Anaheim (3-3) @ Seattle (5-2)

[TTown]

Shane Loux (1st start) vs. Carlos Silva (0-1, 10.80 ERA)
Jered Weaver (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Jarrod Washburn (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Joe Saunders (1-1, 2.63 ERA) vs. Ryan Rowland-Smith (0-0, 0.00)

I think you have to like how the Angels staff shakes out this series; any time we don't have Felix or Bedard taking the mound is going to be an experience, regardless of how Washburn looked his first time out (prove me wrong, Jarrod!). RRS pitched well his first start, but it was his error that lent to an unearned run, so he wasn't as flawless as the line above might indicate (and let's be honest, he didn't make it out of the 4th).

It'll be good to see Safeco again. The offense has been surprisingly clutch. Let's win the first one Tuesday and see what we can do.

[Basketball Jesus]

Despite the recent manhandling of the Sox, the Angels are still a very vulnerable team. I really like the M’s chances in this series.

[BlackMamba]

i hope that the first game the offense can help silva out because i don't think he can help himself.

and man, i bet it will be awesome to be at safeco and listen to the crowd cheer for griffey.

[TTown]

Let's get our baseball on. First pitch in a few minutes.

[TTown]

1-0 M's in the first. Cedeno walks, Griffey singles him to third, Cedeno scores after Beltre beats out a potential DP.

Great standing O for Griff.

[Sweezo]

All things considered, Silva pitched pretty well. I would be interested to see a comparison of his pitch selection compared to last week's as last week's featured many an untimely change up.

[TTown]

Agreed, Silva had a good outing today.

2-2 in the bottom of the 9th, 1 out. Morrow freaked me out in the top of the inning, but he got out of the jam.

Couldn't agree more with the poster who said that our bullpen scares the crap out of them. Wonder how long they can play with fire?

[Bulltalk]

Nice DP. Let's get to the bottom of the 10th, and then win this one on a Griffey hit.

[TTown]

The script is set up perfectly!

[TTown]

Mariners win!

Guttierez doubles off the wall in the 10th, Yuni tries to bunt him to third but Shields throws wide to first and Guttierez skips home for the winning run.

Great start to this series.

[Bulltalk]

Great. Ichiro returns soon, too. Maybe we can keep this interesting for awhile longer.

[Bulltalk]

It's still early, but I kind of like this manager.

[Sweezo]

Nice bunt by Yuni. I pretty much hate Betancourt but he's having a nice start to the year, both at the plate and defensively.

6-2, and so far we're actually beating other AL West teams. Love it.

EDIT: Just saw a bit of the replay...love Chavez dropping down the drag bunt to get on board. What an awesome skill. He's playing over his head but all things considered I'll gladly take him over Ibanez.

[slaterbug]

6-2 baby. Lets go Mariners!

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

I love Wakamatsu. I don't know what it is about the guy, but I feel like he's a great fit. I have confidence that he'll do well with us.

Great win though. I was worried that the Angels were going to steal it late, since I was expecting our bullpen to collapse at one point or another, haha.

Big hit by Gutierrez though, and an even better bunt by Yuni.

GO M'S!

[Basketball Jesus]

I absolutely love this team.

[Sweezo]

It's still early, but I kind of like this manager.

He hasn't done anything insanely stupid, which is probably the easiest way for me to evaluate a manager. Some of his bullpen decisions seemed close to blowing up in his face, but so far they've mostly worked out.

I don't like pointlessly sacrificing when a runner's in scoring position, but last night at the end it made perfect sense to have Yuni lay down the bunt. The other day he sacrificed the DH spot when Beltre was DHing in order to get him in as a defensive sub in last inning, which is an interesting call...looking at the other defensive subs he made at the time he put a great defensive roster out there to help the pitcher in the final frame to lock down the win.

He used Morrow last night in a non-save situation in a tied game in the 9th inning. I like managers who believe in using their best relievers in needed...why save a closer for a save opportunity that's not going to come? If he's your best pitcher, use him in the high leverage situation.

Hearing his critique about Silva's pitching in the first game, he seemed keenly aware of what Silva did wrong and what he needed to fix. Next game, Silva comes out and pitches in accordance with what Wakamatsu wanted; who knows if it was a pitcher/catcher issue but it seemed clear there was a change there.

Every year we hear spring training talk of being more aggressive on the basepaths. The team has been aggressive this year but largely smart about it. The good baserunners are making smart plays and the bad baserunners are taking what they are given.

All boils down to liking the way they are playing this year, and seeing some methodology put into place that maybe you didn't see last year when the inmates ran the asylum.

[Sweezo]

Washburn's on a roll...Jesus.

Am I the only one who doesn't like this whole "everyone wear #42 for Jackie Robinson" thing? It seems like it's honoring nothing...taking advantage of an epic achievement for the purpose of blatant exploitation. Allowing certain players to wear the number on this day in year's past is one thing, but forcing everyone in the league to wear it is simply disgusting. Celebrating diversity by forced uniformity. Unreal.

[TTown]

Junior goes deep!

3-2 M's in the 6th.

[TTown]

7-3 M's in the 7th... Rob Johnson with a 2 run single.