Quality starts have been rare for The King this season, but now we’ve got 2 pretty great starts out of his last three games, including one against probably the best team in the American League.

Felix followed up a dominant 8-inning, 1-run performance against the Rays with a 3-inning, 6-run performance against the Rays, making the good start look more like an anomaly than a sign of better things to come.  So, the fact that he was able to bounce right back against the Red Sox last night and go 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits, 1 walk, with 6 strikeouts, makes things all the more confusing.

If I’m being honest, this is more in line with what I’d hoped to see out of him.  Sure, there will be disaster starts, but I also expected to see a little vintage Felix sprinkled in, and the fact that we’re starting to see that again is a really good thing for this team.  He’s not as all-important to this team’s success like he was back in his prime, but now it’s different.  It’s more important for ME, as a fan, that he do well this year so he’s allowed to pitch in the post-season when we finally get there, because it would break my fucking heart to see the Mariners get in the playoffs and not see Felix on the mound.

Unfortunately, for those watching the game last night, David Price was just a little bit better, going 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits, 0 walks, with 7 strikeouts.  In the end, that’s all she wrote:  a 2-1 loss.

The Mariners were 0-2 with RISP, so it’s not like there were a ton of scoring opportunities.  I do find it interesting that Craig Kimbrel walked the first two batters in the 9th with Seager and Healy coming up, and we totally shit the bed from there.  I’m less annoyed by Healy – as he’s been remarkably solid this year once he returned from his April DL stint – though he did ground out into the game-ending double play; but I’m starting to get really pissed about what we’re getting out of Kyle Seager.  Yeah, okay, he traditionally starts slow, but this is getting ridiculous!  He’s hitting .226 and now we’re in mid-June!  HOW MUCH LONGER ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT FOR SEAGER TO GET HIS ASS IN GEAR AT THE PLATE?

If this game is a sign of things to come, we’re in for a very fun, very exciting series against the Red Sox this weekend.