There is a lot to be said about last night's 7-1 victory over the Oakland A
Justin Smoak- JUSTIN SMOAK!!- was patient enough to draw a walk with the bases loaded to score a run. Saunders stole second and was then driven in by a vintage Seager (can 2012 be considered vintage? For wine, definitely not. For Pabst? That's much to old and probably rancid) 2-out double, which was followed up by the first RBI and the first hit as a Mariner for Kendrys Morales, the meatiest looking mother who doesn't even wear batting gloves. *My theory is that he couldn't fit the gloves over those brautwurst fingers.
Then, there was the Beast. One time Mariner Mike Morse, who now wants to be known as Michael Morse (because the two syllable first name gives a better introduction in his opinion) decided to take his yin and yang to the next level with two impressive dingers. The first was a three-run shot that put the Mariners ahead in the 3rd.
And a showy solo-shot in the 9th. He knew the minute he hit this ball that it was gone, and casually and confidently tossed his bat as one who gives zero fucks tosses cobras aside (for a hee-hawing good time watch this video if you've never seen it before. Funniest thing I've seen in a while).
Most everybody on the team looked good last night except for Ackley... which if you don't know by now kills me because I am irrationally attached to Dustin as I am to my beard (2+ months in the making). I expect him though to make a showing here in the next couple of games and get back on track.
Saunders looked intimidating on the base paths-- and wow Jaso really can't catch anybody stealing.
Seager was on base five times and looks nifty in the 2-hole. I like him and Saunders to kick off the game going 1-2.
Iwakuma looked like a solid number 2 starter, although I say that cautiously... a few too many balls were hit well to the warning track last night, and Cespedes reignited the Cuban Missile Crisis with his rope-shot solo dinger that gave the A's their only lead of the year so far.
Capps looked nasty. And Oliver Perez quick-pitched Cespedes like a crafty veteran who just wanted the game to be over with. *My roommate is laughing right now about that note on Perez; he is a die-hard Mets fan and cannot believe the Mariners had the audacity to give both Perez and Bay (the Mets versions of Bedard and Figgins) money to play for a professional baseball team.
And sorry, Raul, but I couldn't help but chuckle a bit when you lost that single to left between your legs for what seemed like an eternity. We love you and we always will, but we have to love your flaws too and one of those is outfield defense.
Morse was tested too defensively, and took advantage of his 6'5'' frame to snag a line drive that he misread off the bat.
And Gutie got some PT too, crushing a double off a good closer in Balfour and making a couple of putouts to end the 9th for the M's.
Finally the Mariners have a team 0.5 ERA and two victories by their starters so far this season. We are also averaging 4.5 runs per game, good enough for seventh in the league (and all of this really matters because it is the second game of the season and baseball isn't a marathon or anything absurd like that).
Overall a solid win last night. It was good to see patience at the plate and good hitting with RISP. Now all we need is for Morales to get it going and have Ackley start hitting the way he is supposed to in the 8 spot.
This could be a wild ride of the season, and it continues tonight with Saunders on the mound. Not sure what to expect from him, but we can only hope he eats up 200 innings this season like the Kung-Fu Panda eats up everything he can get his hands on, including Verlander fastballs.
-Charlie @C14SpencerD
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