by | May 1, 2010 · 2:51 pm

5/1 Game Recap — Texas 6, M’s 3

Well, that was depressing.  A classic everything went wrong, nothing went right game, I don’t think it would have been so discouraging if not for last night.  As it is, that missed squeeze last night now has the danger of feeling like a turning point for the season, and not the good kind of turning point. 

Today, Felix was as bad as we’re likely to see him all year, the offense was bad and everything they did hit hard was right at someone, and the defense had some mistakes and more importantly didn’t make many of the huge plays we’ve come to expect from them.  That’s not going to happen often.  The offense will get better at some point, but I’m increasingly sure that it’s not going to be good enough to win the division without any roster changes.  If Bradley, Figgins, and Lopez hit to their averages, and they add another bat in left or DH, losing the current designated non-hitters, that’s a solid offense.  Without an addition, that’s at least 3 spots in the line-up where it’s an upset every time there’s a hit, and that’s not going to cut it. 

There’s not much else to say, so I won’t say much else.  Again, this team isn’t as bad as these last two nights, but right now it’s certainly not the best team in a currently weak division.  We’ll hope our ace Doug Fister can salvage the series tomorrow.

Hero: Uh, Jesus Colome?  A couple of solid innings of relief when they needed them badly.

Goat: No one stood out, which is good and bad, because it means the whole team played badly.  Bradley had the ball he missed for whatever reason, but he also had some nice at-bats.  Franklin had a terrible at-bat again in the ninth.  I’ll give it to him, although it’s not totally justified.

-Matthew

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by | May 1, 2010 · 12:26 pm

I Need to Vent

Last night had set up so well. I was going to the Husky Spring Game, which we will write about later, then, I was excited to come home and watch Cliff Lee dazzle the Rangers in his Mariners debut. Needless to say, my expectations were high for the evening. The Husky game did not disappoint, though it took 2 hours to drive from Maple Valley to Montlake even with the 520 carpool lane! And Cliff Lee didn’t disappoint either. But the Mariners offense did. Don Wakamatsu did. Eric Byrnes and Mike Sweeney did as well. And now for the venting…

This offense ticks me off. Not scoring runs ticks me off. 9 home runs in 23 games ticks me off. Our lineup, bench, and designated hitters really tick me off. Having an 0-5 record when the game is tied in the 9th inning really, really, grinds my gears. Call it bad luck, but that does nothing to help my frustration. Apparently this stuff balances out over a 162 game season, but in a division of 4 teams, where the separation from first to last is a half game, garbage like last night can’t happen.

Having back to back innings where the bases are loaded with 1 out, then coming away with no runs both times is absurd. Pinch hitting double play machine Mike Sweeney was painful to watch. Also painful was seeing Eric Byrnes whiff on a bunt attempt. But that’s okay because Wakamatsu says Byrnes is “the ultimate competitor.” Maybe he is, but he’s also the ultimate spaz, the ultimate infield pop up artist, and the ultimate swinging strike king. He and Sweeney should not be on this team. And back to Wakamatsu, who normally is a pretty likable manager. I’m not that dumb fan who wishes their manager would be fired after a couple questionable moves, but his lineup selection is horrible. How can you possibly justify having Lopez as the clean up hitter?!

I’m not irrational and I realize there is plenty of time, no one is running away with the division, and the bats are bound to heat up. But there is something about the nature of our losses…walk-off hits, pitching gems wasted, and of course last night where any ball past the infield would have won the game twice, that just makes my head want to explode. I’m sure the plan is to stay within a couple games of the division leader in July, make a move for a bat, get Bedard back, and start the playoff run. But until then, I will expect games like last night to be commonplace, especially as long as Sweeney and Byrnes are on this team, and Wakamatsu’s infatuation with Lopez in the 4 hole continues.

And what the heck is with sending Kelley down to Tacoma? He is one of our best relievers. Weird.

I am about one more painful loss away from taking a week off from this team. That loss may very well come today, because it looks like Texas just scored 3 in the second. 2 of those runs came off a bloop pop fly that Bradley just gave up on. As Ryan Divish says, “Milton Bradley does things in a way where people can’t help but dislike him.” Those 3 runs should be plenty enough for the win against our offense, which again just hit into a double play with bases loaded and 1 out. Thanks to Rob for that one. That would be 2 losses in 17 hours, coming against Lee and Felix.

