Houston Astros @ Seattle Mariners May 26-30 (updated again)...

[sutz]

The hated Astros come to town for four. Lately, we've had their number, and they're off to a bad start this year. They have been on the upswing over the last week or so. Let's hope we can end that this week.

Probables:

Mon: Framber Valdez LHP (3-2, 4.32 ERA, 36K) vs Bryce Miller RHP (3-5, 3-53 ERA, 56K)

Tue: Hunter Brown RHP (1-5, 7.06 ERA, 44K) vs Luis Castillo RHP (4-6, 3.31 ERA, 69K)

Wed: Justin Verlander RHP (3-2, 3.60 ERA, 35K) vs George Kirby RHP (4-5, 4.33 ERA, 57K)

Thur: Spencer Arighetti RHP (2-5, 6.93 ERA, 43K) vs Logan Gilbert RHP (3-2, 3.06 ERA, 66K)

 

[Threedee]

We keep facing TBD!

 

[sutz]

Off to a nice start. 3 runs in the first. Let's see if they can build on it.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

No building but nice little win.

 

[sutz]

Whew! Almost jinxed it.

Pitching came through on this one. Couple of new kids on the block. Nice to see Clase back up. Looking forward to see what Bliss can do. He's been tearing it up in the minors, I guess.

 

[Crizilla]

Moore and Garver sit today. Both have .300+OBP the past 30 days believe it or not. Hopefully that doesn't hurt us today. Desperately need more men on base.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Well this is going just ducky.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Striking out Jose Altuve is a rather brilliant way to come off the injured list, I must say.

 

[sutz]

Stanek still worries me a bit, but got it done. 2 Ks and a pop fly in the 9th. Too early in the season to run Munoz out 3 in a row.

Nice AB by Bliss, falling behind 0-2 and then drawing the walk in the 8th. Notice how we're getting this done without the long ball. Get 'em on, move 'em over, bring 'em home. Took a couple of lucky breaks, but hell, I'll take it. Beating a division opponent is worth 1.5 in the standings.

Another gutsy, gritty win. Still need to keep working on the offense, but got just enough tonight. Kudos to the pitchers to hold them to 2 runs.

On a less positive note, is Bliss's arm a question? Seems like I've seen a couple of double plays not turned through him. Maybe just that there's more speed up in the bigs than he used to down in the minors. No hits yet, but helluva an AB there to get on base. With Clase at 3rd and Bliss at 1st, that's a lot of speed out there.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I get nervous with Stanek too, but he was dealing last night. Def. can't be putting Munoz out there every night.
Overall, the offense still annoys me to no end. But...........this year the team has a knack for late inning wins, so there is that. A win is a win. And anytime you get a win over the PUKEston CHEATstros, it's a good day.

 

[bileever]

Haniger and Rojas came up big in the 8th, but the small things like Bliss drawing a walk and his speed made a difference, too. Putrid offensive performance from the 2nd to the 7th innings. And what was Julio doing in the 1st? Ran us out of a potential big inning.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I'll say it yet again, I couldn't worry about Julio if I tried. He's red hot, again.

 

[ivotuk]

This is one of those teams that starts slow, then gets hot when it counts.

I'm not worried about the offense. MLB Pitchers are dealing this year. BA is down across the league.

Hour 3-Are the Mariners poised to win the AL West? ESPN's Jeff Passan

With Brock returning from vacation, Salk fills him in on what he saw at the Seahawks practice last week before being joined by Jeff Passan, Senior MLB Insider at ESPN to discuss the last week of Mariners baseball and how it portends to the future of the division.

Brock and Salk - Seattle Sports

sports.mynorthwest.com

Hour 4-MLB's hitting problem, the difference Julio getting going makes, and Ranked

Reacting to Jeff Passan's commentary on how the baseball pendulum has swung so that pitcher's have the advantage and hitting is down across the board. Then, we hear about Brock and Justin's contrasting vacations and discuss what Julio getting going does for this M's lineup. Plus, Salk ranks the Mariners top 5 All Star candidates.

Brock and Salk - Seattle Sports

sports.mynorthwest.com

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I'm plenty worried about the offense. I need some consistency. But they're winning and they're in 1st place. I'll take it.
but it needs to be MUCH better later in the season.

 

[sutz]

If Julio can keep hitting RBI singles, I'm kind of OK that he hasn't hit many long balls.

 

[bileever]

I'm plenty worried about the offense. I need some consistency. But they're winning and they're in 1st place. I'll take it.
but it needs to be MUCH better later in the season.

But can it get better? I suppose it depends in large part on whether the two Mitches and Polanco can return to their previous form.

As much as I hated to lose Geno, that hasn't turned out to be too bad, letting him go:



I think we miss Teoscar Hernandez more. Here's a comparison of the corner outfielders we lost vs. the ones we have:



We were never going to outbid the Dodgers for Teoscar anyway, with him getting $23.5 million a year.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I will always be nervous about this offense.

 

[Ruminator]

Oh yeah, the Dodgers also SUCK wins out of thin air via billion dollar player salaries.

 

[Steve Hawk]

The Dodgers have a lot of big bats around Teoscar, he obviously didn't have that in Seattle.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Verlander's so hard to hit off of. Let's waste a pair of runners on Canzone and Garver.