Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais praises pitcher

SEATTLE — Because of the reputation of the Seattle Mariners’ starting lineup, the bullpen sometimes gets lost in the rush. But that shouldn’t be the case, as the M’s bullpen allowed just a single run in the three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday through Thursday (July 2-4).

One of the most important players in Seattle’s bullpen during this series was Austin Voth.

Voth appeared in two games against the Orioles and pitched one inning. He allowed no hits, no runs, and struck out two batters. These performances did not go unnoticed.

“Austin has had a really good season for us,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said in a pregame interview Friday. “He’s played in a lot of games at the major league level as a starter. He hasn’t been a reliever his whole career or anything like that. It took him a while to get used to it. … He’s a very calming presence because he’s been a starter. And he’s played in so many innings and situations at the major league level, so you feel very comfortable using him with runners in scoring position.”

Servais continued to praise Voth’s mastery of his off-speed and breaking pitches.

“When you look at it that way, you should get good results in situations where you’re throwing strikes,” Servais said. “And he’s throwing a lot of strikes right now (with his cutter, sweeper and curveball). He’s been really valuable to us.”

Voth has a 3.31 ERA in 37 appearances and 35 1/3 innings pitched this season. He has struck out 31 batters and is allowing a .183 batting average.

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