By Patrick
Last night's game was boring. Matt Harrison stymied the M's yet again. Kevin Millwood only allowed one run, but he also threw way too many pitches, and got yanked after just five innings. And that opened the door for Steve Delabar, who let two runners get on really quickly and then threw a nice 2-0 fastball right down the middle to Mike Napoli. Great pitch, Steve. Napoli murdered it to the opposite field. Absolutely crushed it. That makes seven of Delabar's eighteen hits allowed this year homers. That puts him second on the Mariners in home runs allowed behind Blake Beavan, who pitches starter innings and throws almost exclusively strikes. Tacoma, anyone?
Brendan Ryan had an RBI triple. That's cool. He also was thrown out stretching it into an inside the parker. Not nearly as cool, Brendan. Let's be a little smarter next time. Do you really just not want to be on base that badly? Enjoy the feeling a little more. Maybe that will convince you to get more hits. I'll take anything at this point, since your defense continues to wow me. Great work with that run saving defense. Now it's time to stop playing run saving offense (thanks for this one Anthony).
May 29: Jason Vargas (5-4, 3.39) vs. Scott Feldman (0-2, 4.66)
I usually like to save my predictive commentary until the end, but looking at this matchup, I couldn't wait. How low will the Mariners have stooped if they lose this game? Jason Vargas is the second best pitcher on the roster, and the only starter with a winning record in 2012. His 3.39 ERA is stellar, and his consistency in 2012, with no career defining terrible starts but no flashy shutouts either, has fit his role perfectly. Scott Feldman on the other hand, lost to the Mariners six days ago. He replaced Neftali Feliz in the Rangers rotation, and just kind of sucks in general. He's the guy that threw Alex Liddi a fastball with the bases loaded. Six days later, throwing Alex Liddi a fastball is unheard of. The guy that learned the hard way against Alex Liddi of all people should not beat Jason Vargas. That would be embarrassing, and if the M's want to get of the losing schneid, tonight would be their best chance for a while.
Players to Watch:
Dustin Ackley: The lineups aren't out yet, but I've got to think Ackley will be back in the leadoff spot tonight. Coming off of his second day off in four days, Ackley will try and prove he's worth all of his hype. He's been missing an alarming amount of pitches so far in 2012, and needs to bring his average up and his strikeout rate down in order to be successful as a leadoff man. Two singles or an extra base hit tonight would be great from the Carolina Kid.
Josh Hamilton: He's back. Damn it. That stomach illness he dealt with over the weekend unfortunately didn't last until Wednesday, and the Mariners will have to deal with the former and future MVP yet again. Vargas therefore will have to work his hardest to get Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus out in front of Hamilton, in order to take some of the pressure off having to face baseball's best hitter. Hamilton could really ruin a great chance for the Mariners to finally win and might have extra motivation to do so, since the M's have really held down the Rangers offense lately.
Prediction:
M's 6, Rangers 4: For the second straight night, a pick a slumping team with an underperforming offense to win. What's my problem? I feel a lot better about tonight than I felt about yesterday though. That stems from the Rangers' starting pitcher. Feldman isn't much at all, and doesn't have the track record of success against the M's that Harrison has (8-1 now, wow!). The hitters should be itching for a chance to get back on track, and maybe even Kyle Seager will hit tonight. Everything about this game says Mariners win to me. Go M's.
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