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| Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalberto Callaspo! |
The Seahawks are coming off an impressive 21-8 win over the Cowboys on Wednesday. Hold on. The NFL doesn't play on Wednesdays. But that would mean…this is a Mariners-Rangers score!? But what…how…when…what the hell? How did this happen?
Well, the Mariners used eight spots in both the second and third innings to jump out to a 16-0 lead and never looked back. Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero combined for ten RBIs and three home runs, and Kyle Seager and Michael Saunders added seven hits.
The real question is can the Mariners use the 31-run explosion of the last two games to snap the offensive funk they have been mired in for essentially the last three seasons. Teams have historically used big outputs like these to bust out of slumps. Can the Mariners be one of those teams? How awesome would that be, if the young guys just started raking for the rest of the season, and all of this progress that the organization has reportedly been making finally came to fruition? Pretty damn awesome.
Before I get to the rest of the preview, the Mariners announced the first promotion of one of the "phase 2" prospects today. Stephen Pryor, a flame-throwing closer-type reliever who can touch 100 MPH and has a solid slider. Pryor might not pitch tonight, or in the series at all, but his talent provides the Mariners with a solid option out of the 'pen for the foreseeable future.
June 1: His Highness (4-4, 3.17) vs. Jake Peavy (6-1, 3.07)
I won't even get into the run support thing here, because I do it too much, but yeah, it's in effect yet again. And holy shit! Jake Peavy is back ladies and gentlemen. 6-1? That's crazy. The White Sox are red hot, with eight wins in a row, and Peavy has resurrected his career with him after they took a gamble on him a few years back. It took him a while to work his way back to Cy Young level, but he's there now, and the Mariners should be worried about losing their momentum today. However, King Felix takes the hill tonight, so the M's might not need a whole lot of runs. Felix lost last time out this past weekend, when Alberto Callaspo tagged him for a pinch hit grand slam. Hopefully, a bad pitch like that can be avoided this time around. Either way, this matchup has low scoring written all over it.
Players to Watch:
Ichiro: He's back in the saddle. By saddle I mean lead off spot. And who knows how that will affect him? What's for certain is that the pressure has ramped up for him to perform. He can't use any sort of excuse of being out of his comfort zone, since the top spot in the order has been his place for his entire career. It's interesting that when the M's finally sit Ichiro out for a night, they score 21 runs. Regardless, Ichiro has a lot to prove still if he wants a contract extension.
Adam Dunn: Does anyone remember when Adam Dunn had the worst season in recent memory from a regular starter in 2011. Dude's fixed it up pretty good so far in 2012. Sure, he's only hitting .230. But he's got 16 homers and 37 RBIs, plus he's got an OPS of .935, so he's doing just fine. While Paul Konerko is the bonified Mariner killer on the White Sox, Dunn could run into a Felix heater and hit it a long way.
Prediction:
M's 5 White Sox 2: Felix better have a good start tonight. I'd be worried if he didn't. I also don't believe in Peavy yet, since I haven't seen his revamped version. The Mariners have so much confidence offensively going into tonight's game that I just can't seem them falling flat against Peavy. Maybe they've found their mojo again. Go M's.
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