Game 19, Mariners at Rangers

marc w · April 20, 2013 at 4:01 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

Brandon Maurer vs. Nick Tepesch 5:05pm

These are the games the M’s absolutely need to have to avoid falling out of the race. As many have noted, there’s no shame in dropping games to Max Scherzer or Yu Darvish, but they need to beat the Nick Tepesch’s of the league to balance things out.

Maurer and Tepesch faced off against each other on the 14th, in what turned out to be Maurer’s first MLB win. Tepesch has, thus far, used a Maueresque pitch mix, with a four and two-seam fastball, the occasional curve, the odd change-up and a blizzard of hard sliders/cutters. He’s used it a bit differently, though. He’s got a lot of confidence in it (obviously), and so he’s used it *most* when he’s behind in the count. It’s not a putaway pitch, it’s his even-the-count pitch.

That wouldn’t be the worst thing for Maurer to emulate. His slider is more of a whiff pitch, but when batters expected it, they were able to hit it hard – even with two strikes. In his last start against the Rangers, he threw more fastballs than he had before, and nearly all were four-seamers. That worked in the still-spacious Safeco field, and while it’s tempting to say that he needs to get grounders in Arlington, I think Maurer should throw whatever pitch he can command – if that’s the four-seam, then he should throw it.

Franklin Gutierrez returns to the line-up today, as does Brendan Ryan who was held out yesterday to clear his head after his horrific slump at the plate. Montero’s also back after his own slump-related off-day.

Line-up:
1: Gutierrez, CF
2: Seager, 3B
3: Morales, DH
4: Morse, RF
5: Smoak, 1B
6: Ibanez, LF
7: Montero, C
8: Ackley, 2B
9: Ryan, SS
SP: Maurer

Comments

88 Responses to “Game 19, Mariners at Rangers”

  1. WTF_Ms on April 20th, 2013 7:22 pm

    Oh, and passed balls.

  2. bookbook on April 20th, 2013 7:24 pm

    Whose gotcher marbles now?

  3. easternWAmsfan on April 20th, 2013 7:24 pm

    Those 2 runs are on Montero..

  4. Westside guy on April 20th, 2013 7:25 pm

    Boy am I glad we have Kelly Shoppach on our team! I can’t take much more of Montero.

  5. WTF_Ms on April 20th, 2013 7:26 pm

    I really don’t like the way Montero flinches every time the ball gets to his glove. It’s like he’s afraid of it. Not good at all.

  6. msfanmike on April 20th, 2013 7:26 pm

    Two PB’s in one inning on fastballs. Sweet!
    Definitely need to keep throwing Montero out there to catch when he is absolutely wretched. He seems to be at his worst when it matters most.

  7. msfanmike on April 20th, 2013 7:26 pm

    Two PB’s in one inning on fastballs. Sweet!
    Definitely need to keep throwing Montero out there to catch when he is absolutely wretched. He seems to be at his worst when it matters most.

  8. spuuky on April 20th, 2013 7:26 pm

    We don’t lead in strikeouts, Houston has us (narrowly) beat there.

  9. WalterNeff on April 20th, 2013 7:27 pm

    We’re worse than last year. I went from watching the first game from Safeco to half monitoring it tonight on Gamecast while I watch Burt Lancaster in ‘Trapeze’ on TCM. I’m more interested in Tony Curtis landing The Triple than any triple any Mariner could possibly hit. Send the whole team to Everett.

  10. Westside guy on April 20th, 2013 7:27 pm

    We’ve still got an inning to catch them, spunky.

  11. Swungonandbelted on April 20th, 2013 7:28 pm

    D the M’s have any hitting prospects other than Zunino?

  12. msfanmike on April 20th, 2013 7:28 pm

    I felt it was worth mentioning more than once.

  13. Longgeorge1 on April 20th, 2013 7:28 pm

    Don’t worry with our improved offense we can comeback!! Um good Kool-aid

  14. WTF_Ms on April 20th, 2013 7:28 pm

    Spuuky, we still have a series with Houston next! It won’t be long.

  15. WTF_Ms on April 20th, 2013 7:28 pm

    Spuuky, we still have a series with Houston next! It won’t be long.

  16. spuuky on April 20th, 2013 7:29 pm

    That’s the spirit!

