Game 5, Mariners at Angels
Justus Sheffield vs. Patrick Sandoval, 6:40pm
The M’s escape Houston bloodied but unbowed at 1-3, and face the Angels. All 1-3 records are not created equal, and the Angels may be a bit more concerned about their opening series. It’s all weird, and given the chaos in Philly with now fully 1/2 of the Marlins roster positive for COVID, it feels churlish to laugh at a bad first series by the Angels, as comforting as that is.
So, the M’s big reclamation projects have all had a turn in the rotation – all but today’s starter, Justus Sheffield. Tai Walker, Kendall Graveman, and Yusei Kikuchi all struggled, so the hope is that Sheffield’s new fastball will help him succeed where the others failed. It’s just tougher to be optimistic given the M’s pitching woes. We all thought the line-up would be a problem, but it’s been solid overall. Just need to keep the runs allowed down to 5-6, which has been a problem.
Patrick Sandoval’s a lefty the Angels got after some time in Houston’s system. He’s a fastball-change guy, but has a slider and curve in his repertoire. He scuffled last year in his initial 40 or so MLB innings, in part due to wildness, and in part due to HR:FB ratio awfulness. He did benefit from seeing a heavily right-handed slate of hitters, and thanks to his change – by far his best pitch – he did well against them. Lefties were more of a problem. We’ll see if that was small sample weirdness or if the change makes him more likely to run reverse splits long term.
1: Long, 2B
2: White, 1B
3: Lewis, CF
4: Seager, 3B
5: Lopes, DH
6: Crawford, SS
7: Moore, LF
8: Smith, RF
9: Odom, C (Nola a late scratch; he’d been in the line up, batting 6th. Instead, it’ll be the first MLB start for Joe Odom)
SP: Sheffield
Lewis wasting no time getting on board.
Well it was fun watching Sheffield strike out Trout last inning, anyway.
Ouch.
Nice catch!
Wow, I’m used to Trout hitting about .850 with 2.000 OPS against us. This is a nice change.
It’s unfortunate that the other guys are picking it up for him though.
That Angels lineup is pretty good, even with Pujols in it.
Pujols is good enough for Mariners pitching, apparently.
He’s always had their number. Maybe the only team he’s owned since leaving St. Louis.
I recall questioning a couple of sports journalists about the Mariners’ chances at finishing last and each of them suggested Baltimore was far and away the worst team in baseball, which is exactly what I had believed before the pandemic.
Now, I’m not so sure. Miami has its challenges fielding a team, but Seattle is so young and the veterans, with exception to Seager, don’t pose a threat.
With that said, I like what we’re seeing early from Lewis, White, Crawford, and Lopes.