across 19 innings to lead a series sweep of Oakland and push the Mariners (15-16) within one game of .500 entering a key weekend series at home against Houston.

“Credit to our young pitching,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Bryce was outstanding. Logan and George maybe didn’t have their ‘A’ stuff, but to be able to work through it and work deep in the ballgame allows you to win these games.”

Kirby was the hard-luck loser in the M’s 1-0 defeat at Philadelphia last week, despite throwing the first complete game of his career.

He got some early run support in the 5-3 victory Thursday and wound up getting through seven innings on 98 pitches. He allowed three runs on seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

“Like every game, I’m going to go as long as I can and give the team the best chance to win,” Kirby said. “It was not my best stuff, but I did a really good job going inside on guys all day with the sinker (and getting) weak contact. There was a couple pitches I’d like to get back, but I did my job and went as long as I could.”

Scoreless streak at 16 innings for bullpen

As good as the Mariners starters were, the bullpen has been even better this week.

Justin Topa pitched a scoreless eighth inning Thursday and Paul Sewald closed it out for his ninth save in nine tries, extending the relievers’ scoreless innings streak to 16 during this four-game winning streak.

“They have just been fantastic,” Servais said. “They are throwing strikes. We are not giving away any free bases. We make ‘em earn it. And with our defense, it usually ends up in an out.”

Seattle’s bullpen came into Thursday with the third-best ERA (2.81) in the majors, behind only the Yankees (2.77) and Rays (2.79).

3-6-3 with ease

Ty France has been scuffling at the plate of late. That’s been obvious.

But he hasn’t taken any of his frustrations to the field, and he came through with a web gem in the fourth inning Thursday, scooping up a difficult ground ball and starting a 3-6-3 double play to get out of the inning.

“I thought our defense the whole series was really good,” Servais said. “J.P. (Crawford) had a heck of a series. Geno (Suarez) made some nice plays.

“Ty’s as good as anybody in the league at starting and finishing that double play. It’s a heck of a play there and those guys practice it so much, over and over. They can make that play with their eyes shut. “

Frustration rising in Oakland

Thousands of elementary-school students filled the Oakland Coliseum stands along the first-base line Thursday morning, on hand for a Weather Education Day event hosted by local meteorologists.

The kids watched wind experiments and learned how fog affects the flight of a baseball.

At the end of the session, a large weather balloon was filled with helium and, after a 10-second countdown from the kids, it was released into the atmosphere, expected to soar some 80,000 feet up and out of the Oakland atmosphere.

The local baseball team could soon float away with it.

The ongoing saga surrounding the Athletics and their quest for a new stadium appears to have reached a boiling point, with A’s team owner John Fisher recently announcing plans to move the team to Las Vegas.

The team’s lease with Oakland Coliseum is set to expire after the 2024 MLB season.

A’s fans have been protesting in and outside of the ballpark this week, pleading for Fisher to sell the team in hopes of keeping the team in Oakland.

Several handwritten banners with “SELL” spelled out in black ink have been hanging from the stands in right field this week. “FISHER OUT” another sign reads.

Fans have also shown their frustration by simply not showing up at the ballpark. Just 2,583 fans turned out for the game on Tuesday and 2,685 showed up Wednesday, creating an eerily quiet atmosphere.

The announced attendance of 13,025 on Thursday was boosted by the children who arrived early for their field trip.

The product on the field has been especially frustrating for fans so far. The A’s are now 6-26 and could challenge the 1962 Mets (who went 42-120 as an expansion team) for the worst record in MLB history.