Jays (5-4) @ M's (2-7)

[TTown]

Jesse Litsch (1-0, 4.26) vs. Felix Hernandez (1-1, 2.25)
Ricky Romero (1-0, 1.32) vs. Michael Pineda (0-1, 4.50)
Kyle Drabek (1-0, 1.38) vs. Jason Vargas (0-1, 7.20)

Romero and Drabek have been awesome so far. Another big test for Pineda.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

I'm expecting another sweep. Our pathetic offense gives me ZERO reason to believe we can win a game.

[Sweezo]

We have no chance against lefties, let alone Ricky Romero. At least we have Felix going tonight so we--

What's that? They're playing right now? And Felix has let 5 runs score while the defense and offense constantly let him down? Well...never mind then.

Smoak took a swing on a 3-2 breaking ball with the bases loaded that was as bad a swing as I've seen a player taken. The M's keep putting runners on but the middle of the lineup refuses to get them in.

Felix should just demand a trade already so he doesn't have to spend his career toiling in our system.

[Sweezo]

I hate Miguel Olivo. Goddammit.

[Sweezo]

My God...that was one of the most incredible M's wins I have ever seen. What a game. What a comeback!

[bennith13]

Well, that was terrible and then awesome all in one game.

[TTown]

That was a GREAT comeback don't get me wrong, but I'll be damned if even our rallies are lackluster offensive performances. 3 bases loaded walks and a single in a 5 run 8th lol

BUT DAMNIT IT'S A WIN!

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

I had just gotten home and was a split-second away from turning off the tv. I decided to hop on facebook for a minute, and then the Jays started the walkfest. I had to watch the rest of it after that, and damn, I sure am glad I did. What a win! One of the most exciting ones in a while. Lets see if our guys can string some of these things called "wins" together!

[Sweezo]

That was a GREAT comeback don't get me wrong, but I'll be damned if even our rallies are lackluster offensive performances. 3 bases loaded walks and a single in a 5 run 8th lol

BUT DAMNIT IT'S A WIN!

True, but even that is progress. Past lineups would have run us out of the chances at getting those runs by swinging at borderline pitches; At least we had enough guys with the patience to take a pitch and work a count.

BTW, only reason we won that game was because Figgins got hurt. If he's still in, then Rodriguez never comes to the plate.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

Pineda = Legit!

What a win. I say we bust out this badboy tomorrow:

[TTown]

Pineda.

Wow.

[Sweezo]

Not a lot of offense...but just enough. I didn't think we had a chance against Romero.

Pineda's surviving on two pitches...but what a pair of two pitches! He's good now, and once he gets that change up he will be great. His development will be fun to watch.

Two wins in a row, and a chance to sweep a pretty good Blue Jays team. We may not be a playoff team, but this gives me hope that we're better than last year.

[Bulltalk]

It's certainly nice to have a more arse-kicking manager now. That might help keep this team from an early implosion and slide into a disheartening insignificance. We so easily could have been 2-9 now. I know it's a 162 game season; but I already feel like we are fighting off the irretrievably bleak.

This season is about getting through it better than last year; hopefully a few bright spots from some of our young talent; getting some bad salary off the books at season's end; possibly being a player for a few good FA's in the off-season; buying another year to continue to stock the farm and let it develop.

Let's face it. We've been constructing and relying upon a flimsy bridge over a deathly chasm from the Bavasi era to some kind of a new one. Sometimes it's tempting to go Rip-Van-Winkle until this process is mostly over.

[Sweezo]

Let's face it. We've been constructing and relying upon a flimsy bridge over a deathly chasm from the Bavasi era to some kind of a new one. Sometimes it's tempting to go Rip-Van-Winkle until this process is mostly over.

To me, this goes back to before the Bavasi era. Gillick built some of the best teams we've ever had but the man focused on veterans, not youngsters.

Speaking of the Bavasi era, I think Pineda was a product of that era. To be fair, I don't give much of the credit for international signings to Gillick/Bavasi/Z. As far as I know that's all Bob Engle. Maybe Z has the right approach since he's willing to shift a greater amount of the team's payroll to Engle's signings than his predecessors, but that's hard to determine.

[TTown]

Smooooooaaaaaaaak!

2-1 M's, bot 6. Vargas with a gem thus far. Bradley with a clutch RBI double earlier, and a hell of grab with his glove into the stands for a huge out with two on and Batista up at the plate.

[Sweezo]

Too bad Chris Ray came in and ruined everything. Ray has to be on thin ice...he really hasn't had a horribly effective appearance yet.

Bradley's offense has been welcome, even if he's not really a slugger and just an average hitter at this point in his career. The team will have a touch choice to make when Guti comes back; Bradley isn't great defensively but he's hitting and has a little power. Saunders BA is low but but he has shown some power and is easily the best option in LF defensively. Langerhans is getting on base a lot [even if he's not getting a lot of hits] and leads the team in HR. Cust...walks every once and awhile. His SLG% is pitiful.

Unless the trends change I'd like to see Bradley slide to DH, Saunders in LF, and Cust/Langerhans off the bench [although...I don't know who then gets moved off the 25 man roster to make room for Guti].

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

See, that game right there is why baseball infuriates me sometimes. Pitchers, especially relievers, get thrown into these "ROLES" and its almost as if they HAVE TO STAY THERE until they implode many, many times.

Why is Chris Ray our setup man? Really? I would love to know. Who has been our best reliever since spring training? Jamey Wright. So why the **** is Jamey Wright not our setup man? Oh, because he has to be our "situational pitcher" or "long reliever". So stupid! Ray has been horrible in just about every appearance. Why bring him in here? Oh hey well, we need to bring in our setup man.

**** it.


And I wanna see Saunders, Gutierrez, Ichiro in the outfield with Bradley/Langerhans DH.

[TTown]

As of RIGHT now, Cust is the easy odd man out, IMO. He's been trending poorly for years. I like his eye at the plate, but starting a glorified walk artist at DH is why we're the Mariners.

As for the rest... it's a tough call. I guess I haven't given up on Saunders yet, and the kid needs playing time. Then again, Bradley has probably been our most consistent hitter, and Langerhans has as many home runs as the rest of the team COMBINED. On a team devoid of even the hint of power, I don't think you can take him out of the line-up too much, even if (as said) his average his horrific (but has a surprising strong OBP).

I don't really know what's going on with Guti, but if energy level remains a problem I would imagine he'll get a bit more rest than usual, somewhat alleviating the problem.