The Seattle Mariners rebounded from a disastrous loss on June 28 against the Cleveland Guardians by going 5-1 in a six-game homestand against the Loss Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays.

The M's swept the Halos before taking two-of-three from the Jays, the latter series culminating in Mariners pitchers throwing 24 consecutive shutout innings against the team that eliminated them from the American League Championship Series a year ago.

Now at 47-44 and in first place in the American League West, the Mariners head out for the final road trip of the first half. They'll visit the red-hot Miami Marlins (49-42) and red-hot Tampa Bay Rays (52-35) for six games beginning on Tuesday night.

As noted by Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, the Mariners will send Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Bryce Miller to the mound in the Miami series.

While nothing is official beyond that point, that likely means that Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert and Emerson Hancock will pitch the weekend series in Tampa.

Nothing really strikes as out of the ordinary with this pitching plan, until you realize that that Kirby will go from June 29-July 8 without having thrown in a game.

Obviously, two off days in that time frame helped make that the case, as the team was off July 1 and July 6, but it's still curious that the M's would go with Woo before Kirby in this Miami series, considering Woo last pitched on June 30, one day after Kirby.

Now, I don't want to be conspiracy theory-ish, but it does seem noteworthy that Woo starts a day earlier than Kirby despite throwing a day later than him.

There could be any number of reasons why the Mariners have elected to do this, so until we have anything definitive, it's truly just noteworthy at this point.

By all indications, Kirby is healthy, and he's coming off four consecutive quality starts, the latter of two which was a brilliant eight-inning performance against LA.

Perhaps this is being done to help set up the rotation on the other side of the break, and perhaps some of it helps coincide with the possibility that Miller and Gilbert could end up being selected to the American League All-Star team.

The latest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is now out, and it features M's broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith. You can listen here, or you can watch the YouTube player below.

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