As I sat there, watching another Sam Gaviglio Special (6 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts), I wondered why we couldn’t have a Brad Peacock.  Some reliever/6th starter who comes in when the chips are down and your rotation is hurting and gives you a whopping 7 innings of 1-run ball with 9 strikeouts.  Yeah, the Astros have a bunch of young studs they’ve drafted and cultivated through the years and years of losing, but they’ve also got their fair share of nobodies who are coming out of nowhere and playing above and beyond what’s expected of them.

It’s infuriating!  The rich get richer, am I right?

There’s nothing to say about that game; you should’ve seen it coming from miles away.  A hot Mariners team, having pulled out five wins in a row to once again get back to .500, throwing their mediocre fifth starter out there against the best team in the American League; if I could’ve, I would’ve bet the Taylor Family Farm on the Mariners losing that game and losing it big.  When the only good thing you can say about a game is that no one of import from the bullpen had to be used (Emilio Pagan went the final two innings), it’s not exactly a fun night at the ballpark.

So, here we are, at something of a crossroads.  Today, the Mariners run James Paxton out there in the rubber match of the series.  That’s followed by 7 home games against the Yankees and Red Sox – the Mariners’ immediate rivals in the Wild Card race.  The last time we were in a position to beat the Astros in a 3-game series, we got absolutely destroyed and went on a bad little losing streak to close out the first half.

This is a Mariners team that ostensibly believes it can compete for a Wild Card spot.  Well, good teams that make the playoffs don’t keep getting beaten in every single fucking series against the God damn fucking Astros!  They fucking stand up and say enough is enough and they go out there and they win a fucking series on getaway day!  And then they go back home and kick the shit out of the fucking Yankees, because that’s it!  I’ve had it with this shit, Mariners!  Nut up or shut up!  I’m tired of this limp dick losing shit!