Oakland (5-2) @ Seattle (2-5)

[TTown]

After going 3-1 to open the season against us, the A's took 2 of 3 from the Angels, beating them down in games one and three.

I believe the pitching will shake down like this...

Justin Duchscherer (0-0, 7.94) vs. Ryan Rowland-Smith (0-0, 5.40)
Brett Anderson (1-0, 0.00) vs. Doug Fister (0-1, 4.50)
Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 3.00) vs. Justin Vargas (0-1, 8.44)

I'm hoping a return to Safeco will help our staff. That said, it should help the A's with Anderson, who owned us last Thursday, and Gonzalez, who looked really good against Anaheim. We always seem to do well against Duchscherer.

I'm far from panicking, but wins would be really nice. Best not to be ten games under .500 when Lee gets back, y'know? But we've got a 9 game homestand coming up (3 w/ Oakland, 3 w/ Detroit, 3 w/ Baltimore) that can get this thing turned around.

[Sweezo]

Went to the game tonight. Seeing Randy Johnson, Griffey, Edgar, Dan Wilson, and Buhner reuniting at home plate before the game was an awesome experience...and the highlight of the evening.

I agree, it's too early to panic but...

1. Let's get Bradley out of the OF already. That half-assed barehand attempt where he overran the ball not only cost us one [if not two] run, and stuff like that puts him in a position to hurt himself. Put him at DH where he can concentrate on hitting, use Griffey as a pinch hitter/part-time DH, and get rid of Sweeney. I can handle a Byrnes/Langerhans platoon in LF more than I can handle having Bradley in LF and Griffey/Sweney at DH.

2. Rob Johnson still sucks.

3. Jack Wilson is a great defensive SS, but his offense is dreadful. It'd be nice if he could work a count. Pairing him with Johnson at the end of the lineup is death.

4. Too many fans want Bradley to fail. Seriously, what the hell has the guy ever done to these people? What has he ever done to M's fans to make them hate him? People in the stand seem way harder on him than they are on anyone else. Griffey can come up and fail routinely and no one in the stands gives a ****. Bradley makes one defensive gaff and then gets taunted the rest of the game...in his first home game in Seattle. Irritating...

[TTown]

That really sucks about the hometown fans. Bradley could be very, very good for Seattle if the fans don't tear him apart first.

Figgins, Kotch, Lopez and Bradley won't be under .200 for long, but while they're there, boy howdy. This team is brutally frustrating to watch. We're going to make a contender out of Oakland until we turn this thing around.

[Sweezo]

It's not like it's a ton of fans, but it's still enough of them that I am certain he hears. He heard it in Chicago, he probably hears them here too.

[Sweezo]

We keep getting baserunners against a really good pitcher, and then it all gets pissed away by someone with a bad approach at the plate. Extremely frustrating. Fister's given up nothing through 5 and we just can't capitalize.

[Sweezo]

YEAHHH!!! Bradley with a three run bomb and the M's win. I really want Bradley to do well...I like him.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

I really like Bradley as well. Dude gets such a bad rap. I know he's done and said some dumb things, but he's gotten blasted non-stop for years now.

Really happy for him to get that bomb in the 8th. You could tell it took some weight off of his shoulders.

And how about our boy Fister? LIGHTS OUT!

....But now its Vargas' turn. Ugh. This wont go well.

[TTown]

Big game tonight. If we can win tonight, we've got Felix on the mound tomorrow. That there could equal winning streak.

Milton's blast broke a 20 inning scoreless streak. Oy vey. Buhner called the HR, kinda.

Fister was a menace. 8 IP, 3 H, 0 BB.

[Sweezo]

...and the bats are finally starting to show some life!

[TTown]

This is the state of the Mariners as of April 14 for me: When Vargas sat that fastball smack dab in the middle of the plate and Oakland went up 2-0 in the 2nd, I threw the remote on the couch and said, "Damn, I really wanted to win this game." I didn't think we had the chops to come back from 2 runs with 8 innings to play.

Lame, I know. But I was wrong! Bradley comes through with a big 2-run single to tie the game, Vargas had a strong performance... props to the back end of the rotation this series.

Felix goes Friday, and RRS has been moved up to Saturday due to a death in Ian Snell's family.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

Aardsma is such a beast.

Big ups to our bats for coming through in those 2-out situations. Also, gotta say that Vargas impressed me with that performance. I thought the 2-run homer he gave up was only going to lead to more trouble.

Come on, Felix. Show us what you got now!