Game 157: Rangers at Mariners
RHP Kameron Loe vs. RHP Felix Hernandez, 7:05pm, FSN & KOMO.
Wherein, King Felix enacts his revenge upon the hated Rangers of Texas for their refusal to kneel before his throne ten days ago. Justice will be swift, but painful.
Loe, who stands a healthy 6-8, made his major league debut one year ago yesterday. Ah, good, the lineups are up. So now I can stop boring you with useless information like Kameron Loe’s major league debut. Thanks for pretending to be interested.
RF Ichiro!
CF Reed
LF Ibanez
1B Sexson
3B Beltre
“DH” Dobbs
2B Lopez
SS Betancourt
C JoeJessica
Game 156: Mariners at Tigers
“Not even Jason is paying attention today” edition.
Game 155: Mariners at Tigers
LHP Jamie Moyer vs. RHP Jason Grilli, 4:05pm, KSTW & KOMO.
“Apparently Jason’s the only one paying attention” edition.
Grilli was a pretty hot prospect back in the day, a first round draft pick of the Giants way back in 1997, then was dealt to the Florida Marlins for Livan Hernandez in 1999. Despite never having much success in the minors, he spent time in the majors in 2000 and 2001 before missing almost all of the 2002 season. Since then he’s been bouncing around, having been a Rule 5 draft pick of the White Sox, and finally, a minor league signee of the Tigers last winter.
RF Ichiro!
SS Betancourt
LF Ibanez
1B Sexson
3B Beltre
“DH” Dobbs
2B Lopez
CF Choo
C Rivera
Game 154, Mariners at Tigers
“Sorry, asleep at the switch there” edition.
RHP Ryan Franklin vs. RHP Sean Douglass, 4:05pm, FSN & KOMO.
RF Ichiro!
CF Reed
LF Ibanez
3B Beltre
1B Dobbs
SS Betancourt
DH Hansen
2B Lopez
C Rivera
Dobbs 5th and Betancourt 6th. Wow.
Game 152: Mariners at Blue Jays
RHP Felix Hernandez vs. RHP David Bush, 4:07pm, FSN & KOMO.
King Felix tries to bounce back after a pair of unKing-like starts. Torrealba caught both of ’em; I thought we might see Ojeda out there tonight for a change of pace, but apparently not.
RF Ichiro!
CF Reed
LF Ibanez
DH Sexson
3B Beltre
1B Dobbs
SS Betancourt
2B Santiago
C JoeJessica
Ooh, breaking news — Tampa Bay will reportedly buy out the last year of Lou Piniella’s contract this winter.
Game 147: Mariners at Rangers
RHP “King” Felix Hernandez vs. RHP Josh Rupe, 5:05pm, FSN & KOMO.
Let me be the third to say Happy Felix Day!
I saw “Rupe” on the probable starters and thought to myself, “Ryan Rupe is still around? Good for him.” In reality, the M’s will be facing Josh Rupe in his Major League debut. Rupe pitched decently at AA this season, then was promoted to AAA and got slapped around something fierce. Turns out Ryan is still around, though. The one-time Tampa Bay prospect appeared in 23 games for the Las Vegas 51s this season, posting a 6.42 ERA but fanning 74 in 75 2/3 IP.
RF Ichiro!
2B Santiago (not a typo)
LF Ibanez
1B Sexson
3B Beltre
“DH” Dobbs
SS Betancourt
CF Bubela (also not a typo)
C JoeJessica
The Rangers, incidentally, are on pace to break the M’s single-season MLB record for homers in a season (264 in 1997).
Game 143, Angels at Mariners
RHP Ervin Santana vs. RHP Joel Pineiro, 7:05pm, KOMO & FSN.
Pineiro goes for his first back-to-back wins since April!
RF Ichiro!
CF Reed
LF Ibanez
1B Sexson
3B Beltre
“DH” Dobbs
2B Lopez
SS Betancourt
C JoeJessica
Have at it, those of you who aren’t too broken up by the whole Dan Wilson retirement thing.
Game 141, Orioles at Mariners
RHP Rodrigo Lopez vs. RHP Jeff Harris, 6:05pm, KOMO & KSTW.
