Game 3, Mariners At A’s
Fister vs Gonzalez, 1:05 pm.
If you’re wondering, there probably won’t be recap posts on weekends – despite being a blogger, I actually do strive to have some kind of social life. I’ll play catchup on the important stuff during the week.
M’s face another lefty in Gio Gonzalez today, and while they’ve been able to get to some of the LH relievers the A’s have used in the first few days, you still shouldn’t expect this team to be able to hit southpaws. WIth Gutierrez out and the only options to replace him both left-handed bats, the M’s essentially have to run out a minimum of three LHBs every day, and several of the right-handed bats in the line-up have minimal offensive ability. The offense essentially has to come from Ichiro and the three switch-hitters, with maybe a little bit of help from Miguel Olivo. If those guys don’t hit, the team isn’t going to score.
Getting Gutierrez back eventually will help to some degree, but this is never going to be a strong line-up against southpaws, and right now, it’s especially weak. The M’s will need Fister and the bullpen to keep the A’s off the scoreboard for a third straight game if they’re going to complete the sweep.
That was ugly; but I will take 2-1 starting the season against the Athletics.
On the bright side, the Angels are in last place!