(This is just one Good Guy’s opinion. I’m sure the others disagree on parts of this)

-Dan

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by | May 1, 2010 · 9:50 am

Mariners Game Recap – 4/30/2010 -Cliff Lee debut

Cliff Lee was masterful

Elation and frustration. Those words describe watching the Mariners play over the course of 12 quick innings. For the first 7 innings, it was elation watching Cliff Lee do exactly what we all hoped he would be. Pinpoint control. A very quick pace on the mound. Working seamlessly with young Adam Moore behind the plate. Baffling Texas batters one after another. The bottom of those innings? I cannot tell you how hard it is to watch professional hitters literally stand and watch as a pitcher throws strikes. The Mariners simply stood and watched as Colby Lewis threw a gem of a game. It was a shame that neither Lee or Lewis got any decision, because they were the stars of the show. Hitters? Not so much. Mangers? Even worse…

Let’s start with the hero of the game, Cliff Lee. It was a joy to watch him pitch. Stats don’t do justice to his night, even though they were outstanding: 7 Innings, 3 hits, 8 K’s, 0 BB’s, 116 pitches, 73 for strikes. He continually pounded the strike zone, kept the Rangers hitters off balance, worked quick (I LOVE that…), interacted positively with Moore behind the plate, and was yucking it up on the bench between innings with the likes of Ryan Rowland-Smith and Felix Hernandez. He seemed to fit right in with the team and seemed to really ENJOY pitching, he seemed to really, truly be happy pitching. I love seeing that from pro athletes. You can tell Cliff Lee is a professional’s professional. Even though the 7 innings Lee pitched went by like a flash, it was a pure baseball joy to watch him pitch. As advertised is an understatement. Well done Cliff, well done!

Ok, on to the co-goats of the night: Mariners hitters and Don Wakamatsu. “Co-goats” you say? Yup. This game had so many goats at the plate and in the dugout it was hard to choose, so I am doing a Good Guys first: a “basically the entire rest of the team goat award”. Harsh? Maybe.

The Mariners as a team left 18 men on base. In the early innings, there were few base runners as the Mariners decided to go with the “stand at the plate and watch” approach. It got so bad I decided to go prepare dinner when the Mariners were at bat, then come back at watch Lee mow down some hitters. I understand Colby Lewis has solid stuff, it was clearly his best start of the year. He was mixing pitches well, throwing strikes, and spotting his breaking balls. Kudos to him. But the Mariners put up no fight whatsoever. On a night where just a few runs wins the game, I was surprised at the lack of urgency at the plate. Hey, guys, you have to score at least one run to win!!

In the later innings, and I mean late, like extra innings, Lewis finally left the game, replaced by Darren Oliver. Oliver was shaky and the Mariners were able to get to him. Griffey led off with a cue-shot grounder to shortstop that was an infield hit because they had the shift one him. Byrnes pinch ran, and Bradley then proceeded to rip a double to left. 2nd and 3rd, no outs. All they need is a fly ball. Kotchman then has one of the worst at bats of the year, completely fooled by Oliver (it was like Kotchman had never seen him before, odd…), constantly hesitant at the plate, finally check swinging and popping out to short. It was painful. Just swing away Casey!!! Swing hard buddy!! Adam Moore was then intentionally walked to get to Jack Wilson. This actually was great because Jack is a hacker, a fly ball artist who would swing for the fences and we’ll get the sac-fly and go home. But wait, Wakamatsu had other ideas. He decided to bring Mike Sweeney, ice cold, off the bench to pinch hit. I didn’t like the move at the time, and I hate it now. Texas brought in submariner O’Day, and Sweeney proceeded to swing at the first pitch for a double play. Fail. Not only on Sweeney, but on Wak. Why pinch hit Wilson? Could he have done any worse?? Wilson may have beat out the DP ball, or better, whacked a fly ball somewhere. Additionally, not having Wilson in the field will cost the Mariners later… I hate the move: goat for Wak, goat for Sweeney.

