We’ve gotten a little sluggish around here lately, what with the M’s losing five straight to Cleveland and New York. They came back in full force last night against Kevin Millwood and the Rangers, winning 7-3 and giving fans something to cheer about for one night.
It’ll be interesting to see how the team continues in the next two weeks, with six games against Texas, three against Chicago, and three against San Diego. Those games could potentially decide the season’s outcome.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the at-bats that Wlad has had since coming up. I don’t think Jeff Clement has hit a stride yet, but I have no doubt that he will. Unlike Geoff Baker, I don’t consider those two to be the problem. I know it was just one game, but I see this team picking up momentum. I see them doing good things in the next two weeks. And if they don’t… Well, you can probably expect even fewer daily posts here. It’s just so hard to be negative every day, but if all they’re doing is losing,… well, there’s little else to say. Here’s a quick breakdown of each Player of the Game for the past six games:
Game #28 (L, 8-3, CLE): Washburn got roughed up pretty bad in this one, giving up five runs in four and a third innings. The offense left ten runners on, but it proved too hard for the Mariners to come back after a five-run fifth inning put them down by eight runs.
Game #29 (L, 3-2, CLE): Miguel Batista pitched about as good as can be expected from him (7 IP, 1 R, 6 K), and Richie hit his 300th career home run in the 10th inning to give the team a late game lead. But then J.J. Putz walked two and gave up a pair of hits to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th, and M’s fans everywhere knew the game was as good as over. Mark Lowe and Sean Green ended up losing it in the 11th, but the dishonor of this loss goes to J.J.
Game #30 (L, 5-1, NYY): This one goes to Yuni, Beltre, Burke, and JoLo, who combined for four errors in the first three innings. There’s no winning when you give up four errors in the first three innings of any game.
Game #31 (L, 6-1, NYY): Felix was not sharp today, going six innings and giving up 12 hits, three walks, and six runs. It was not a fun Felix Day at all.
Game #32 (L, 8-2, NYY): No starter is going to be great every day, and this was Carlos Silva’s worst start as a Mariner. A six-run third inning effectively took the Mariners out of this game, especially since the other team had a guy no one had ever heard of pitching (Darrell Rasner). The M’s can never seem to hit those guys. But then again, this year’s offense can’t seem to hit much of anything at this point.
Game #33 (W, 7-3, TEX): This game could almost be considered an offensive explosion for the offense, since it seems like they score more than 3 runs in an inning only once a month. JAR-ROD pitched a pretty good game against a worse-than-ours Texas offense, but then left the game in the seventh with a leg injury. I bet he’ll be fine, though. We’ll see him again on Saturday. The biggest story for me in this game was Wlad’s homer to deep left, which could have gone to the LF bleachers if he hadn’t hit it so straight and dead-on. It was the second homer of the third inning, as Richie went yard with one out. But Wlad’s 3-run shot effectively put the game out of reach for the Rangers, so he deserves the prize.
