Seattle Mariners (2021 Daily Playthrough)

[ayaghmour2]

Are you guys first to 30? In real life Boston and San Diego could reach the mark today too

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by ayaghmour2

Are you guys first to 30? In real life Boston and San Diego could reach the mark today too

That honor belonged to Atlanta who accomplished it on the 17th. The Dodgers were second - they did it on the 21st.

We were 3rd. We'd have tied L.A. for 2nd had the Padres not shut us out last Friday. The table is attached... Neither Boston nor SD, has fared well in this version of the multiverse.

[pauwoo]

Some awards… Toronto’s Bo Bichette hard-charged his way through it last week, finished with a .423 AVG, 5 homers, and 8 RBI, and, as a result of his herculean efforts, is the recipient of the PotW award in the American League. Meanwhile, on the other side of the house, Anthony “bang for me” Rizzo put up a .500 average with 2 jacks, 6 RBI, and 8 runs for the Cubbies to earn the PotW honors in the NL.

Some awards, down on the farm… 3B Austin Shenton, currently putting in work in High A with our Everett Aquasox, won PotW in the High-A West league after finishing the week off on a torrid .360 clip with 2 ding dongs, 4 riblets, and 3 runs. Also, down in A ball at Modesto… 1B David Sheaffer took home the PotW hardware after registering a rip-roaring .667 average for the week for the Nuts.

Power Ranking:
Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Atlanta Braves (135.2, o)
2) Los Angeles Dodgers (123.7, +)
3) St. Louis Cardinals (121.5, +)
4) Seattle Mariners (117.9, ++)
5) Los Angeles Angels (111.2, ++)
6) San Francisco Giants (108.2, --)
7) New York Mets (108.0, --)
8) Chicago White Sox (105.0, -)
9) Cincinnati Reds (105.0, +)
10) Minnesota Twins (102.6, +)

Oakland is 12th, New York is 13th, and San Diego is 27th.

Seattle Mariners (30-17, .638, 1st AL West) @ Oakland Athletics (29-19, .604, 2nd AL West)
I’d like to say that Oakland has been our toughest competition so far this year – but that’s not true. We are, instead, their toughest competition – we’re not supposed to be here, we’ve stealthily closed in on them in some dank, dark alley on the wrong side of town, and no matter what they’ve tried to do so far, they just haven’t been able to shake us. We’re like the little brother who can’t be dissuaded from tagging along… Oakland is an impressive club – they score at an impressive clip (2nd in the AL for runs), they get on base (7th), they know how to work the basepaths when they get there (1st in baserunning with a +10.4 rating), and they are adept at putting balls over the fence (3rd). And look, we are good (not great) at those things too – the real story, however, is that this set will pit our tip-top staff (1st in runs against, 1st in Starters ERA, 3rd in FIP) against their rock ‘em, sock ‘em offense. Styles make fights, as they say, and our hope here is that they come out like Juan Manual Marquez while we busy ourselves by doing our best Floyd Mayweather Jr impression.

48 of 162: Logan Gilbert (0-0, 2.84) @ Sean Manaea (4-2, 4.33)
Win, 12-9. Here, we climbed into a phone booth and went toe-to-toe on the inside with the sluggers from Oakland – less Marquez v. Mayweather, more Gatti v. Ward. We came out hot, scoring two in the top of the 1st, but Oakland was equal to it early and torched us for 5 before we’d even see the 3rd inning. From there, we were all about it though as we’d score at least one run in each inning from the top of the 4th forward. Kelenic went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI and 3 runs, Dylan Moore went 4 for 5 with a two-bagger and 2 RBI, Fletcher put one out, J-Rod drove two in, and Kolton & K-Lew each drove one in for good measure. In the not-so-great column – we also put up our first double Golden Sombrero game on the board as Bobby Dalbec and Joc Pederson each went down on strikes 4 times… but let us not focus on the not-so-great – today we entered the Thunderdome ready for battle, soundtracked each of our plate appearances with Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best', and beat these guys at their own game. We are the best ever. The most brutal, vicious, and most ruthless club there’s ever been. There’s no club can stop us. Oakland is a conqueror? No. We’re Alexander. They’re no Alexander. We’re the best ever.


Elsewhere: Lucas Giolito, plying his trade for Chicago’s South Side representative, twirled a complete game, 4-hit shutout, and fanned 11 hapless hitters during the White Sox’s 9-0 win over the universally reviled St. Louis Cardinals. With the win, Giolito improves to 3-3 on the year with a 3.59 ERA, 133 ERA+, 2.41 FIP, and a league-leading 104 Ks. For reference, New York’s Garrett Cole is 2nd on the K table with 84.

Record: 31-17
Up Next: Another game contested in the Coliseum where we’ll do our level best to stay focused on the task at hand while trying not to think about the very real possibility of the visitors' dugout’s roof collapsing in on top of us.

[pauwoo]

We’re off to a rip-roaring start in Oakland after our 12-9 victory last night, even if that victory came at the expense of our staff who were overdue for a game like this one. In all, we trotted out 4 relievers last night during the win and don’t have too many arms available for us in this one tonight as a result. Let’s hope that Sanchez, who’s gone 8+ innings in each of his last two starts, can give us a good effort here to help secure the series win as we look to close out our California tour on a high note.

49 of 162: Aaron Sanchez (4-0, 2.37) @ Frankie Montas (4-4, 3.73)
Win, 6-1. Sanchez couldn’t quite stretch this start out to 8 innings again and wouldn’t need to as we were up 4-1 by the time he left after putting in 7 innings of work where he allowed only 4 hits and 1 runner to plate. Mitch put together a nice day at the plate – 3 for 3 with a run-scoring double – and five Mariners secured at least one RBI on the day with Bobby Dalbec, bouncing back nicely from yesterday’s golden sombrero, being the only Mariner to drive in two on a 2-run homer during the top of the very first inning. A solid, team-centric, all-around effort from the club today – it feels like we're at the part of the race where we’ve navigated all the early twists & turns and now get to open her up a little bit on the straightaway. Listen, our performance so far this year has been quite a surprise, and I’ll be the first to admit that my last thought each night before falling asleep is that something’s got to give – but, until it does, I’m just going to enjoy this ride, act like I’ve been here before, and own it.


