HIGH HEAT

Mariners’ youth by the numbers

Jul 26, 2013, 12:51 PM | Updated: 2:27 pm

By Gary Hill

The Mariners snatched the Major League Baseball lead for runs in the month of July from the Dodgers Thursday night. The M’s have piled up 117 tallies this month while belting 30 homers. They boast the second-best OPS in baseball at .814.

The intoxicating offensive production has helped the Mariners surge to nine wins in their last 10 games. They are 14-6 in July and have won five of their last six series.

The stirring element of the recent production level is the amount the young core has contributed. In the month of July, Justin Smoak, Nick Franklin, Kyle Seager, Michael Saunders, Dustin Ackley, Mike Zunino and Brad Miller have shouldered the majority of the offensive load.

The sensational seven have combined to go 131 for 463 (.283) with 17 home runs, 76 RBIs, 30 doubles, three triples, 53 walks and 82 runs in 129 July games.

Justin Smoak: .324, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 10 R, 6 2B, 8 BB
Nick Franklin: .217, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 8 R, 2 2B, 7 BB
Kyle Seager: .378, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 20 R, 4 2B, 9 BB
Michael Saunders: .271, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 14 R, 6 2B, 7 BB
Dustin Ackley: .286, 0 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R, 6 2B, 6 BB
Mike Zunino: .254, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 10 R, 2 2B, 7 BB
Brad Miller: .241, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 12 R, 4 2B, 9 BB

More notes:

• The Mariners own the fourth-most plate appearances in baseball for players in their age 25-year-old season or younger.

Miami: 1,721
Atlanta: 1,673
Houston: 1,626
Seattle: 1,271
Arizona: 1,232

• Kyle Seager is hitting .378 in July. There have been only nine different Mariners to hit at least .375 in a month since 2000 (minimum of 50 at-bats).

Ichiro: 13 times
John Olerud: Twice
Edgar Martinez: .441 in May 2000
Jeremy Reed: .397 in September/October 2004
Raul Ibanez: .396 in August 2008
Willie Bloomquist: .385 in June 2007
Brendan Ryan: .384 in May 2011
Ruben Sierra: .382 in April/March 2002
Kenji Johjima: .375 in August 2007

• Felix Hernandez, who will start Friday night against Minnesota, is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in four July starts. He has tossed 28 innings and allowed just four runs. Teammates Miller, Franklin and Zunino have never seen him lose a game. Hernandez lost most recently on May 25 against the Rangers. He yielded five earned runs in that start. He has given up 18 runs in the next 10 turns.

The lowest career ERAs for Hernandez against American League teams:

1. Tampa Bay, 2.04
2. Houston, 2.00
3. Minnesota, 2.17
4. Detroit, 2.51
5. Oakland, 2.60

Hernandez went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA against the Twins in 17 innings last season.

• Franklin crushed his eighth home run of the season Thursday night. There have been five other Mariners second baseman to hit more in a season.

Bret Boone: Five times (37 in 2001, 35 in 2003, 24 in 2004, 24 in 2002, 12 in 1993)
Jose Lopez: Four times (25 in 2009, 17 in 2008, 11 in 2007, 10 in 2006)
David Bell: 21 in 1999
Dustin Ackley: 12 in 2012
Joey Cora: 11 in 1997

• The Mariners have tallied 14 wins in July. The most wins they have secured in a month since 2003 was 19 in May of that year. The Mariners would need to win the remaining five games of the month to equal that total.

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Mariners’ youth by the numbers