An inning later, Franky Francisco relieved O’Day. Good news for the M’s! Francisco has struggled all year. Ichiro leads off with a single to left, Figgins then bunts his way on. Ok, here we go I thought, two men on, no outs, heart of the order coming up with speedy Ichiro on 2nd. Smart baseball wins this game. Uh oh! Gutierrez comes to the plate and makes Franky look like Mariano Rivera. Horrid at bat by Guti, strikes out. Lopez was then walked to bring up Byrnes. Here is where it gets weird. As I was watching the at bat, my brother pointed out that third base coach Mike Brumley kept running through the signs for Byrnes, and kept chatting with Ichiro at 3rd. I scoffed and hoped they all just shut up and let Byrnes hit the ball hard somewhere. The Rangers were at DP depth which was great, Byrnes has awesome speed. A ground ball might win the game, a fly ball certainly does. This is easy I say! DOH! Wakamatsu calls of a squeeze play!!! But Byrnes forgets to try and bunt the ball! He just stands there, watches the ball go by, and Ichiro gets tagged out at the plate. Byrnes then proceeds to look horrid, AGAIN, at the plate, striking out. To say this was a cluster of failure is an understatement. I love Don Wakamatsu, but this was a classic case of over management. Just let the guys swing. Yeah, maybe things go sideways anyway, but at some point you have to trust these guys to make a play and win. The situation set itself up nicely for the Mariners, and they out smarted themselves right out of the inning.

Remember Jack Wilson getting pinch hit a couple innings before? Well the top of the 12th came with Matt Tuiasasopo at SS. I love Tui, but he is no Jack Wilson with the glove. To lead off Andrus had an infield single. Then Michael Young chopped a ball over the mound that Tui should have simply ate. Instead he tried to make a play and ended up throwing the ball into the dugout. I am convinced either Wilson makes the play, or eats the ball. If Wilson is in there, the M’s get out of the inning because Texas didn’t even get the ball out of the infield on League, yet they scored 2 runs, largely because of the error on Tui. I am not ripping Tui too bad here, Wak should not have pinch hit Wilson beforehand.

Moore & Lee: Student and Teacher

I have already gone overboard on this recap. Felix is on the mound today, so let’s hope for better things from the plate and get Felix a win. Overall the game was massive highs, and massive lows. The hitting was pathetic, managing not much better, and Cliff Lee was amazing. The call-out of Kotchman at first base was brutal, as was Ron Washington blowing up for no reason and getting tossed. Makes me wonder if he had dinner reservations to get to? It was bizarre.

Goats: Mariners hitters and Don Wakamatsu (see above)

Hero: Cliff Lee (see above)

-Joe

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by | April 30, 2010 · 3:00 pm

Jones and Ross Commit

Both Jones and Ross commit to UW!!!! Great day to be a dawg!!! Whoooo!!!

Andrew

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by | April 30, 2010 · 10:54 am

Spring Game Preview: What and Who to Watch

Bring out your rain jackets and head on down to Husky Stadium tonight!  The Huskies will be holding their annual spring game tonight at 6:30 and, despite the cool temperatures, it is sure to be a hoppin’ time!  3/4 of the Good Guys will be at the game and bringing you a recap afterwards.  After watching almost all of the spring practices I have a few recommendations on who to watch tonight.  Bob Condotta also filed a “Who To Watch” list that you can find here.  As usual, he does a fantastic job.  Here’s a few players (and a few other things) that I’ll be watching tonight (The obvious guys won’t be on this list very much.  Of course we’ll all be watching Jake Locker, Devin Aguilar, and Mason Foster.  They are awesome and there’s no disputing this.):