Elsewhere: JT Brubaker, a Starting Pitcher, and Mustache Aficionado who in under the employ of the Pittsburgh Pirates, flirted with history today as he took a no-no bid into the 8th inning against the Chicago Cubs during his clubs 5-0 home victory. Brubaker went 9, hard-scrabble innings in this one allowing only a single hit with nothing earned, no free passes, and 5 Ks. Chicago’s Kris Bryant played the spoiler as he hit a nice one into the gap during the 8th and was promptly injured on the play after he tripped on the first bag trying to get greedy on the knock. The diagnosis, as they tend to be, is pending – hopefully, it’s nothing serious.

Record: 32-17
Up Next: We’ll attempt to sweep our way onto the tarmac as we close this set out against Oakland and head back to the PNW and welcome the struggling Texas Rangers to town for four games a TMO Park.

[pauwoo]

Our time in California is coming to an end as we will face the Athletics one more time before returning to the PNW in all its natural splendor – at worst, we’ll finish 1-1 in our series with a 3-3 record overall. At best, with a road sweep against Oakland completed here today, we’ll improve that record to 4-2, which, while not a lights-out result, has a much better ring to it than 3-3. Listen, I’m not against running in place, it’s a solid form of exercise, but we need to be banking W’s at this point in the season while we are in such an unexpectedly good form. You are always just one robbed base knock away from a cold snap, a run of form so poor and so pervasive that you forget what it feels like to play well – we can’t fall into that pattern yet… we’re requesting a flyby and it is our position that the pattern isn’t quite full yet.

50 of 162: Marco Gonzales (4-4, 3.44) @ Mike Fiers (2-2, 4.96)
Win, 3-1. We’re that snot-nosed jockey, coming in hot at 400 knots… Marco was sharp for us here and navigated his 8 innings of work admirably while allowing 5 weak little hits and an earned run. His form was impeccable, really, and, despite doling out a couple of free passes, Marco served notice to our young up and comers that he sits atop the rotation for a reason. Offensively we’d get a double and a triple from Joc, a run-scoring single from Haniger, and a run-scoring double from Kyle Lewis. It wasn’t all joy juice and band-aids, of course, as Bobby Dalbec fanned three times on the day, Kelenic, in an attempt to show off his wheels, got caught with his hand in the honeypot, and we left 6 of our guys stranded out there on the diamond. But - ROAD SWEEP!


Elsewhere: San Diego’s Joe Musgrove twirled an 8-inning, 3-hit shutout against the Milwaukee Brewers during a 5-1 win for the Padres. He has now registered two straight appearances without giving up a run with the first coming against us in San Diego late last week. I’d like to say that this makes me feel a little bit better about what he did to us, like we just ran into a chainsaw that night – but it doesn’t. Not one bit.

Record: 33-17
Up Next: We’ll return to the friendly confines of T-Mo Park and lock horns with the floundering Texas Rangers for four games. Good opportunity to add to our 4.5 game lead over the Athletics as they will be facing the Angels, who arrive in Oakland on an 8-2 tear.

[pauwoo]

No rest for the wicked… it’s good to be home, surrounded by our own things – but, same as it ever was, the grind continues. On another note… Ty France is scheduled to return to the big club today after his stint on the IL – he’ll be slotted into the starting lineup tonight against the Rangers…

Texas Rangers (14-37, .275, 5th AL West) @ Seattle Mariners (33-17, .660, 1st AL West)
At 14-37 so far on the year and coming off a 3-7 stretch over their last 10 tilts, it’s safe to say that this will not be Texas’ year. Mired in the first year of their own reimagining, their core gutted, the engine parted out – the Texas Rangers have the look of a club that won’t be a serious contender for at least 5 years. Maybe six, hell, who knows… what is clear is that, in 2021, they are playing the role of that young couple who has moved into their first house, one step up from a starter home, who have enough to cover the mortgage without the means to furnish the place – this will take some time. The savings account needs to be replenished; equity needs to build. And they have a long ways to go – for now, they’ll have to settle for their 231 runs scored so far (good enough for 12th in the AL), their paltry .238 average (15th), their Starters ERA of 7.38 (last in the AL, obviously), and their 351 runs against (also, you guessed it, last in the AL). Honestly, the only interesting things about this club right now are imagining what they can get in return for Joey Gallo and, to a lesser degree, Nick Solak. For our part, the challenge here isn’t so much our opponent as it is our ability to stay focused on the task at hand and play up to the level that we’re capable of.

51 of 162: Dane Dunning (3-2, 4.56) @ Matt Manning (3-2, 2.45)
Win, 9-3. We are on something of a tear right now… Parlez-vous Ty France made his presence known with a 3-run homer in the 4th, Bobby D also put one out and scored a few times, and Starter Matt Manning was serviceable over 6 innings of work where he’d allow only 5 hits and 2 runners to score. Rounding out the highlights – Wong went 4 for 4 with a couple runs brought in, Haniger went 3 for 4 with a double, and TnT went 3 for 4 with an RBI single and a run scored. Some good baserunning today too – Haniger and Trammel each burgled a bag – and our bullpen locked this one down after the 6th like it was no big deal. And, who knows, maybe it wasn’t. This is how you reintroduce yourself to the hometown faithful – you treat the ~36K in attendance, and the MILLIONS watching around the world, to a rip-roaring, joyfully exuberant, brand of baseball where your opponent is left disoriented, and you can do no wrong.


Elsewhere: Giancarlo Stanton, of the New York Yankees, took some monstrous hacks at it today and came up smelling roses as he went 2 for 2 with TWO DING DONGS, 3 total RBI, 2 runs, and a couple of free passes during what would be a 5-4 win over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. New York and Dunedin are locked into quite the battle so far for 2nd on the AL East table – with the win, New York is now a scant 0.5 game off the Blue Jays pace and 3.5 games off the clip set by the Rays so far.

