Game 46, Mariners at Rays
King Felix vs. Chris Archer, 10:10am
Somehow, the M’s are going for the series sweep of the Rays, who came into the series on a roll and leading the AL East. Kyle Seager is a little bit hot right now, and no blown save is going to stop him from saving the win. Good luck with that, Chris Archer.
Archer’s another high-vertical rise, lots of four-seamers hurler with plus velocity. He’s also got a big slider that he’ll throw about 1/3 of the time, a sinker, and a change-up. Archer’s a bit like James Paxton in that he’s somehow able to get ground balls out of a fast, rising fastball.
1: Jackson, CF
2: Smith, RF
3: Cano, 2B
4: Cruz, DH
5: Seager, 3B
6: Morrison, 1B
7: Miller, SS
8: Ackley, LF
9: Zunino, C
SP: The King
The King has spoken!!! Now let’s eke out a 9th inning run and call it a sweep.
……and ….. BOOMSTICK!
They better be bringing Bernandez out to close this one, he’s only got 86 pitches today.
Interesting that McClendon is going with Miller over Ruggiano for defense in RF. I’ve been fairly impressed with Miller’s handling of the position, but it’s hard for me to believe he’s actually a better option than Ruggiano right now.
Because Taylor was already in the game, McClendon might have gone with Taylor over Miller at shortstop, and plugged Miller, the new super utility guy, in the “gap”. Still kinda weird.
6-3 home stand followed by a 6-3 road trip, and they have crawled back to .500 — and second place! Can’t quite write these guys off yet.
That was a beautiful pitchers’ duel. It must be hard for the opposing pitcher to walk away from that with a no decision, but at least he didn’t get the loss.
Great win for the M’s. A playoff type pitching match-up, with the M’s having this year’s (so far) best clutch bat.