  • Deontae Cooper.  Cooper is one of the two freshman running backs who came in for spring practices.  Sadly, Jesse Callier won’t be participating; he had been very impressive too.  Deontae Cooper was my favorite part of the spring.  He has been absolutely fantastic. I can only remember one practice in which he didn’t break off a long touchdown run.  If he’s on top of his game today Husky fans will be in for a treat and you all will stop wondering why I keep writing about this guy.
  • Cort Dennison.  Before this spring the linebacker position was one to worry about.  I’ll write more on this later but, this is the spot where the most questions were answered for me.  As we saw last year, Cort is a pretty good player.  If he was a baseball player I would have rated him as a league-average player.  After watching him this spring I would say he’s above average.  He’s moved to the middle linebacker spot for this season and will be a steady stream of energy and toughness there.  Cort is a fun Husky to watch; I would say that you should do at least a little bit of that tonight.
  • The free safety position.  Nick Holt said in an interview yesterday that with the emergence of Will Shamburger and Nate Fellner, Sean Parker should be able to stay at his natural position of strong safety.  This means that the coaches have been very impressed by these two players.  They both show a few different things: Shamburger is good in coverage and Fellner brings the lumber.  Right now Shamburger is the starter but Fellner is right in the mix too.  Both of these guys will play a role next year.
  • The offense in short yardage situations.  The Huskies had trouble with this last year and Sark put an emphasis on getting more physical heading into spring.  Of course they will be going up against a depleted defensive line tonight but it will still be interesting to watch.
  • Alvin Logan.  Logan has had a good spring and is in the hunt for the 3rd linebacker position.  He’s very quick rushing off the edge and definitely looks the part.  I’m predicting at least one sack for him tonight.
  • Anthony Boyles.  A.B. started this spring with a bang but has since fallen off a little bit.  I think he’ll be ready to get out and play in a game format.  At times he looks like UW’s best corner, other times he seems to be lost.  He should get tested often tonight, I’m excited to see how he responds.
  • William Chandler.  I don’t know who William Chandler is, I don’t know where he came from and I don’t know if he’ll play much next year but this guy continues to make catch after catch in practice.  I imagine he’ll pull down a few tonight and people will ask who it was.

The teams will be the starting offense with the second team defense vs. the second team offense and the starting defense.  Basically, the one vs. the ones and the twos vs. the twos. 

The starting offense will be close to this: 

QB:  Jake Locker.  Keith Price will come in once Montlake Jake is done for the day.

RB:  Johri Fogerson/Deontae Cooper

FB:  Austin Sylvester/Dorson Boyce

TE:  Chris Izbicki/Kavario Middleton

WR:  Devin Aguilar/James Johnson/Cody Bruns

LT:  Senio Kelemente

LG:  Ryan Tolar

C:  Drew Schaefer

RG:  Mykenna Ikehara

RT:  Daniel Kanczugowski

The defense should look something like this:

DE’s:  Cameron Elisara and Talia Critchon.  De’Shon Matthews might be with the starters, I’m not sure.

DT’s:  Alameda Ta’amu/Chris Robinson/Tyrone Duncan

LB’s:  Alvin Logan/Cort Dennison/Mason Foster.  Expect Matt Houston to rotate in here too.

CB’s:  Vonzell McDowell/Quinton Richardson.  Adam Long may rotate in with the starters but I expect him to be with the 2nd team.

FS:  Will Shamburger

SS:  Nate Williams

Those might be a little off but they’re pretty close.  Enjoy and I’ll hopefully see you tonight!

Andrew

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by | April 30, 2010 · 8:13 am

Happy Walter Jones Day!

If you haven’t heard, Seahawk great Walter Jones announced his retirement yesterday.  It was certainly not unexpected after he missed all of last year after surgery.  He was one of the best left tackles to ever play in the NFL, legitimately in the discussion with just two or three others as the greatest ever.  It’s incredibly doubtful we’ll ever see anyone on the Seahawks offensive line come close to the dominance Jones showed.  I heard this morning that he gave up nine sacks in his career, which is just one sack every season and a quarter, and happened to be the same amount of quarterbacks that he blocked for.  The Seahawks were just as likely to have a new quarterback as Jones was to give up a sack.  His #71 jersey will be retired immediately.  Good luck to Walt in the future and thanks for the memories!