Record: 34-17
Up Next: We’ll come out ready to rock, and hopefully roll the Rangers once again as we attempt to build on our 5-game winning streak… a win tomorrow would equal our best run so far this year at 6 straight victories. Team leaders are attached for the lulz… looks like Fletch is doing his level best to bring the dead-ball era back one triplet at a time.

[pauwoo]

I decided to take the Porche (except it’s actually a Camry) to the ballpark today, the top is down (except it’s not a convertible), I’m soaking it all in and bagging some rays (except I’m in Seattle, it’s a balmy 62 degrees, and cloudy) – with the way we’ve been playing, punching above our weight, everything feels easy, like the sun is shining down on me 24 hours a day… Of course, in reality, it’s never easy, right? Baseball is a fickle mistress who’ll turn on you at the drop of a hat - or - as soon as someone better, more prestigious, more connected to the bourgeoises comes along. Right now we’re the cock of the walk – the star Quarterback of some small-town Texas high school – everybody knows who we are, everybody thinks we’re the second coming, but, in reality, we’re just one pick six away from riding the pine and being doomed to living out an obscure existence. Look, I’ve said it before, several times probably – for now, we enjoy this, we soak it in, try it on, see how it fits, do our little strut. We haven't had many opportunities to strut over the last several seasons – so – we’ll take this bull by the horns and eclipse 8 seconds if we can.


Side note: Just got word that the Angels extended SP Andrew Heaney’s contract for SEVEN YEARS for $118M over the term and $16.8M/per. The Oklahoma City native, and Oklahoma State University graduate, will be an Anaheim mainstay until he’s been on this rock for 36 complete circles around that mass of incandescent gas. Good on the Kid, I hope he buys himself something nice – you know, splurge a little… supersize it or whatever.

52 of 162: Jordan Lyles (1-0, 6.97) @ Matthew Boyd (5-3, 3.39)
Loss, 6-3. Hmpf. Just when you let your guard down a smidge, when you start believing the effusive platitudes being written about you in the local Sports section, baseball has a way of sucker-punching you back into reality. Here we came out with our hands at our sides, showing complete disdain for Texas’ ability to land so much as a jab, when Joey freakin’ Gallo stepped up to the plate, during the top of the 6th, and sent a ball so far over the fence that some kid listening to the broadcast in Juneau, AK has a good shot at finding the ball in his yard. A 3-run moonbeam that put this one out of reach – we had some opportunities, of course, Haniger & Hedges went yard and we put 9 runners on in total. The problem, however, was that we left 6 of those poor souls stranded, K-Lew hit into a DP at the most inopportune of times, Kelenic added his first career Golden Sombrero to his permanent record, and Matthew Boyd was schizophrenic out on the bump – 9 Ks, 2 HRA, 6 earned, 2 free passes, and a big fat L to move his record on the season to a ho-hum 5-4. I might just leave the Porche (It’s a Camry, forest green, bought it used with 43K miles on it, actually got a pretty good deal on it) at the park and take an Uber home so I can hide my face in my hands for the duration of the trip.

Elsewhere: Gleyber Torres, of the New Yawk Yanks, went 3 for 5 with 2 JACKS, 4 total RBI, and 2 runs during his clubs unfortunate 10-9 loss against the Detroit Tigers… the loss, against the 2nd worst team in the American League, puts them 4 games off the pace set by Tampa Bay in the AL East. Toronto dropped their game as well, though, so still just a half-game behind the Jays.

Record: 34-18
Up Next: A must-win against the Texas Rangers to secure, at the very least, a split in this 4-game parlay.

[pauwoo]

We’re about ~8 weeks into the season now, likely a bit more actually, and we’re starting to get our throwdown groove on - settling into the baseball marathon – like we’re stuck in our own version of Groundhog Day, effortlessly blending bad bounce induced cynicism with wide-eyed sentimentality while learning to love the whole thing – all of it. The short hops, the bad ones, bang-bang plays, a can of corn, and the one that gets lost in the lights… ya know, the whole “it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey” bit… And hey, Texas is in town. And, even though we dropped one to them yesterday, they still suck – so, if nothing else, we have a good shot at getting back on the moped here…

53 of 162: Hyun-jong Yang (1-4, 6.00) @ Logan Gilbert (1-0, 4.85)
Win, 5-4. Logan looked brilliant tossing the ball to our catcher in this one – 8-innings, 5 hits, 2 earned, a walk, 9 K’s, and his 2nd W with the big club… Tom Murphy, not content to just frame up a few of Logan’s less-than-perfect offerings, went 2 for 3 with a 2-run jack, we got additional dingers from Big Bat Bobby Dalbec (HIS SEVENTEENTH) and Fletch, a 2-out RBI from Dylan Moore (who started in RF today), and no one put a Golden on the board (though, K-Lew gave it the ol’ college try in an 0 for 4, 3 K day). 10th Save for David Robertson too… oh, and the run that put us over the top came during the bottom of the 6th on a run-scoring hit by pitch for Dylan Moore, who told reporters after the game that he was “satisfied” with the win today. We need to get that kid some media training… sheesh. Vanilla – so, so vanilla.


Elsewhere: Gavin Lux, of Dodgers infamy, went 4 for 5 with THREE DING DONGS, 5 RBI, and 4 runs during LA’s 13-4 shellacking of the San Francisco Giants while Milwaukee’s Keston Hiura tried to match Gavin’s output during a 4 for 4 performance that included 2 solo jacks, 3 runs, and a walk – nothing doing though as his club dropped the tilt against the Nationals by a final tally of 12-8. And, because we’re talking about jacks, Giancarlo Stanton put a 2-run ball out of the park as the Yankees dispatched the Tigers by a score of 7-3. Hell, while we’re at it, who else put balls over the fence today? McCutchen put one out for Philly, their only run in what was ultimately a 7-1 loss against the Rays, Adam Eaton put his 6th over the fence for the White Sox as they put the Orioles away by a score of 9-2, and Houston’s Yordan Alvarez put his league-leading 23rd ball over the fence for Houston as they dropped the Padres by a score of 7-3. In all, there were FIFTY balls hit beyond the field of play today – and, interestingly, 25 each in the National and American Leagues, respectively. I do like the synergy – but 50 seems like a lot, right?

