Game 33, Mariners at Rangers
Vargas vs Feldman, 5:05 pm.
Ichiro, RF
Lopez, 2B
Griffey, DH
Beltre, 3B
Branyan, 1B
Gutierrez, CF
Johjima, C
Betancourt, SS
Chavez, LF
As I mentioned in the piece this morning, this is a brutal situation for Vargas to try to stake out a claim to a rotation spot. The Rangers are going to throw a line-up of seven right-handed hitters, Josh Hamilton, and Chris Davis at him. There’s simply no soft spots to let him work around guys who can hurt him. Everyone in this line-up can hurt him. Plus, it’s Texas, where the air is not exactly known for knocking down fly balls.
So, the M’s are going to have to put up runs tonight. Unfortunately, they’re facing yet another right-handed sinker ball guy, and this pitcher type is the one the M’s are least suited to hit. Just like Padilla, Colon, Ponson, Blackburn, and all the other right-handed starters of this ilk that have shut down the M’s, Feldman’s sinker is a pretty good pitch against righties and a meatball against lefties. The offense is going to have to come from Ichiro, Griffey, Branyan, and Chavez. Hopefully, they can get a couple home runs early and get into the Rangers bullpen.
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149 Responses to “Game 33, Mariners at Rangers”
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Don’t plant your feet, Yuni! You have to fear the blinding speed of Andruw Jones!
Moron.
I hate him.
Lowe is just serving up BP right now
For the love of god can we please put ronny in at short.
Can the M’s please get rid of Betancourt? He really serves no purpose these days, unless the team is interested in losing.
WTF was he doing throwing him that pitch? Cruz is about to make this at least a 4-1 game.
You guys have a great year…I can’t take this frustration
Derek, can I have some of that beer Paypal is providing?
Speaking of Adam Jones, he went 2-4 with a HR and 4 RBI. I would be nice to have him back.
Wow.
Well, this game certainly sucks.
Ronny Cedeno. An independent league SS. Chris Burke. Hell, at this point Oswaldo Navarro makes me happier.
Just not Yuni.
Dave Sims: “These guys can put runs up on the board in a hurry.”
Yeah, when the defense commits two errors on two routine plays.
Mark Lowe sucks.. this isnt the first game he has blown for us.
Why is he still being used in close games?
I never like to see a pitcher in a road game in his home town/state. I instantly picture a very late night the night before, involving Old Buddies, strippers and booze.
Pardon me, Lowe, if you’re actually born again.
Christ Yuni! Forget trading him for any value, just cut his ass. Please.
Rickey for SS!
Wow, Ichiro either looked really slow out there or he was jogging for that ball
Lowe has always been bad. I can’t remember any time he’s actually impressed me. Stop kidding yourself about this being a being-in-his-home state thing.
Hurray for defense this inning.
What was that just went by my window, was it the wheels from the cart?
I spaced out and didn’t realize that we weren’t out of the inning yet.
Yuck.
It’s gone all clown shoes, now.
What the hell happened…
This Boston-Orlando game on TNT is pretty good. I recommend you watch that.
Cue the feckless McLaren rant on the old video tape machine…
I mean…really…what can anyone say when ALL the wheels come off at once?
So, where’s that awesome defense that people were talking about?
Mother fricker. These guys can’t buy an out.
This is like the 1998 bullpen, but this is the Texas offense so I am not in a mood to panic, but I really thought they would win this one, for the first six innings anyway.
Hmmm… that was demoralizing.
When Tyler Johnson comes off the D.L. I think it is Lowe who needs atleast a stint in Tacoma.
I am starting to miss Roy Corcoran.
The bullpen got screwed over by Betancourt and Branyan.
Can’t believe they only have 1 error… felt like half a dozen in that inning alone.
This is like the 1998 bullpen
So who is Slocumb and who is Ayala?
In Branyan’s defense (no pun intended), he was never really thought of as being a cornerstone of the defensive makeover.
Look at the bright side! This will be a really nice test of our offense if they can dig their way out of this one.
Vargas pitched a good game and that was reassuring…this game wasn’t a total loss. Mike Lowe really does suck…we’ve spent way too much energy hating on Batista and let this guy really rain suck all over Seattle.
Lowe was decent till Grover practically ripped his arm off with overuse.
Now he couldn’t find the strike zone with a bomb sniffing dog in a terrorist convention…
Guardado is still playing?
I like the “GO GET ‘EM!” yell from the Texas fan. You know, you really need to rally the troops when you are up 7-1.
It’s so weird how many ex-Mariners are strewn around the leagues.
yeah it is weird how many ex-Mariners are strewn around the leagues, and how many recent “large contract” players are out of the league i.e. Sexson, Vidro, Carl Everett and many many others.
Are my eyes lying to me? Since we got Yuni it shows he weighs in at 190-195. Lopez at 170 lbs. They now look so much bigger and slower. Is it my eyes?
Haha the article just put up on Seattle times by Baker says: Rangers DEEP SIX Mariners in the 7th. lol
You do realize there is a huge Latin population in Texas, right? DFW isn’t Fargo.
I’ve noticed (and not done any research) that it seems that teams that focus on the draft feature fewer Latin-American and/or foreign (as in not American, Canadian or Puerto Rican) players than teams more into international scouting.
Remember how Pat Gillick generally ignored the draft? Now think of all the foreign born players in the M’s system from during and just after the end of his tenure. I’m probably totally off base, but I always found that interesting.
On a better note, at least Vargas pitched pretty well. Hell, he pitched really well considering the Murderer’s Row the stRangers put out there.
Lowe reminds me of Matt Thornton when he was with the Mariners. Hard thrower with horrible control. Lowe hasn’t been the same since the surgery.
Galaxieboi:
Thanks for the input regarding the draft. That makes sense. Yes, I know there are plenty of Latino/as in Texas, but I couldn’t think of any other reason for all of Texas’ good, young position players virtually always being white guys. I felt there had to be a better explanation than covert organizational racism.
Especially since their manager, Ron Washington, isn’t a white guy.
[I think you were joking, but that’s going a little too far]
Piffle!
😉