Kirby (0-1) took the loss Monday, allowing four runs on nine hits and one walk over 4.1 innings against the Angels. He struck out five.
Kirby pitched around trouble in the each of the first four innings, surrendering RBI singles to Luis Rengifo in the second and fourth, but he was knocked out of the game in the fifth after serving up a two-run homer to Shohei Ohtani. Kirby posted 3.39 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with 133 strikeouts over 130 innings in his rookie 2022 campaign, and he figures to be a prominent piece of Seattle's rotation in 2023. The 2019 first-round pick is scheduled to pitch again Sunday in Cleveland.