Record: 35-18
Up Next: We’ll play our 4th and final (well, not "final" final, but you know what I mean) game against the Rangers and do our level best to keep them from knotting things up and securing a split.

[pauwoo]

A win against Texas today would put us at 5-2-2 in series played during the month of May… which, no matter how you stack it, is a lot better than finishing the month out at 4-2-3, and, like a proper football club, we’ll chase that 2-point differential with the tenacity of 1000 bulldogs. Or not, I don’t know what that kind of tenacity would really look like and I’m not 100% confident that we’d be able to muster the energy required to match it – so, instead, let me just say that we really, really want to win this one today. It’s just much better for our confidence than the alternative.

54 of 162: Mike Foltynewicz (2-4, 6.44) @ Aaron Sanchez (5-0, 2.20)
Win, 9-3. We’d manage to put this one away early with a 5-run bottom of the 2nd – TnT hit a double that advanced France to 3rd, K-Lew brought France in and advanced TnT to 3rd with a run-scoring single, Fletch put a double on the board that scored Trammell, Hedges sacrificed K-Lew in, and, finally, Kolten Wong hit a 2-run JACK to run it up on the Rangers before they even realized the game had started… Another great outing from Sanchez who improved to 6-0 after 7, hard-scrabble innings of work, our defense fielded two superb DP’s, and we only struck out three times as a club. Like a finely tuned machine – pistons primed, the gas tank is full, and with an expert behind the wheel… we might run the table from here on out, guys...


Elsewhere: George Springer, who is not out due to some mysterious malady in this version of the multiverse, went 3 for 4 with 2 DING DONGS, 6 RBI, 2 runs, and a walk to lead his Toronto Blue Jays to a 14-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. His game score of 91 is good enough for the 7th best individual offensive game performance so far this year – his entry into the top 10 pushes Mike Yastrzemski’s 89-point day he laid down against our own Seattle Mariners on April 2nd to 11th – So long old boy… we barely knew ye.

Record: 36-18, and pretty much unstoppable at this point…
Up Next: We’ll welcome Oakland to town for a three-game set before heading back on the road for 10 games over 11 days… Anaheim, Detroit, Cleveland – not the most exciting road trip. Note to self… send a letter, marked urgent, and filled with glitter, to the MLB’s scheduling office, sit back, wait, and laugh uncontrollably when the cease-and-desist email gets sent out to all the GMs in the league. I’ll likely drive to Louisville to send it off, though – gotta throw ol’ Robbie Manfred off the scent.

[pauwoo]

Some awards… 1B Miguel Sano, of the Minnesota Twins, took home the PotW award in the American League after finishing out the last 7 days on an 11 for 27 tear with 5 jacks and 8 RBI. Pittsburgh’s LF Bryan Reynolds was the National League recipient of the PotW award after hitting safely 12 times and driving in 6 runs for the week.

Some bad news… Toronto’s SP Hyun-Jin Ryu has been officially sidelined for the season due to a ruptured ulnar collateral ligament. He was dealing too – 3-1 with a 2.79 ERA, 175 ERA+, and a FIP- of 67 – huge loss for Toronto who find themselves 3.5 games off the AL East division-leading Tampa Bay Rays and will likely see that gap get worse after losing Ryu.

Power Rankings…
Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Atlanta Braves (139.5, o)
2) Los Angeles Dodgers (131.3, o)
3) Chicago White Sox (129.2, ++)
4) Seattle Mariners (126.0, o)
5) St. Louis Cardinals (111.7, -)
6) New York Mets (105.3, +)
7) Tampa Bay Rays (104.3, ++)
8) Cincinnati Reds (103.4, +)
9) Oakland Athletics (101.7, ++)
10) Kansas City Royals (99.8, ++)

Angels are 12th, Astros 17th, Yankees 20th, Phillies 21st, Padres 28th…

Oakland Athletics (32-23, .582, 2nd AL West (Seattle Mariners (36-18, .667, 1st AL West)
The Bay Area also-rans have been formidable so far this season – they came off the line hot, led our division for a good stretch, and look primed to, at the very least, earn a wild card berth by the time this thing is all said and done. Lately, however, they’ve come crashing back down to earth – something we have yet to do – after orbiting the American League in that rarefied air reserved for the favorites, the juggernauts, the crème de la crème. Things have slowed down for the Athletics – they’re hobbled a bit, their gait labored, and they’ve just been, sort of, shuffling along posting a 3-7 record over their last 10 contests. Of course, every low tide is met with a rising tide and we just have to hope that the water stays out long enough for us to pull some geoducks off the beach and to usher these guys out of town before the surf crashes back into shore. And, look, despite their recent run of ho-hum form – and the fact that we own a 3-0 record against these guys so far – this isn’t going to be some walk in the park. They kind of know what they’re doing – 1st in runs scored, they get on base at a good clip (5th), can run the bases (2nd), and have a staff that has posted the 2nd best FIP in the AL. They’re also tied for 2nd in dingers – but, we’re in Seattle for this set, so, hopefully, we’ll not need to think on that one very much. This, then, is something of a litmus test – are we every bit as good as they say, or are we just another early-season surprise that’ll turn out to be fraudulent – just another paper tiger for the internet age?

