-I am a Seattle sports fan. I will ruthlessly post about the Mariners and Seahawks.
-I may post about your team. I probably do not like them.
-I will exclusively talk baseball and football, both at the professional level.
-Anything else I talk about, I will probably be wrong about.
-I will be wrong anyways.
Welcome to my sports mumbles.
Let's start off with a Happy Mother's Day!
And so it was for the Seattle Mariners, who took two out of three at home against Oakland after beating Tommy Milone this Sunday afternoon with home runs from Kendrys Morales and Jason Bay in a 6-1 contest.
Joe Saunders is finally looking like the Joe Saunders Seattle wanted to bring in, allowing 1 run, 5 hits, and 3 walks while striking out 6 over six and a third innings. He improves to 3-4 on the year while lowering his Earned Run Average to a 5.51.
Meanwhile, Michael Saunders continues to glisten in that leadoff spot, hitting 2 for 4, scoring twice. His average sits at .286, vouching for his leadoff spot to stat secure.
Eric Wedge should definitely think about giving today's batting order another go, as the first five (Saunders, Bay, Seager, Morales, Morse) all performed well and worked together to produce runs. This was evident as soon as the first inning, when Saunders led off with a single, following later by a Seager walk and a Morales bomb to bring them both in and start the game off with a 3-0 lead. This is the kind of offense Seattle needs at the beginning of these types of contests to secure confidence and victories.
Looking ahead to Tuesday, Seattle travels to New York to take on the hottest team in the league, the Yankees. The first match-up is great on paper, with Felix Hernandez and C.C. Sabathia taking the mound. The Yankees hate Felix for two reasons: 1) He always beats the Yankees, and 2) He doesn't want to play for the Yankees. Felix goes into Tuesday's game with a 4-1 record at Yankee Stadium, boasting a 1.13 ERA in those five starts. To add to that success against the Yankees, Felix also has a league-leading 1.53 ERA so far in 2013. Sabathia has been effective so far this year, recording a 4-3 record and a 3.23 ERA. Look for this pitching match-up to be intense, and the hurler who makes the fewest mistakes will likely emerge the winner.
Keep in mind that the Yankees will be coming off of a doubleheader in Cleveland, so a few of their players may be dreary from the previous day's events, while Seattle will be coming off of an off-day. Hopefully the Mariners can capitalize on the circumstances and start this three-game series off with a victory, with the next two pitching matchups being: (5/15) Iwakuma vs. Hughes; (5/16) Harang vs. Pettite.
It is important for Seattle to bring their A-game to New York, because they do not catch a break travelling straight to Cleveland to take on a hot-hitting Indians ball club this upcoming weekend.
Kendrys Morales sends a home-run over the left-field wall, scoring Michael Saunders and Kyle Seager en route to a 6-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, May 12, 2013.