The governor has declared today to be Walter Jones day.  I don’t really know what you do with that, other than reminisce and listen to sports radio, but I guess you could try to eat 71 hot dogs or something.  Luckily, there are plenty of other sports things going on today, so if you’re not into hot dogs, watch for these instead:

3:30 Terrence Jones and Terrance Ross Announce Their Commitments

Jones and Ross are probably the two best remaining basketball recruits on the west coast, and they are both considering the Huskies along with a host of other schools.  Classmates at Portland’s Jefferson High, they will announce their choices at a 3:30 press conference with two other teammates.

Ross is rumored to have committed to the UW Monday on a visit, but is delaying the announcement so he can do it with his friends.  That’s not for sure, but I’m about 90% positive he’ll be a Dawg at this point.  He’s a 6′ 5″ wing with great athleticism and an excellent shot.  He wasn’t able to play at Jefferson this past year due to transfer rules, but as a sophomore in 2008 he was the Oregon player of the year, and now can be found as high as the top 30 in recruiting rankings.  He’d be a huge add, with his size and offensive talent playing in nice contrast to Isaiah Thomas’ small and slashing game.  There are concerns with both players about getting into school, but Ross himself has said that he’ll qualify, so there’s no reason to doubt him until he doesn’t get in.

Jones is not as clear of a lock for UW as is Ross, but he’s an even higher ranked prospect and arguably a better fit for next year’s team.  A 6′ 9″ forward, Jones is an inside-out type player who reportedly can do a little of everything offensively with good defensive to boot.  Honestly, I’ve heard a little of everything about Jones skills, including that he does or doesn’t have a low post game, shot, or premium athleticism.  It’s clear he’s more of a three four swing guy than a true post-up four, though.  Think a bigger Pondexter rather than Brockman, I guess.  Whatever the case, he’d be a huge get and would likely step right into Pondexter’s starting spot.  Kentucky and now Kansas seem to be his most likely landing spots if not UW, but I’d say there’s a better than even chance he’s a Husky.

Keep your fingers crossed.  Getting both guys could mean the Huskies are Pac-10 favorites (if they’re not already) and a big threat to go to the Final Four.

6:30 Husky Spring Game Under the Lights

This is the first time the spring game is being played at night, and I’m really looking forward to it.   The spring game is always a little weird to watch since it’s all Huskies (see Andrew’s post below), but it’s a lot of fun if for no other reason than it’s a chance to watch some football again.  Plus, it can give an idea of how the team and individual players have progressed, especially the non-linemen.  Look for Deontae Cooper to put on a show, and hope that the back-up quarterbacks show anything.  I think parking’s $7 but the game’s free, so come on out!

7:00 Cliff Lee!

Lee finally makes his Mariner debut against the Rangers tonight, and there’s a definite sense that the season is finally starting for real.  He won’t help the offense, but if they start to come around, this team could come together quickly.  This is also the first series where the opponent has to face both Felix and Cliff, which will be a lot more fun for us fans than it will for the Rangers.  Snell goes to the bullpen, but I haven’t heard who is being taken off the roster yet.  Candidates would be Colome or maybe Kelley or Texeira.  The Mariners are just a game back of the division lead, and a sweep could really get momentum going in their direction.

It should be a fun day and weekend.  Hope you enjoy it!

-Matthew

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by | April 29, 2010 · 8:52 pm

How to Cheer for the Spring Game

For the past few years I’ve made the drive with my dad from Yakima to Seattle for the Husky spring football game.  This year I only have to take the ten minute drive across the bridge to get there.  While this is a change from recent years, I will still be going into the game with one question on my mind: How do I cheer for this game? 

Come about 6 o’clock tomorrow night, I imagine I’ll take my seat, save spots for my fellow good guys and a few friends, watch the game and just cheer along when everyone else does.  But I’ve found often times that I don’t want to do this.  Maybe it’s because I’m looking for things that other people aren’t looking for.  Maybe it’s because I’m a rebel (not really).  The truth is when 8,000-10,000 people get together to watch a team play against itself there is no set way of cheering.  I thought I’d throw out a few ideas I’ve had on how to cheer for the game tomorrow.  Some of these are pretty standard, some of these will get people to stare at you.  Here you go:

