Game 21, Mariners at Rangers
Ryan “Good luck, hard luck” Franklin v Kenny Rogers.
5:05, TV: FSN
The .500 Mariners face the just-slightly-below-.500 Rangers. It’ll be interesting to see what lineup Hargrove runs out against the lefty. Do we get to see Bloomquist again?
And how many times tonight will we hear “It’s okay to give up home runs, as long as they’re solo shots” (include variants)? Or “you’ve got to keep the ball down in this ballpark.”
Game 20, Mariners at Rangers
In just over one hour, an epic battle of pitchers with 6.39 ERAs will commence. Joel Pineiro takes on Ryan Drese as the Mariners tackle division rival Texas. TV: FSN. Radio: KOMO.
The Sportsline preview makes me giggle:
While the Seattle Mariners are back to scoring runs, Ryan Drese continues to give them up.
So true, so true. Let’s hope, anyway.
Game 17, Indians at Mariners
C.C. Sabathia v Gil Meche
7:05, TV on FSN
Will Meche’s elbow swell and burst mid-pitch? Or will he grit it out through the pain and blossom into a beautiful flower? What position will Willie Bloomquist play tonight, sparking bitter division on the game thread? Can the team climb over .500 again?
Find out soon.
Rainiers: Rainiers host Sacramento again at 6:05… which I just missed. Doh. Please enjoy the fine broadcasting of Mike Curto on the internet or on KHHO 850 as you wait for the M’s. And then maybe keep it on, if you want.
Game 16, A’s at Mariners
The first place Mariners (!, 8-7) host the A’s. Harden pitches for Oakland, Franklin pitches for the Mariners. I’m sure tonight many fans will be surprised to find themselves handed a “KOMO 1000 News Mariners Window Cling” featuring the new Mariners slogan “What a Show!”
Tomorrow is Ichiro! bobblehead night. You should probably expect longer lines for that one.
TV: Fox Sports Northwest (“Where (region or team name) fans come first”), standard radio.
I have great hopes that this game will produce the finest comment thread of the day.
Interesting note: the M’s press notes today instructions for Jim Street: (“you, Jim Street, can register for the 2005 giveaway…”) I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not, but I did a double-take when I read it.
Rainiers: Rainiers host Sacramento (the “Riverrats” as Fairly called them last night) at 6:05. Andrew Lorraine starts against Jimmy Serrano. You can enjoy the fine broadcasting of Mike Curto on the internet or on KHHO 850.
Game 14, Mariners at Angels
Sexson with a three run bomb early in the top of the first. Kevin Gregg doesn’t look to be in for the long haul.
Game 13, Mariners at Angels
Aaron Sele v Paul Byrd (what, really… yup). 7:05, FSN for TV.
Mariners and Angels are both 6-6.
As I type this, the Rainiers are playing the last game of their homestand against Fresno. Listen to it now on the net or at KHHO 850 radio and enjoy the fine play by play of Mike Curto. If you want, you can keep listening as the Mariners game comes on, and enjoy two broadcasts, rather than be annoyed at the audio of the M’s .
Look for today’s ready-made commentary from the press notes, in order of probability:
– Sele was with the Angels after he was with the Mariners. Stats, so forth.
– Boone and the 1,000th RBI (who’s around him)
– Mariners hitting much better with runners in scoring position compared to last year
– Ichiro and the multi-hit games (after Ichiro gets one hit)
– Don Baylor’s return
– Alan Schwarz’s article on teams drafting has the Mariners producing the 4th-highest number of current players in the majors
Please, no wagering
Game 12, Mariners at White Sox
Meche (maybe) v Garcia. 12:05, FSN and KOMO
The Mariners are 5-6, the White Sox 8-3. We get to see former Mariner Freddy Garcia hopefully face two of the three players the Mariners picked up for him.
There’s still some question on whether this will be a Meche start or not. According to different stories, they’ve upped his anti-inflammatory dose and will watch his bullpen session before the game closely. Upping the dosage without figuring out the problem is concerning: it’s like taking more aspirin for crippling headaches and blackouts. I think Meche needs to apply for medical asylum in another country without an extradition treaty but with baseball. Argentina or Venezuala? I forget. Do they play organized baseball in the Caymans?
If we don’t see Meche, I expect we’d see an emergency start from Ron Villone, who has been held out of games since the 13th, when he pitched to one batter in Mike Hargrove’s all-lefties-are-specialists program.
Game 11, Mariners at White Sox
Franklin v. Buehrle
11:05, FSN for TV
Sexson probably won’t start today, which means we might get additional Spiezio (“Player most frequently misspelled in USSM comments”) dosages.
Things in the Seattle press notes:
– random numbers on Mariner-White Sox past matchups
– 3 itmes (including two tables) on Hargrove reaching 1,000 wins
– six players have appeared in every game
– nine hitters are hitting over .300 with “Runners in Scoring Position” (table, Bloomquist leads with 1-1)
– “Consistency” item on Mariner hitters who’ve had having hits in x of y games
– notes on the M’s in day/night games, the sweep, the road trip
– stats on good pitching
– the eighth inning is where M’s do their damage so far
– last year, the team sucked on the road
– the first three innings is where the M’s have outscored opponents
– in the seventh inning on, the Mariners have hit well
– the Mariners hitting better with batters on (Item title: “Clutch up”)
– Ichiro has multi-hit games
– random facts from SABR’s Baseball Encyclopedia
I predict many of these same things will be mentioned in tonight’s broadcast.
Rainiers play Fresno in Tacoma (weather permitting), 6:05, radio, also on the internets for all you crazy kids with your computers.
Game 9, Mariners at Royals
Moyer v Bautista, 11:10 am, no TV, KOMO radio only.
Also in minor league action, you can listen to the Rainiers in Sacramento against the Rivercats at 12:35. Curtoooooooooo!! Baek’s getting the start.
This is the M’s chance to get over .500 for the first time in a year-and-then-some (which does not count their opening 1-0 record). I know it’s pointless this early in the season, but that’d be pretty cool. Still, the real test of the team’s going to be the brutal mid-late April/mid-May schedule (Angels, Indians, Rangers, A’s, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees, Red Sox, Yankees — ugh).
Incidentally, it looks like Friday is Pineiro, Saturday is Franklin, and Sunday is Meche, who’s having his elbow inflammation “honored” by moving his start back.
Game 8, Mariners at Royals
Mariners (3-4) in another afternoon game against the Royals (3-4).
Sele v Greinke
11:10am game time, no television, KOMO radio. This road series is bizarre, both in scheduling (game, off, game game), in time of scheduling, and in that there’s no TV coverage at all.
Pineiro’s exepected to come off the DL on Friday to pitch in Chicago. This is a little earlier than we’d previously heard, but with Meche down for who knows how long, it makes sense. Who else is there, really, Campillo?
If something serious is wrong with Meche — and despite the team’s statements (see previous fine post by another USSM author) we’re all justified in being scared that it’s going to turn out to be more than mere discomfort — we’re still down to Pineiro-Moyer-Sele-Franklin-? with ? probably being Baek or Campillo for a while and, given rumblings that Madritsch is “out long-term,” possibly much longer.
And if my mood seems a little dark… my tax bill this year is depressingly unreal. The asset tag on my computer at work is a smaller number than what they want out of me.
Go M’s.