Dodging Bullets, Part 1

By Patrick

Always reppin'

Welcome home, road warriors! After a 5-4, week-and-a-half road trip, the Mariners return home for a nice rest. Wait, come again? The Dodgers are the best team in baseball? Damn it. It just continues getting tougher for the resilient Mariners. The biggest thing to watch in this serious will be how the offense responds as they return to the pitchers' park that is Safeco Field. A sudden drop off in numbers would not only devastate the young team's confidence, but spark the debate about bringing in the fences yet again.

I touched on a lot of stuff about the last nine games in my Thursday column and in the texting conversation that Anthony and I posted today, but the Mariners have changed since the last time they played in Seattle. Expectations have morphed. They need to carry over the American League's best hitting road offense and better the American League's worst hitting home offense. 

June 8: Kevin Millwood (3-5, 3.90) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (0-2, 2.84)

Nathan Eovaldi? Never heard of him. Let's see what we can dig up. He went to Alvin High School in Texas, and the Dodgers drafted him in the 11th round of the 2008 draft. He has made eight career starts, and boast a 1-4 career record. Even with that poor record, his ERA is 3.42 all time, as he moved to the bullpen in September of 2012. He hasn't pitched poorly in 2012, but has only three runs of support in his two 2012 starts. He's right handed pitcher who throws a mid-nineties fastball 70% of the time. Sounds hittable to me. But it won't matter if Millwood sucks again. Millwood needs to give the Mariners six decent innings and raise his efficiency considerably. He needs to drastically lower the number of three-ball counts he gets into. If Millwood succeeds, the Mariners should win.

Players to Watch:

Michael Saunders: All eyes are on Saunders, who hit .500 on the road trip. Now he's back with a vengeance, looking to show the home fans he's here to stay. Eovaldi is a righty, and so Saunders won't really have to try terribly hard to get hits. He's hitting sixth again, but you've got to think the possibility of a promotion would motivate him. Expect him to keep the hot hitting going with at least one more hit tonight.

Dee Gordon: Gordon is a real impact player. He might be the fastest player in the league. If Millwood struggles and walks people, Gordon's speed could produced one or two runs that could seriously hurt the Mariners' chances tonight. Also, he' s the son of ex-MLB reliever Tom "Flash" Gordon, so he has good jeans. I'm scared.

Prediction:

M's 5, Dodgers 4: This game has Mariners loss written all over it. Millwood has struggled, they are coming home from a road trip and the fans are expecting good hitting, the other team has an untested pitcher that will put o pressure on the bats to perform, etc. Usually this means a win, but for the Mariners, somehow this scenario ends in defeat. But tonight seems different. That road trip was incredible. The M's will use their momentum and win game one against the Dodgers. Go M's.