ON the MOUND
And Yusei makes it THREE starters in-a-row to record zero run start . . . unfortunately, he gets a no decision in his best ever start…
6 IP – 3 H – 0 ER, 9 SO 1 BB
Margevicius with the blown save in the 7th
AT the PLATE
IN the FIELD and ON the BASES
The Mariners Home Opener wouldn’t be the same without the “Make-a-Wish” kid to run around the bases ❤ and, bless her heart, she did it in an empty stadium – just Lily and the Moose . . .
ON the MOUND
Welcome back to Seattle, Taijuan!
He followed up Marcos great start w/one of his own and together they threw back-to-back starts w/zero ER’s. Krueger noted on the postgame that SEVEN of his EIGHT strikeouts were via the slider.
AT the PLATE
IN the FIELD and ON the BASES
No errors, no DP’s, no SB’s
Mariners 7 | Astros 6
The M’s have now equaled their win total vs. the ‘stros for all of last season . . . . . . . yes – ‘t was only ONE 😉
ON the MOUND
Yousei was the third M’s starter in as many games to run into a big inning but, the M’s batters handed the ‘stros a big inning of their own (or – at least big enough to take and keep the lead) – the M’s bullpen really stepped up – Taylor recorded his first career save and the M’s first win in 2020!
AT the PLATE
IN the FIELD and ON the BASES
Here’s to splittin’ the series with a W in Houston tomorrow!
I’m rusty and not gonna lie, this new fancy WordPress editor will take some getting used to 😉
Opening Day 2020 . . .
didn’t come till today ~ July 24th
No fans in the stands.
TV broadcasters remote.
Players masked and socially distanced.
But . . .
it. is. baseball.
OK, so it wasn’t the stellarest of openings but, it is back and dad and I were watching from our virtual seats . . .
ON the MOUND
Marco’s second opening day start 4.1 IP – 5H – 4R – 3ER – 1BB – 2SO
Bullpen combined for 3.2 IP – 5H – 4R – 4ER – 3BB – 3SO
MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUTS (youngest team in baseball!)
AT the PLATE
couple of solo shots was all she wrote . . .
Way to go Kyle & Kyle!!
IN the FIELD
Kyle w/an error; no DPs
Kikuchi’s late start continues . . .
but, he ends up with decent numbers in his first loss (6IP ~ 5H ~ 3ER ~ 3 BB ~ 5 K)
the ‘pen did no favors (also allowing THREE runs)
K’s a plenty but, O looking up a bit . . .
a tale of fielding . . .
After the M’s get to within ONE (via back-to-back jacks from Edwin and Omar) a fabulous catch by Allen robs Ryon in the bottom of the 8th
Then flubby fielding in the top of the 9th gets the Tribe back up by TWO to stay (you don’t want to see it and I don’t want to dwell on it but, they have GOT to address this – soon).
Let’s start fresh tomorrow . . .
felt more like a giant wave than the bristles of a broom 😨
Turns out the sweep clinching solo shot was the run that gave Brandon Brennan an ERA 😟
ON the MOUND
It would have been nice to see Marco go a little longer than 5.1 IP but, 5H ~ 2ER ~ 2BB ~ 3K isn’t too bad, given the level of competition.
But for that pesky, aforementioned homer, the bullpen performed admirably – combining for: 3.2 IP ~ 2H ~ 1ER ~ 1BB ~ 4K
AT the PLATE
clearly, ‘t was the M’s batters that were the issue . . .
another FIFTEEN K’s (but 11 of them were via Cole who’s averaged 8.3 per start so far, so there’s that)
and only FOUR hits!
but what REALLY stands out is . . .
But hey, thanks (AGAIN) to Mitch – the streak is still alive . . .
Now, here comes the Tribe.
I can hear it now . . .
back to the same ol’ M’s, blah, blah, blah.
But, I find it more . . .
ENcouraging that Felix had a solid outing (SIX IP ~ SIX hits ~ THREE runs ~ ONE walk ~ FIVE K’s) against a good (if not GREAT) team
than DIScouraging that our offense couldn’t muster up much – ‘t was Verlander, after all
And – the STREAK is still ALIVE!!!
Thanks, Mitch 🙂
tweets of the game . . .
on the MOUND
‘t was the ‘battle of the Wades’ – Miley vs LeBlanc . . .
at the PLATE
in the FIELD
Well, this was unexpected!
Whodathunk that the Mariners would be leading the majors in WINS after the first ELEVEN games?!? Granted, they’ve played TWO more games than every other team but the A’s but, still . . .
Going in to today’s rubber match w/the White Sox, this was the stat leader board . . .
Yes! YOUR Seattle Mariners were leading in ALL the above offensive categories! (plus doubles and stolen bases – which didn’t show within the screen print) 🙂
And, AFTER today’s game . . .
the homer streak is alive! ELEVEN straight games with a home run!
And, the pitching isn’t all that bad – EIGHT wins from starters and SIX saves from relievers (despite our closer being on the IL)
And then there’s the defense . . .
once upon a time, among our strongest suits, now the weakest sauce 😦
OK – I’ll be honest, I’m not feeling the magenta.
I’m glad to know that T-Mobile is a northwest born company (didn’t realize that till now) but, the pink seems a bit out of place with all our blue, green and teal. I guess we’ll get use to it. The pink clouds on Opening Night, however, were lovely . . .
pink clouds preferred to magenta signs
Well, the M’s are certainly off to a great start!
After having won both games vs. the Athletics in Japan, neither of which I watched, (I get up at 4am normally, just can’t make those 2:30am first pitches) they managed to take three of four from the world champs at home!
Scoring Early
One thing I noticed in the Red Sox series (besides the fact that I recognize less than one third of the team 😉 is that, except for the first game where they scored in all but three innings, they scored a LOT early but, nothing after the 4th inning in both the second and fourth games and nothing after the 5th in the third game.
Who IS this offense?!?
Pen Probs
As a whole, the pen’s not doing two bad: a handful of guys are yet to post an ERA, gone through several long stretches in game w/o giving up runs. But, our new closer, Hunter Strickland, gave up a 3-run homer to Mitch Moreland in game two – which proved to be the winning run in the only Red Sox win. After the game, Bill Kruger mentioned he thought Hunter was making some suspicious movements, like he may be hurt – turns out he was right 😦 as Hunter has landed on the DL with a lat strain – out for “a couple of months” according to the Skipper.
3B woes
Gotta feel for Dylan Moore – rookie who got his first start at 3B on Saturday night and proceeded to commit THREE ERRORS in-a-row in the top of the 9th inning. Thankfully, the M’s were able to hang on to the ONE-run victory. Hopefully, he’ll get back out there soon – really the only way to push through the yips – #JustAskBlowers
Next up, the Halos for TWO – Felix’s first start of the season tomorrow . . .
Now, some of the special moments of Opening Night . . .
Awesome to see the ovation for Edgar throwing out the first pitch and the unveiling of the countdown to the Hall of Fame . . .
A moment of silence for those lost . . .
Awesome sunset from the third level concourse . . .
Black and White is better . . .
and then the garish from the outside . . .