55 of 162: Mike Fiers (2-3, 4.97) @ Marco Gonzales (5-4, 3.20)
Win, 5-0. Marco was dealing here – he opened the door a crack to see who was out on the porch, found whatever sales pitch they went with wanting, and promptly shut it down. 8.2 innings, 6 hits, 0 earned, and 5 Ks for the Seattle mainstay (by our Trader Jerry standards). Wong went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run, Haniger punched one out (his 6th), Joc scored a run, Hedges hit a run-scoring double, and Triple-B (Big Bat Bobby Dalbec) drove in two on a well hit single. We even showed the D a little bit with a Moore-Wong-Dalbec double-play and an Outfield Assist from Kyle Lewis, who caught Piscotty trying to get cute. That’s 3 in a row for the good guys and 8-2 for our last 10 tilts.


Elsewhere: Andrew Vaughn, of the Chicago White Sox, went 3 for 5 with a triple, TWO JACKS, 5 RBI, and 3 runs during his clubs 11-4 dismantling of the Cleveland Indians. Vaughn has put something snappy together so far in 2021, his 1st Major League season, with a .277/.382/.523 slash, 3 DINGERS, 12 RIBLETS, and a 139 OPS+. I honestly have no idea who this guy is – his ratings are nice for sure. His FG doesn’t seem to have eyebrows though, and that makes me feel a bit, umm, uneasy. More importantly, if you’re a White Sox fan, the club now finds themselves in the midst of an 8-game winning streak and are 9-1 in their last ten. Also, Marcell Ozuna, of the league-best, 39-14 Atlanta Braves, has been suspended indefinitely.

Record: 37-18
Up Next: More of the same… hopefully. We’d like to pad our lead in the AL West as much as we can before our gradual descent back to reality.

[pauwoo]

Some monthly awards… Houston’s Yordan Alvarez and Arizona’s Eduardo Escobar took home Batter of the Month honors in their respective leagues while SP Michael Pineda (MIN) and SP Joe Musgrove (SD) did the same in the pitching category. The MLB also announced some Greenhorn of the Month recipients, including our very own SP Matt Manning and Cincinnati’s Kyle Holder.

56 of 162: Jesus Luzardo (3-1, 3.95) @ Matt Manning (4-2, 2.54)
Win, 5-3. Fresh off collecting his Greenhorn of the Month hardware, Matt Manning put in some work for the hometown faithful – 6 innings, 5 hits against, 3 earned runs, a walk, and 8 K’s for the FIVE GAME WINNER. Kelenic went 2 for 4 with a two-bagger, a three-bagger, 2 RBI, and 2 runs on the day, K-Lew (who is no longer eligible for my bronze team in PT – curse you person who updates the live card values) went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, and David Robertson picked up his 11th save of the season. Our run of form here lately has really been something to behold.


Elsewhere: Starling Marte, of the Miami Marlins, went 5 for 5 with a two-bagger, a jack, 3 runs, and one brought in during a 6-5 loss against the Toronto Blue Jays. Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier also went 5 for 5 with a couple of doubles and a run during his clubs 7-3 win over the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, Michael Conforto wasn’t perfect at the plate but did put a couple out as his New York Mets clubbed the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 11-5.

Record: 38-18
Up Next: We’ll play one more in our park against the A’s before boarding a plane bound for Orange County to challenge Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon to a duel.

[pauwoo]

A quick stop on my way to the office – grabbed myself a Glo’s Lil' Sammy from Glo’s to get my day started off on the good foot. A toasted English muffin, one over hard egg, some cheddar, and I went with the avocado for my choose one – I want to get into that Anaheim, we only shop at Whole Foods, mindset before we board the plane to So-Cal. Of course, we have some business to attend to first against the A’s, and I’m trying to be careful not to overlook them… they’re that club, the one that will smack you in the mouth while you’re distracted by some dish in the crowd. You gotta watch those guys – and always keep them on the periphery, preferably just out of punching distance.

In other news… LF Matt Kemp, currently plying his trade with the Minnesota Twins, has announced his intention to retire. Weird quote from the guy, too… "I loved playing a kid's game and getting paid well to do it. I loved the travel, and the attention ballplayers get," he said. "But what I'm really going to miss is a lot of the little things that go on behind the scenes. I'm going to miss playing on perfectly mowed grass each day. That's our stage, and a bunch of anonymous groundskeepers made that happen each week." Giving some love to the grounds crew? I mean, I think that is his intent here…

57 of 162: Chriss Bassitt (5-2, 4.05) @ Matthew Boyd (5-4, 3.89)
Loss, 4-1. We got too big for our britches here – felt too comfortable in our own skin, were complacent, and went through the motions like a club who believed that a positive result was just a foregone conclusion. Oakland, as is their wont, had other ideas – and, led by Seth Brown’s 2-run blast and Bassitt’s solid 7-innings of work, summarily dismissed us in front of our hometown crowd… just tossed us off like a 100lb weakling in a tough man competition. Boyd was serviceable – I’m sensing a trend for the guy – and gave us a gutsy 6.2 inning performance where he’d allow 7 hits and 3 runs while fanning 12, but it was all for naught as our offense was putrid and whatever verve we had on display in days past was nonexistent. We could only muster 3 total hits as a club, with two of those being secured by the light-hitting Dylan Moore, had two players flirt with a Golden Sombrero (3 K’s each for Kelenic and Haniger), hit into a double play at the most inopportune of times, and got caught with our hand in the honeypot twice. The only thing we did right today was make it to the park on time. Sheesh.


Elsewhere: Nelson Cruz, 2x winner of GQ Magazine’s Coolest Dude on the Planet Award and slugger for the Minnesota Twins, did some slugging against the Baltimore Orioles today – 3 for 3, TWO DING DONGS, 4 RBI, and 3 runs for Boomstick. Alright you Primitive screwheads, listen up! You see this? This... is my boomstick! The Marucci NC23 Maple. Marucci’s top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Retails for about a hundred and sixty-nine, ninety-five. It's got a maple stock, clear wood finish, and, in the right hands, a hair-trigger. That's right. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart. You got that?

