Marco Gonzales will have another fan when he takes the mound on Saturday night.
Gonzales and his wife, Monica, welcomed their first child Monday, a girl named Grace Linda Gonzales.
The Seattle Mariners' left-hander, who missed his last start while on the paternity list, is scheduled to start against the Texas Rangers.
Gonzales, who has started the past three opening days for the Mariners, has dealt with injuries and ineffectiveness this season. He's 1-4 with a 5.10 ERA. He spent five weeks on the injured list with a left-forearm strain and is 0-1 in four starts since returning.
"I'm keeping that in the back of my mind to give myself a little bit of grace to iron some things out," Gonzales said. "But there's still some frustration because I want to go out and put up zeros to help the team win. The positive is building up a pitch count and being healthy."
In his last start, June 20 against Tampa Bay, Gonzales went 6 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits and matched his season high with six strikeouts. It was his first quality start since April 27.
Gonzales has had success against the Rangers, going 6-5 with a 3.84 ERA in 12 career starts against them.
Texas is scheduled to send right-hander Jordan Lyles (3-5, 5.12) to the mound. He's 1-5 with a 6.23 ERA in 10 career appearances against Seattle, including eight starts.
The Rangers have lost 13 consecutive games at T-Mobile Park, including 5-4 in 10 innings on Friday night.
Luis Torrens and Jake Fraley homered for the Mariners, and Fraley drove in the winning run in the 10th.
Texas' Joey Gallo walked and struck out three times as his streak of home runs ended at five games.
The teams combined for five errors, and four of the game's nine runs were unearned.
"They gave us three runs, maybe even all four," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "We gave them right back. Sometimes games happen like that."
The Mariners billed the game as their Grand Re-Opening Night, as it was the first time all season the crowd wasn't limited by Washington state coronavirus restrictions. The contest drew 28,638 fans, Seattle's biggest crowd in two years.
It was a homecoming of sorts for Rangers catcher John Hicks, who came on as a defensive substitute in the bottom of the ninth.
Hicks was called up from Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday when Jose Trevino went on the 10-day injured list with a right-forearm contusion. Hicks homered in Thursday's 8-3 victory at Oakland, his first homer in the majors since Sept. 28, 2019, with Detroit.
Hicks started his career with the Mariners in 2015 and later played for the Tigers.
"It was a whirlwind of emotions," Hicks said. "I'm just super excited to be a part of this team and be here."
With the trip to Seattle and the Tigers coming to Texas next week, Hicks will get a chance to face both of his former teams.
"That's the two teams that I played for in the big leagues with," Hicks said. " But whether we're here, in Oakland, anywhere, it doesn't matter. I'm excited to be in the big leagues and be on this team."
--Field Level Media