The Mariners may have mailed it in for the season, but here at USS Mariner labs, we promise a fresh game thread each night!
RF Ichiro!
CF Reed
LF Ibanez
1B Sexson
3B Beltre
“DH” Dobbs
2B Lopez
SS Betancourt
C JoeJessica (please see the FAQ if you’re confused)
I’d honestly forgotten about Jeff Harris. Talk about tough to please — one bad start and I’ve already moved on.
If there’s one guy to watch for tonight, it’s Baltimore 1B Walter Young. Young is listed at 6-5 and a massive 320 pounds, so it’s unlikely you’d possibly miss him out there. Already 25 years of age and fresh off a .288/.334/.438 season at AAA Ottawa, he really isn’t much of a prospect. And for a guy his size, you’d think he could have managed more than 13 homers in 466 at-bats. But forget all that — I’m most intrigued by how he managed to hit a triple this season. The mind boggles.
Game 140, Orioles at Mariners
LHP Erik Bedard v LHP Jamie Moyer. 7:05, FSN for TV. (Also, PCL playoff action)
With the Mariners pushing Moyer back and moving Franklin up so that Moyer could get another start at home, it sounds like the Mariners are, at least when opportunity allows, adopting the “home starter” idea Dave and I were kicking around back in July.
To update that post, Moyer continues to be a different pitcher at home:
Home: 2.73 ERA, 8-0, 95.2 IP, ~7 innings/start, 6 HR, 19 BB, 56K
Away: 6.73 ERA, 3-6, 70.2 IP, ~5 innings/start, 12 HR, 28 BB, 33K
No park effects, I know any split for a season is subject to wild variance, but even then — that’s crazy. Just the two things you can be sure he controls, walks and strikeouts, are far, far better at home than on the road.
Helping Moyer out tonight is Rafael Palmeiro. Once better known in Seattle for his Mariner-killing hitting, Palmeiro’s not even with the team. Coming back from his suspension, Palmeiro didn’t play, didn’t hit when he played, and lost his starting job before being told nicely that the team would prefer he not hang around, sending him home to rehab his right ankle and knee.
Purely on selfish terms, this is Mariner fans, because if anyone was going to go 12-12 with 8 home runs and four doubles in this series it was going to be that $#@$@#% (and @#%^^@ing @#$&@%er) Palmeiro. And that would turn his season around, he’d come back next year with the Orioles, tearing up Mariner pitchers for another year and driving us insane.
Instead Palmeiro has possibly easily been the greatest casualty of the steroid policy. He went from lauded hero for his tough talk denying steroid use to having people argue his career statistics should be nullified, and his Hall of Fame chances are badly wounded and hiding out in the woods hoping to fight another day.
While I think history will see this much differently, I would bet that a survey of HoF voters, perhaps given a quick update of Moyer’s achievements since turning into the ace of the 90s, wouldn’t pick Palmeiro over Jamie. Jamie appears that even if he’s reduced to hanging around Safeco exclusively, seems ageless, clean, with a long run of quiet dominance and impressive raw stats, while Palmeiro’s hitting stats are discounted by era and the drug test, his reputation and character impugned by the Congressional hearings, and it appears he might be done entirely.
Next year, Palmeiro might be back, of course, and Moyer retired, but tonight, only Moyer gets to step on the field. I feel a little guilt at taking delight in anyone’s downfall, but as a Mariner fan, it’s going to be so nice to see Jamie pitching at home and not having to face Palmeiro.
Game 138: Mariners at Athletics
RHP Joel Pineiro vs. LHP Joe Kennedy, 7:05pm, FSN & KOMO
The game thread is up early, so you can get your comment on(*)!
RF Ichiro
CF Strong
DH Ibanez
1B Sexson
3B Beltre
2B Lopez
LF Morse
SS Betancourt
C Ojeda
* This should in no way be taken as an endorsement or suggestion that you “get your comment on,” either on the USS Mariner or in the privacy of your own home. Commenting may cause severe side effects, similar to sugar pill. Please consult your doctor before “getting your comment on.”