Record: 38-19, which, if you are counting is not as good as it was yesterday.
Up Next: We’ll head to Anaheim to play against the Angels, and, for my part, I’ll be soundtracking the experience to Pavement’s Unfair.

[pauwoo]

Seattle Mariners (38-19, .667, 1st AL West) @ Los Angeles Angels (31-25, .554, 3rd AL West)
Orange County has been lost in the shuffle a bit – flying under the radar like an SR-71 Blackbird gathering intel on its unsuspecting foes. Their form has gone unnoticed nationally, but it is not lost on us – these guys play it off legit like Dean Ween on Independence Day, they’re always ready to roll, and, in Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, and Shohei Ohtani they have a trio of difference-makers that give clubs like ours fits. That they’re hanging tough at 3rd on the AL West table with an offense ranked last in our league for Runs Scored and second-to-last in Average isn’t comforting, it’s scary. Here you have a club that's winning ballgames 55% of the time while not firing on all cylinders – like, they’re just one, shoddy Jiffy Lube tune-up from dialing it all in, putting things together in exactly the right order, and making a move on Oakland and ourselves. The goal here is to stave that off for a bit, to march into their house, grab a cold one out of the fridge, rip the remote from their kung fu grip, and take our rightful place in the Lay-Z-Boy as we settle in for an Office marathon.

58 of 162: Logan Gilbert (2-0, 3.86) @ Jose Quintana (5-4, 4.10)
Win, 5-2. We were only a couple of steps into their house, hadn’t even cleared the foyer before we declared their home as our own with a 2-run dinger from former Angel, current Mariner, David Fletcher as the opening salvo in the top of the 2nd. From there, we’d just settle in, get all nice and cozy, and enjoy the free beers, the comforts of a pleather Lay-Z-Boy, and yuk it up with Season 4’s Branch Wars episode set on repeat. Logan pitched like a legend – 7.1 innings, 3 hits allowed, 1 earned, and 6 K’s for the once and future king – Triple B put his 19th ball out of the park (he’d also strike out 4 times – GOLDEN SOMBREROS ALL AROUND, but I digress), and Wong drove one in on a well-hit double. We’d get a swiped bag from Kelenic, Robertson secured his 12th save, and the win here as Trout & Rendon combined for a 0 for 5 day at the plate.


Elsewhere: New York’s Jacob deGrom held San Diego in check over 7 innings of hardscrabble work where he’d allow only one hit and nothing earned while fanning 11 Padres during the contest. Four of his Ks came at the expense of Wil Meyers while Cronenworth, Machado, Ha-seong Kim, Jurickson Profar, Austin Nola, and Eric Hosmer all lined up to add their name to the list. The Mets, now sitting at 33-23 and 8 games behind the Atlanta Braves, won the game by a score of 3-0. For what it’s worth… San Diego hasn’t been able to right the ship while Tatis Jr has been on the IL… he’ll be out for at least the rest of this month, so, by the time the kid returns he’ll likely be sauntering into a down-trodden clubhouse with no hope of turning this thing around.

Record: 39-19
Up Next: We’ll continue our stay in the land of make-believe for a few more days and attempt to secure the split tomorrow with another win…

[pauwoo]

I had no luck squeezing in a tee time at Anaheim Hills Golf Course before I was due to arrive at the park – which is a shame as sending my wicked slice into a 4-some of the Anaheim elite would have been worth the price of admission alone… I did, however, manage to get a World’s Best at Knowlwood on my way in though, so all is right with the world – especially when you factor in that we’re starting Aaron Sanchez today. He’ll be putting his unbeaten, 6-0 record on the line as we attempt to win our 8th game in 10 tries and secure a split here in Vanilla-Ville.

59 of 162: Aaron Sanchez (6-0, 2.25) @ Andrew Heaney (4-5, 5.45)
Win, 3-0. Sanchez gave us 6, shutout innings, allowed 5 hits, walked four, and fanned 2 while, somehow, someway, earning his 7th victory of the year. Joc put a wicked line together for us as he was in ‘get it done any way you can’ mode during an 0 for 2, 2 run, 2 walk performance, and Wong, France, and Austin Hedges each drove in a run to secure the victory. Ty earned his on a SAC FLY – team first, this guy. This one wasn’t without its issues though – Ty also hit into a double play, Kyle Lewis & Dylan Moore each got caught with their hand in the honey pot, and both Haniger & Sanchez left early with undisclosed injuries. Mitch’s malady, some shoulder soreness, is something we’ll look at for a few days as we submit the lineup card, while the jury is still out – diagnosis pending – on Sanchez.


Elsewhere: SP Freddy Peralta, no relation to Stacy, hurled an 8-inning, 1-hit, 1 run masterpiece and fanned 13 unwitting batsmen in Milwaukee’s 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 13 K’s matches Freddy’s career-best which he previously achieved in Colorado way back in 2018 during his Major League Debut. This time it came against another NL West opponent, but at least his hometown fans were there to cheer him on this time as the game took place in Milwaukee.

Record: 40-19. We’re tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the 2nd club in the majors to reach 40 wins – Atlanta did it first… two days ago.
Up Next: More fear and loathing in Anaheim…we can't stop here - this is mouse country!

[pauwoo]

60 of 162: Marco Gonzales (6-4, 2.87) @ Patrick Sandoval (3-1, 1.78)
Win, 4-1. We’re now on a 3-game winning streak courtesy of Marco’s 8-inning, 2-hitter, our three homers (all solo shots, all off Sandoval), and some defensive wizardry in the 7th on a Fletcher-Haggerty-Dalbec double-play that killed the Angels’ best attempt at a rally. By the time Haniger & Joc both hit solo shots in the top of the 6th, sending Sandoval to the showers, the attendance at Angel Stadium of Anaheim had dwindled to below half of the ~40K in attendance thry announced at the beginning of the game. Of course, in keeping with our recent run of injury misfortune, Ty France exited stage left after being hit by a pitch… diagnosis, same as it ever was, is pending…

Oh, and we're still waiting to hear about Sanchez...