  • Cheer for big plays on offense and defense.  This is generally what happens.  It’s fine.  I don’t really have a lot of excitement towards this philosophy.  Even 3-year olds can shout exclamations after Jake Locker throws a touchdown.  It’s these other ideas that will set you apart.
  • Cheer every single time Jake Locker touches the ball.  I know this may sound dumb but think about it.  If anyone deserves to hear our shrieks it’s #10.  If there is a roar every time he takes a snap and drops back I think he’ll begin to feel the sense of appreciation we have for him sticking around for one more year.  Call it stupid, call it brilliant, I tend to think that Jake is deserving of this treatment.
  • Cheer every time Senio Kelemente knocks a defensive lineman to the ground.  People will look at you but you’ll get the last laugh when Senio is named to the all pac-10 team this year or next year.  Trust me on this one.
  • Cheer for good plays by the defense.  Usually the focus is on the offense during these games because people like to see points scored.  I get that.  But, we know the offense is good; we don’t need to worry about the offense.  The defense is another story so support them.  Most people whine and moan about an incomplete pass at these games but realize that it takes a good play on one side to make a bad play on the other.  This idea is the one I feel strongest about if that means anything.
  • Cheer for the punter, Will Mahen.  Punters are incredibly lame and they probably know this, therefore they may need a self-esteem boost. 

If you have anymore ideas post them in the comments!  I’ll be back tomorrow with a preview of the game and players to watch.  Thanks for reading!

Andrew

Note:  I didn’t attend practice today because it was only an hour long and mainly just special teams stuff.  If you’re looking for a practice report check out Condotta’s blog.

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by | April 28, 2010 · 7:33 pm

Series Recap 4/26-4/28

Due to busy schedules and such the Good Guys haven’t been able to cover the Kansas City series game by game.  So, with that being said I’m going to take this weird series down with one post.  We’ll get back on our game by game schedule in this coming series.

Monday 4/26 KC – 3 Seattle – 1

This game sucked.  You can’t really sugarcoat it.  It was Felix Hernandez vs. Kyle Davies and we lost.  Kyle Davies is not a good pitcher but our lineup had no trouble making him look like a cy young.  He had a no-hitter into the 6th inning.  The one good thing the M’s did against him was get his pitch count up even when they were getting shut down.  This was a common theme this series as they did this the next night against Greinke. 

Felix was a little off his game and that’s all the Royals needed to win.  The King was good but he wasn’t his usual great self.  Felix’s few struggles combined with our lack of offense made this game very frustrating to watch. 

Getting no hit through six is frustrating in one way but what followed in the 7th, 8th, and 9th was even more annoying to me.  The Mariners got a ton of runners on in those 3 innings.  The number was close to 10 (sorry, I can’t remember exactly), yet they only drove in one run in those innings.  This is more bad luck than anything and the same thing happened to the Royals the next night.  This doesn’t make it any less annoying.

If the Mariners had this pitching matchup 10 times I’m confident in saying that they would win at least 8 of them.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be this night.  Baseball is weird.

Hero: Mike Sweeney.  This is by default.  He got a pinch hit RBI single in the 9th and that’s enough to win him the hero award.  He did have a nice little series though so that’s worth noting.

Goat:  There are so many options.  We’ll go with Chone Figgins.  He was 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.  That’s not very good.  Sorry Chone, I still like you.

Tuesday 4/27 M’s – 3 KC – 2

As much as I expected the Mariners to win the first game of the series, I expected them to lose this one.  Of course, they were playing the Royals so anything was possible but it was Ian Snell vs. Zack Greinke.  If there’s one pitcher I’d think about trading Felix for it’s Greinke.  He’s incredible.  And he was incredible on Tuesday.  The Mariners did manage to get his pitch count up and that’s what changed the game. 

Ian Snell was interesting.  The grass is green.  What else is new.  Snell only gave up 2 runs but he allowed an incredible amount of baserunners.  Fortunately, we were playing the Royals and they don’t hit very well so he was able to pitch out of numerous jams.  His stuff was decent and after the game he said that was the best his slider has felt in a long time.  This is good news since the slider is his best pitch.  This was probably Snell’s best start of the season but it’s not good enough to keep him in the rotation.  So the 4.35 million arm moves to the bullpen.  I don’t see how anyone can argue with this move and I’ll be anxious to see how he does.  He fits the mentality of our bullpen: a wild right-hander with a fastball and above average slider.  Snell could still be a valuable asset to the Mariners, time will tell.

