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| Larry wants the Mariners to win tonight |
Justin Smoak had the defibrillators placed on his 2012 last night, and after he laced an RBI single that drove in Ichiro in the fourth, he connected for a two-run homer, his sixth in 2012. Games like last night provide the Mariners with good signs and reasons why they need to stay patient with Smoak. The guy will turn it around. We just need to wait. It's not like the team has any urgency. This year basically serves as an observation year, where individual performance trumps overall team success.
That being said, fans care about wins. Wins keep butts in the seats. Fortunately for the Mariners, butts will be in almost all of the seats tonight, as the King's Court will be in full swing on Turn Back the Clock Night. Felix takes the hill to stop the bleeding of this so far horrible series.
May 26: The King (4-3, 2.80) vs. Jerome Williams (4-2, 3.74)
The King to the rescue! The last two games have been absolutely nightmarish for two different reasons. Fortunately, the King swoops in tonight to fix all of that. Felix has been incredible this season. With the exception of the one bad start in Cleveland, he's looked like the pitcher that won a Cy Young in 2010. In his last outing, he shut down Texas' potent offense and led the M's to an easy 6-1 victory over Yu Darvish. His opponent tonight has far less hype surrounding him. Jerome Williams faced the Mariners twice in 2012. He won both starts. Damn it. Another one of these guys. By these guys, I mean another irrational Mariner killer. Williams has an interesting story. He started regularly for the Giants from 2003 to 2004, but then went to the Cubs, where he floundered into the minors. Then, Williams left the majors and played in the Golden Baseball League as well as in Puerto Rico and Taiwan. He mad his major league comeback with the Angels last season, and has fortified the fifth starter role in their "dominant" rotation. Felix might have to deal with very little run support tonight. He's probably used to that by now though.
Players to Watch:
Justin Smoak: Finally. Justin put a game together last night. He did exactly what the M's needed of him, driving in three runs and recording two different RBI hits, including a homer. Maybe Justin can use last night as a momentum builder as he continues to improve. It would be really great to see him just rip off a couple of great games in a row as a result of last night. Today's as good of day as any, especially since the park should be packed and Felix will probably pitch well enough to win by all accounts.
Kendrys Morales: Everyone knows this guy's story. He hit a walk off granny against the M's back in 2010, and as he started to celebrate, landed awkwardly on home plate and broke his ankle. That was mid-2010. He just returned this season. Bummer dude. Don't celebrate against the Mariners I guess. Morales had an RBI single against Jason Vargas that was pretty impressive on Thursday. The count was full, and Vargas missed his spot high with a fastball. Inexplicably, Morales bailed him out by swinging. Sigh of relief, right? Nope. RBI single. This guy still has it, even with 1.5 years out of the league.
Prediction:
M's 4, Angels 2: Tonight, the King is re-coronated. That makes no sense really. But Felix will dominate tonight. I have no doubt in my mind. Jerome Williams will pitch well, but the Mariners will find ways to scrounge out a few runs, and Brandon League hopefully won't come in to screw it up. Either Felix goes all the way, or he goes eight and Tommy Wilhelmsen comes in and drops his hammer. Felix will refuse to lose this game. Go M's.
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