Elsewhere: Giancarlo Stanton, of the New York Yankees, went 4 for 4 and matched our HR total at THREE DING DONGS against Boston during a 4-1 win for the Bronx Bombers. Stanton was responsible for each of New York's 4 runs in this one, folks… he was the whole show. Not to be outdone, even though he kind of was, George Springer, of Team Canada, went 2 for 3 with TWO JACKS, 5 total RBI, and 3 runs during Toronto’s 12-8 win over the floundering Houston Astros who fall back to .500 after their former superstar stuck it to them. Et tu, Jorge?

Record: 41-19
Up Next: We’ll do our level best to secure a rare 4-game sweep over the Los Angeles Angels before heading to Detroit. I’ll likely fly back to Seattle, do some office work, and then fly out to Detroit on the 8th. I’m not trying to have a day off in Detroit. Motor City? Pfft.

[pauwoo]

Well, the injury diagnosis finally came in for SP Aaron Sanchez and it’s not great – he’ll miss 4 weeks due to bicep tendonitis. It could be worse – IT CAN ALWAYS BE WORSE – Washington announced that SP Stephen Strasburg will miss 4 months, Atlanta made it known that RP Will Smith will miss the rest of the season due to shoulder inflammation, and SS Andrelton Simmons, of the Minnesota Twins, will miss the remainder of the season with a torn posterior cruciate ligament. Yikes.

Atlanta, for their part, made a move to shore up their pen in Smith’s absence though - The Chicago Cubs have made a deal sending 32-year-old RHP Brandon Workman to the Atlanta Braves for 18-year-old minor-league CF Luis Jose and 20-year old minor league RHP Jorge Bautista. I guess that the Braves are serious about winning this thing.

A quick look in on Kyle Seager, who, as you may (or may not) know, we traded to the Detroit Tigers before the start of the season… he’s batting .270/.353/.440 with 7 homers, 40 RBI, a 106 OPS+, and a 1.6 WAR so far. I mean, that is not too shabby. Good on him – looking forward to seeing him in Detroit on Tuesday.

Also, we did a thing… Long Jr. for Duplantier: Morgan Freeman, general manager of the Seattle Mariners, has signed off on a trade for Arizona's 26-year-old RHP Jon Duplantier. The Mariners will send 25-year-old minor-league 2B Shed Long Jr. to the Diamondbacks to complete the deal. For now, we’ll slot Duplantier into the rotation on the big club – if he holds his own, cool, if not… we’ll let him hang out in Tacoma while Justus joins us in Seattle.

61 of 162: Matt Manning (5-2, 2.80) @ Dylan Bundy (5-3, 5.50)
Loss, 2-1. So close, but yet, so far… Mike Trout would be our undoing here – his 2-run shot in the bottom of the 8th would be all she wrote in this one – and we will have to settle for the L despite Matt Manning gutting out a 6.1 inning performance where he gave up 4 hits and 3 walks while managing to navigate each self-inflicted jam with dignity and aplomb. Kyle Lewis drove in our only run on a single that plated Taylor Trammell, Graveman threw one bad pitch and paid for it with a blown save charged to his account, and Fletcher committed an error on his way out the door to help his former club feel a bit better about dealing him to us before Opening Day.


Elsewhere: Toronto’s Rowdy Tellez went 3 for 4 with 2 jacks, 6 RBI, and 2 runs as the Blue Jays continued to dismantle the Houston Astros. With the win, Team Canada completed the sweep and won the 3 contests by a combined score of 34-11. Meanwhile, Rowdy, with his performance in this one, managed to crack the top ten Top Game Performances and is now listed at 8th on that table. Boston’s Xander Bogaerts was booted from the top 10 as a result and will now be left to languish, mid-table, with the rest of the riffraff.

Oh, and finally, the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news… your boy, Downey, CA’s favorite son, and Seattle’s best option at 3B, Ty France, will be out for the next 4 weeks with a fractured wrist. I don’t like it. Not one bit.

Record: 41-20
Up Next: A much-needed respite from the grind followed by a visit to Kyle Seager and his Tigers in the city of Detroit.

[pauwoo]

We’re off today – finally – and will, along with 26 other major league ballclubs, enjoy this much-needed respite from the grind. There are only two games on the MLB docket this evening – KC will begin their 3-game set in Orange County against Shohei Ohtani on the bump, and the floundering Chicago Cubs (21-38) are in San Diego to take on the equally poor Padres. So, all in all, the league has a really exciting day in store for the hardcore fans.


Elsewhere: JP Crawford went 3 for 4 with a double and 3 RBI while Albert Pujols turned back the clock and delivered a 2 for 3, two double, 3 RBI performance as the Orange County Angels ran roughshod over the visiting Royals by a score of 12-5. Rendon & Jared Walsh each hit balls out for the Seraphs during a 9-run, bottom of the 3rd that put this one to bed before most of the Kansas City players realized that the game had started. Meanwhile, in San Diego, the Padres managed to earn a rare win against the visiting Cubs by a score of 6-5. Yu Darvish gave the Pods 5.1 innings of work, allowing 3 runs while fanning 6, and Wil Myers hit a 2-run DING DONG during the bottom of the 7th, with 2 outs already on the board, to put the Padres up for good.

Up Next: We’ll be in Detroit for a 3-game set against the 23-37 Tigers.

