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RHP Dan Haren (5-4, 2.41) vs. Jason Vargas (4-3, 3.94)
RHP Jered Weaver (7-4, 2.24) vs. Doug Fister (3-7, 3.40)
RHP Ervin Santana (3-6, 4.37) vs. Erik Bedard (3-4, 3.47)

Haren pitched great against us last time, but I think that was the Tori Hunter dropped fly ball game (?). We also beat Weaver last meeting (3-0).

It's weird that we've played Detroit 10 times already, but the Angels just twice.

That's one tough pitching match-up for us; Haren and Weaver have been two of the best SP in all of baseball so far this year. Still, the Angels have been having some severe trouble [their offense was shutdown by Vin Mazzaro this Sunday....go Google his name if you're not sure how his 2011 season has gone so far], and I feel like kicking them when they are down. Let's sweep the series and give ourselves a nice little buffer between ourselves and third place in the division.

The Rangers start a series @ NYY this Tuesday. With a little help, we could be in first place in the not to distant future. I want to happen very badly. I don't care how good this team is or isn't, and I know we're not a likely playoff contender with the way our team is currently made up, I just know it would feel pretty damn good to be in first place right NOW.

Pivotal divisional matchup, and a crucial series for Seattle here in my opinion, they should win this series though in my opinion.

This is gonna be a tough series, considering the mariners offense I dont expect more than 2 or 3 runs for us each game.

Lets see if Fister and Vargas can hold up against 2 of the best pitchers right now in the league.

ugh not a good start.

good man kennedy, ichiro looks like hes breaking out of the slump

heh dont mind peguero swinging at everything if he can do that

jason vargas = vernon wells energizer

Well that was less than satifying. M's got off to a good start but things unraveled quickly, especially when Olivo lost that ball on the play at the plate.

Who cares if you're batting .180 with two HRs on the season when you've got Jason Vargas on the bump? Vernon Wells smash!

Vargas' inconsistencies are really beginning to annoy me. It seems like he never has one of those "middle of the road" performances where he's not great/not bad, it's always such polarizing extremes with him. He's made 14 starts this year: in 5 he's given up 5 runs or more, in 7 he's given up 2 runs or less. And you never know what you're getting until you show up to the park.

Really frustrating game. I feel like it would have ended differently had Olivo held on to that ball. I still dont know what the hell happened there. Ugh. It was my birthday too. Thanks for that gift, Mariners!

Vargas sucks. I posted from the start of the season that I didn't like him. I'm not a huge fan of soft-throwers anyways, but his inconsistencies are just too frustrating. His location was horendous yesterday.

TTown wrote:Who cares if you're batting .180 with two HRs on the season when you've got Jason Vargas on the bump? Vernon Wells smash!

Vargas' inconsistencies are really beginning to annoy me. It seems like he never has one of those "middle of the road" performances where he's not great/not bad, it's always such polarizing extremes with him. He's made 14 starts this year: in 5 he's given up 5 runs or more, in 7 he's given up 2 runs or less. And you never know what you're getting until you show up to the park.

Olivo's got to shoulder some of the blame for that in this instance. He dropped the ball on a relatively easy play at the plate, which not only allowed a run to score but I believe also extended the inning to give Wells a chance to do some damage. If Olivo makes that play and Abreu flies out next [which he did], that's the inning.

For a pitcher that pitches to contact, if the defense doesn't make the plays then runs are going to score.

Off to a terrible start tonight. Everyone's making solid contact against Fister, Figgins cut off a plate at the plate that he perhaps shouldn't have, Smoak made a bad throw in a rundown that cost them an out, a bad throw by Kennedy cost the M's a shot at a DP, and Ichiro bobbled a harmless rolling ball in the outfield [and the runner that advanced on this throw just scored on a bloop single by Branyan].

Shameful.

Run #4 scores on a double -- oh, wait, that was a FOUL BALL. Run still stands anyway because, hey, that's baseball.

Carp makes an awkward sliding catch in fair territory and we're out of the inning. Other than the 42 pitches Fister threw, an ump that won't give him a high strike, several defensive miscues, and a blown call that lead to a run, and a 4-0 defecit before we even get to swing a bat...I guess that inning wasn't really that bad.

This is what happens when our defense is off. Fister having a bad outing is inevitable since hes a contact pitcher that doesnt throw that hard, but still the defense was terrible by our standards.

Jered Weaver(or any pitcher ranging from decent to elite) + mariners offense = easy shutout.

Worst thing is that the Rangers got thrashed and we couldnt take advantage

sharkz wrote:
Jered Weaver(or any pitcher ranging from decent to elite) + mariners offense = easy shutout.

Came to say the same thing. Its seems that every decent pitcher just abuses our offense. I'm so tired of Figgins, Carp and these other guys. Olivo, Smoak, Peguero and sometimes Kennedy are our only guys that i expect to hit anything when they are at the plate.

Jeff23 wrote:

sharkz wrote:
Jered Weaver(or any pitcher ranging from decent to elite) + mariners offense = easy shutout.

Came to say the same thing. Its seems that every decent pitcher just abuses our offense. I'm so tired of Figgins, Carp and these other guys. Olivo, Smoak, Peguero and sometimes Kennedy are our only guys that i expect to hit anything when they are at the plate.

Not sure who i feel the most comfortable to be at the plate with the game on the line. The guys you mentioned arent hitting for much average except for Kennedy and i think he is going to show his age before too long. Until they get Figgins out of the lineup i'm not going to get very excited about this offense.

http://gregjohns.mlblogs.com/2011/06/15 ... -at-third/

Kennedy getting work at 3B. Ackley, come on down...

Peguero with a luckiest of 2 RBI hits!

Piguero got so lucky. Man, we do get fortunate against the Angels in late innings from time to time.

Halman absolutely destroyed that homerun though.

Jeff23 wrote:I'm so tired of Figgins, Carp and these other guys.

Carp? You mean the guy with a .278 average and .409 OBP in limited action this year?

I feel very comfortable with Carp and wish he would see the majority of time in left. Right now, Ichiro looks to be back on track and Figgins has been productive the last handful of games. Outside of them, its really shaky.

Bay_Areas_Finest wrote:I feel very comfortable with Carp and wish he would see the majority of time in left. Right now, Ichiro looks to be back on track and Figgins has been productive the last handful of games. Outside of them, its really shaky.

Carp's doing a fine job at the plate, and his defense hasn't been horrible. That home-run robbing catch [while awesome] was not a pretty thing though...he just jumped a little too early.

Bay_Areas_Finest wrote:Piguero got so lucky. Man, we do get fortunate against the Angels in late innings from time to time.

Halman absolutely destroyed that homerun though.

Jeff23 wrote:I'm so tired of Figgins, Carp and these other guys.

Carp? You mean the guy with a .278 average and .409 OBP in limited action this year?

I feel very comfortable with Carp and wish he would see the majority of time in left. Right now, Ichiro looks to be back on track and Figgins has been productive the last handful of games. Outside of them, its really shaky.

Didnt realize his stats were that good.