    Let’s score 6 runs this inning, but strike out 3 times to close in on Houston! Maybe they can drop a strikeout and we can strike out 4 times!

  17. Swungonandbelted on April 20th, 2013 7:30 pm

    And my cat just horked on the living room carpet….

  18. Longgeorge1 on April 20th, 2013 7:30 pm

    Yea Zunino’s .240 AAA BA clearly shows he is MLB ready

  19. msfanmike on April 20th, 2013 7:32 pm

    Being down by 5 takes all the pressure of Wedge from having to pick the wrong time to bunt.

    That’s a positive!

  20. Swungonandbelted on April 20th, 2013 7:33 pm

    Not saying he’s remotely close to ready, is there anybody else in the minors besides him….starting to seriously question this “rebuilding” of the m’s system.

  21. Westside guy on April 20th, 2013 7:35 pm

    I think I’d rather watch Ibañez catch than Montero at this point.

  22. msfanmike on April 20th, 2013 7:35 pm

    I hope the team decides that Stefan Romero’s primary position is 1B. That should send the proper signal to Smoak. I think.

  23. Longgeorge1 on April 20th, 2013 7:36 pm

    NO

  24. msfanmike on April 20th, 2013 7:38 pm

    Management: we need you to make a change at Manager, Jack. And also, the day after this years draft, please come by my office for a short chat and “bring your playbook with you.”

  25. WTF_Ms on April 20th, 2013 7:40 pm

    Our motto should be “Seattle Mariners, Swung on and Missed!”.

  26. WalterNeff on April 20th, 2013 7:40 pm

    Burt just got mauled by a lion – will he be able to catch Tony’s triple???

  27. WalterNeff on April 20th, 2013 7:41 pm

    Eric, please pack your knives and go.

  28. Swungonandbelted on April 20th, 2013 7:45 pm

    3 runs or less in 15 of 19 games this season so far…

  29. Longgeorge1 on April 20th, 2013 7:56 pm

    1903 Pirates scoreless 52 innings – I’m sensing a record

  30. argh on April 20th, 2013 7:56 pm

    Pretty hard to come up with a word to describe this line up so far other than “pathetic”.

  31. PackBob on April 20th, 2013 8:14 pm

    Wedge and the Mariners are showing with unequaled clarity that the power of positive thinking loses to reality.

  32. Jokerman on April 20th, 2013 8:30 pm

    I’m glad I don’t work in a plate glass factory because I’d have some serious head trauma by now.

  33. eponymous coward on April 20th, 2013 8:48 pm

    In other news, Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn seem to be playing well… (sigh)

  34. Jokerman on April 20th, 2013 8:55 pm

    Clearly Wedge and Zduriencik are plants by the Balmer/Hansen group to de-value the worth of the franchise so they can snag it on the cheap.

  35. Sports on a Shtick on April 20th, 2013 10:09 pm

    Not even three hitting coaches could fix what ails the M’s.

  36. bseblfevr on April 21st, 2013 6:35 am

    You can’t blame Wedge, but they will…this is essentially the same team as last year with some different faces. Montero has got to be the worst catcher in baseball. Amazing how he positions himself behind the plate…more amazing that the coaches allow it. Aside from Seager, Morales, and possibly Morse, there are no good hitters there, Guti is being treated like a kid, so don’t renew him, please. The rest are ST hitters . Smoak, Ryan, Ackely are busts…Montero maybe a hitter, but not for this team since he cannot field. Raul is done with and Bay should be released next week in favor of Chavez. Again, good pitching performances are wasted…sound familiar? Football practice begins in July!

  37. stevemotivateir on April 21st, 2013 7:17 am

    I’m sure Wedge has the idea that Ibanez needed to get back on the horse, shake off the rough plays from the previous night. But a smart manager would recognize he’s a liability and simply shouldn’t be out there.

    Chavez should have had that start. I suspect we’ll continue to see Bay or Ibanez, though. Bleh.

  38. GhostofMarinersPast on April 21st, 2013 8:34 am

    You can’t blame wedge?!?! How many times have we had runners on first and second with no outs and he flat out refuses to bunt?! How about last night when that should have been a routine ground ball and not a 2 run single, because Ackley was out of position?! Wedge is done. I haven’t called for a managers job during our run of futility once. But his errors are egregious and on display EVERY night.

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