[pauwoo]

Seattle Mariners (41-20, .672, 1st AL West) @ Detroit Tigers (23-37, .383, 5th AL Central)
Things have not exactly gone swimmingly for the Detroit Tigers so far in 2021 – they boast a -52 rDiff, are 8-23 on the road (though they have played above .500 at home), and find themselves at or near the bottom of nearly every statistical category worth mentioning. Outside of their baserunning prowess, where they rank 2nd in the American League, there really isn’t an area that you can point to that the Tigers could build around – theirs is an all-encompassing malaise and a realization that, without a series of wholesale changes, they are doomed to remain at the bottom of the barrel for this season and, potentially, many more to come. Conversely, we’re coming in hot – winning ballgames at an impressive clip, boasting a +103 rDiff – but, as is well known, there are many ways to douse a flame. You can run into a bigger bully and have your lunchbox took, or maybe you underestimate a little guy on the playground who, as it turns out, has some scraps… or, and this is the bit that worries me, you get complacent, over-confident in your ability to impose your will on the competition, and, ultimately, just come out flat, with no verve, off-tempo, and out of tune. Hopefully, the boys will bring, at the very least, their B+ game so we can navigate this set successfully before heading off to Cleveland. I’m like Alfred E. Neuman over here… what, me worry?

62 of 162: Matthew Boyd (5-5, 3.90) @ Casey Mize (2-7, 4.58)
Win, 6-4. After going down to Detroit by 4 runs before completing the 4th frame, we’d claw our way back into this one, first with a 3-run top of the 5th punctuated by a 3-run homer from Austin Hedges, and finally with a 3-run top of the 7th that put us ahead for good when Dylan Moore put a 2-run shot into the cheap seats. Each of our runs were scored off homers with Joc rounding out our offensive efforts in that category with a solo shot in the 7th, former Detroit stalwart, and current Seattle fan fave, Matty Boyd picked up his 6th win at his previous clubs’ expense, and D. Robertson earned his 14th save of the year. The real story here, however, or at least the one that will lead off our highlight package on SportsCenter, was the bench-clearing brawl that took place during the top of the 5th when Kolten Wong charged the mound after Casey Mize sailed one in high and tight. I have to admit that it was a little strange seeing Kyle Seager, who went 1 for 4 with an RBI on a SAC FLY today, join in on the melee sending some bad ones into the fray. Kolten will miss 4-games as a result of his emotionally immature outburst while Mize will miss 8-games for attempted murder by two-seamer.

Elsewhere: Miami’s SP Sand Alcantara fanned 10 Rockies batsmen who didn’t seem to enjoy playing at sea level very much during an 8-inning, 3-hit, and 1 earned performance that led the Marlins to a much-needed 2-1 win over Colorado. The win moves Miami to 20-41 on the year which doesn’t seem like much, but as the last club to reach 20 wins this season, I’m sure they’re happy to get that monkey off their back. With the loss, Colorado falls to 21-40 and has now lost 4 straight games. Also, in former, 2-time Mariner news, SP James Paxton, currently a Brewer of ill-repute, put in an 8-inning, 2-hit shutout performance against the Cincinnati Reds to lead his club to a solid, 3-0 victory in Ohio.

Record: 42-20, .677 – only a scant 2 games off the pace set by the Atlanta Braves.
Up Next: I’ll likely attempt to scare up some pierogis on my way to the park before settling in on what should be another rough & tumble, rock ‘em, sock ‘em robots contest against the Detroit Tigers.

[pauwoo]

63 of 162: Logan Gilbert (3-0, 3.18) @ Tyler Alexander (4-4, 5.75)
Win, 3-0. Logan Gilbert, in picking up his 4th consecutive win since his Major League debut, has been everything we could have wants & more… he gave us 8 masterful innings in this one, allowed only 3 hits, no runs, and fanned 3. A solo shot from Joc served as the opening salvo during the top of the 3rd, and Dylan Moore followed that up only two batters later with a 2-run moonshot of his own to give us all the cushion we’d need to dispatch the lowly Tigers in front of their hometown faithful. Seager, in what was something of a theme for Detroit today, went 0 for 4 at the plate and will have to wait at least one more day to exact some small measure of revenge on our organization for dooming him to another year of baseball purgatory.

Elsewhere: Toronto was doing big things today – they completed dismantled the White Sox, in Chicago, by a score of 21-6 behind George Springer’s 4 for 5 day that included a two-bagger, a jack, 4 riblets, and 3 runs. They’d also get contributions from Lourdes Gurriel Jr, who went 3 for 6 with a two-bagger, TWO JACKS, 6 RBI, and 3 runs, and Teoscar Hernandez who contributed an additional 6 RBI to the cause off 3 for 6 hitting that included, you guessed it, a two-bagger and a JACK. Good day to be a Jays fan… that much is for sure.

Record: 43-20
Up Next: One more day in Detroit and a chance to earn the ever-elusive road sweep!

[pauwoo]

64 of 162: Jon Duplantier (3-1, 4.09) @ Jose Urena (1-1, 4.73)
Win, 3-1. New guy, affectionately known as the French Inspector Duplantier, came out looking good in his Seattle debut – unfortunately, the injury Gods were not so kind to him or us… we managed to get 3.1 innings out of him, he allowed only three hits and 1 run during the effort, walked a couple (meh), and fanned a couple (that’s cool) before leaving with an undisclosed injury (and the diagnosis is, of course, pending). No bother, or actually, it is bother because if we can’t have Duplantier in the rotation as a stop-gap then we’d really like to get Shed and his versatility back, as Joshy Lindboom worked 4 PERFECT innings in relief with 7 Ks to secure his 4th W of the season, and Hernandez came in and sniped a save. Offensively we were a’ight – nothing fancy, all hard hats and lunch boxes – we got an RBI each from Haggerty, JOC, and Fletcher, each coming on a run-scoring double, and even managed to secure a SAC BUNT, a SAC FLY, and a BURGLED BAG. We got it done here – nothing more, at times a little less – earned the sweep, and will board a plane bound for Cleveland all chesty and with our collective heads held high.

Elsewhere: Josh Bell, of the Washington Nationals, went 3 for 3 with 3 TWO-BAGGERS, 3 RBI, and 2 runs during his clubs 9-7 win over the feisty Giants of San Francisco. Washington got it done with defense in this one – 4 DPs and 4 OF ASSISTS with two of those catching fools trying to get cute and make it all the way home.

Record: 44-20
Up Next: We’ll be in Cleveland pretending to enjoy the nightlife while secretly counting down the second until we move on to the next town…