By Patrick
 |
| Welcome back, I guess |
The Mariners took two out of three from the Rangers. I'm sorry can I type that again? It makes me happy. The Mariners took two out of three from the Rangers! That's wonderful. Let's take a quick look at some of the amazing parts of this series.
I think we can all agree that the Rangers probably have the most fearsome offense in baseball. However, they scored just seven runs in three games in Seattle this week. That pitching effort is incredible. More impressively, the Rangers scored in just THREE INNINGS the entire series. That means the Mariners pitched 24 scoreless innings in this series. Hector Noesi and Kevin Millwood both pitched in this series. That is just mind-blowing. If you were to tell me that the Mariners were going to score 12 runs in these three games and win two out of three, I would have said absolutely not. Just shows you how much I know. Enough to call yesterday's exact score.
Now the Angels come to town, and the Mariners face them for the first time in 2012. The Angels confuse me. They have the most talent in the division arguably, yet they are in last place so far. Albert Pujols plays for them. That's something. He has sucked this season. That's also something. Jered Weaver threw a no-hitter against the Twins. That's pretty irrelevant, but also pretty cool. The Mariners have a better record than the Angels. That's just embarrassing.
May 24: Mr Consistency-ish (5-3, 3.34) vs. "What the hell is going on with" Dan Haren (1-5, 4.37)
Wow! Dan Haren sucks in 2012. That explains the Angels a little bit more. He has been a huge investment for them over the last two years, and numbers like those aren't gonna do it for him or them. Contrast those to Jason Vargas' 2012 numbers. I love Jason Vargas. He is doing exactly what the Mariners asked of him preseason. Those stats are perfect for the fringe number two starter he is. He's been consistent and not overwhelmingly good. However, he did get lit up in Boston last week, but followed that up with a win in Colorado. No complaints. Why does Dan Haren suck now? I'm really confused. Whatever. More for us I guess.
Players to watch:
Miguel Olivo: Everyone will have their eyes on Olivo tonight as he returns to the Mariners for the first time since tearing his groin in a pretty nasty way a few weeks back. Good for him though for hustling back and getting healthy again. The bad news with his promotion back to the big club is that the M's had to get rid of somebody, and that somebody was inexplicably named something other than Chone Figgins. Casper Wells went back to Tacoma, and while yes, he has struggled a bit in his second major league season, he needs reps to build confidence. It's yet another head-scratching Mariner personnel decision that got us in this mess in the first place. Maybe if Olivo succeeds right away we can forget about the idiocy of this move. Although most people don't want Olivo back either. Damn, this sucks.
Mark Trumbo: When Albert Pujols landed in LA in free agency and Kendrys Morales appeared ready to return from his crippling leg injury, the future for last year's top hitting rookie seemed bleak. But Trumbo has out hit every Angel including Pujols, hitting .325/.388/.556 with six homers and 19 RBIs. He's been playing some outfield, and absolutely tearing through pitchers. The Mariners have some great second year players, but none as good as Trumbo. Watch out Vargas.
Prediction:
M's 6 Angels 2: Jason Vargas again. That's my rationale. The M's have won five of six, and now they get a struggling pitcher and a not struggling pitcher. Sure, this happened two weeks ago with Vargas vs. Lester, but this is different, since Safeco field suits Vargas and Fenway doesn't. A soft throwing lefty with a short porch in left field doesn't get the job done normally. A soft throwing lefty in Safeco field is completely different. The M's come off the momentum of yesterday's series-clinching win and knock Haren around for three or four runs in six or seven innings, and jump on the bullpen late. Bold prediction: Miguel Olivo goes deep in his return. I just died a little inside after typing that. Go M's.
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