Once the Mariners got to Kansas City’s bullpen it was game on.  When a team runs out Josh Rupe, Robinson Tejada, and Bruce Chen in succession, that team is usually going to lose.  That is not a very good bullpen.  With that being said, the Mariners used some annoying baseball to win this game.  The annoying aspect was exclaimed with Jose Lopez’ RBI double off the pitchers glove.  It’s annoying baseball like Venoy Overton being an annoying defender.  It’s annoying like when we play the Angels.  It’s annoying and it’s so much fun to win that way.

Make no mistake, the Mariners should not have won that game.  Thank goodness they did though.  These first two games show just how weird baseball can be.  There is so much statistical analysis to baseball, and I love that, but these two games show that there’s a certain level of unpredictability to baseball and that’s what makes it great.

Hero:  Milton Bradley.  Bradley was 2-3 and drew a bases loaded walk.  I love Milton Bradley.  Lookout Landing said that he realizes his job is to be an entertainer and I couldn’t agree more.  He makes watching games way more fun.  On this night, he played the role of the villain and fed off the crowds boos.  He played right along with them; taunting them back playfully and brimming with intensity.  I was following the game on Gameday so I didn’t get to see any of his antics live but caught his interview after the game.  If you haven’t already, go read some of his quotes after the game.  They are hilarious.  Milton is becoming one of my favorite Mariners and he’s been slumping.  I know he has his share of haters but I think he’s great.

Goat:  Casey Kotchman.  Kotch had a tough game.  Oh well, he’s been strong this season and after the last game in the series it’s safe to say that his was just a blip on the radar.  Don’t forget that the Mariners were facing Zack Greinke on this night.

Wednesday 4-28 M’s -6 KC -5

The Mariners won a close, weird game this afternoon.  I really enjoy day games.  Anyway, this game was awesome because Gil Meche was pitching, Willie Bloomquist was playing second base, and Yuni was playing short and they all sucked.  I don’t really have a problem with Meche but Bloomquist and Yuni are two of my least favorite Mariners ever.  When they’re at short and second together they may be the worst double play tandem in baseball.  Poor Kansas City.

Hyphen started for the Mariners and had his best start of the year.  He was very effective with his off speed stuff and probably should have only given up one run on the day.  A pop up fell in between Ichiro and Figgins because Ichiro misread it.  Smith still isn’t where he was at the end of last season but he got a little closer today.

The Mariners hit the ball hard most of the day.  It was nice to see the bats come alive before the 8th inning even if it was against Gil Meche.  Ichiro and Figgins both had great days.  The bottom of the order was pretty impressive too.  I konw we’ve addressed this before but Jose Lopez needs to move out of the clean-up spot.  Please.  Put Kotch or Bradley there.  Lopez is a pretty decent 6-hole hitter, clean-up not so much.

Jack Wilson made an absolutely amazing play in the 8th inning.  It’s been described as the Derek Jeter play but with range.  He ranged far to his right, jumped up and threw the ball to first, getting the runner by half a step.  Derek Jeter did make that throw famous but there’s no chance that Jeter would have gotten to that ball.  Yuni wouldn’t have even moved for that ball, he would have just watched it roll through the hole because there’d be no hope of him getting it.  It was an incredible play and saved Mark Lowe some trouble in the 8th.  Wilson also added a double today.

Hero:  Chone Figgins.  Figgins put together a really solid day.  He just missed a home run, which is saying something when we’re talking about Chone.  Figgy tripled, singled and walked.  He hit the ball hard.  Hopefully, this continues and his bat gets a little hotter.

Goat:  Franklin Gutierrez.  Guti just had a bad day.  0-4, it happens.

So, the Mariners are heading home with a .500 record.  This seems fitting because Friday is going to feel like opening day all over again.  This team will be the one we envisioned since December with Lee returning.  Not only does this add a talent boost but it adds a mental boost.  When you get one of the best pitchers in baseball starting for your team your confidence has to go up.  Let the real season begin!

Andrew

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