Seattle Mariners Manager Scott Servais Praises Reliever Before Big Weekend Series

SEATTLE — Because of the reputation of the Seattle Mariners' starting rotation, the bullpen sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. Well, that shouldn't be the case as the M's 'pen allowed just one run in the three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles from Tuesday to Thursday (July 2 to July 4).

One of Seattle's key bullpen pieces during that series was Austin Voth.

Voth appeared in two games against the Orioles, throwing one inning in total. He allowed no hits, no runs, and struck out two batters. Those contributions have not gone unnoticed.

"Austin's had a really nice season for us," Mariners manager Scott Servais said in a pregame interview Friday. "He's started a lot of games in the big leagues. He's not been a reliever his whole career or anything like that. It's taken him a little while to transition into that. ... He's a very calming presence because he has been a starter. And he's worked in so many innings and in so many situations in the big leagues, so you feel very comfortable bringing him in with runners in scoring position."

Servais went on to praise Voth's command of his off-speed and breaking pitches.

"When you spin it like that, you should have good results in those situations when you're throwing strikes," Servais said. "And he's throwing a ton of strikes with (his cutter, sweeper and curveball) right now. He's been really valuable for us."

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

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