Seemingly on the ropes, the Angels brought back Shohei Ohtani just to DH this series, but it wasn’t enough. Turns out the Angels don’t do a whole lot when Mike Trout isn’t hitting .600 against the Mariners.
I was at the game on the 3rd, sitting in a suite, drinking all I could drink and eating a fair amount to boot. As I was rightly hammered, I don’t remember a whole lot about this game. Other than the sweet beer can tower we built out of 16-ouncers:
This took three men and a lot of heart …
Wade LeBlanc signed his extension before the game, which was a bit of good news. I was all ready for him to fall on his face against the Angels, allowing me to make an endless string of “perfect timing” jokes, but the dude’s a stud and this signing is looking better and better all the time. 7 innings, 1 run on 3 hits & 1 walk with 4 strikeouts. The M’s built up a 3-run lead in the first and a Nelson Cruz homer late was all we needed. Edwin Diaz got his 33rd save and we won the game 4-1.
I watched the game on the 4th from home, slightly hungover, but not too damaged. Mike Leake didn’t really have it in this one and we were 2/12 with RISP. Lots of mistakes in this one cost us the sweep, but that’s okay. Angels took it 7-4.
Last night’s game was past my bedtime, but I hear nothing but good things from Marco Gonzales, who gutted out 6 innings of 1-run ball. Guillermo Heredia had a couple doubles; Dee Gordon had a triple and a single (and a run, and an RBI, and a miraculous diving catch to save at least a run from scoring); and Chris Herrmann had his first homer in a Mariners uniform. The bullpen was near perfect and Edwin Diaz got his 34th save of the year, as the M’s won again by the score of 4-1.
On the downside, Mike Zunino is on the DL with an ankle injury. Considering he plays practically every day, maybe giving him a couple weeks to rest isn’t the worst thing in the world for his longevity late in the season. Mitch Haniger was also scratched before the game, as he ran into a wall and has a bruised knee. He’s not on the DL yet, as he’s only expected to miss a couple games, so let’s hope that’s the case.
The Mariners now have a 12-game lead over the Angels, who would need to go on a crazy hot streak to get back in contention. This just doesn’t feel like their year (single sarcastic tear). I suppose, for the time being, the A’s are our only competition for the second wild card spot, and they’re still a whopping 7.5 games back.
On the brighter side of things, we’re just 2 games back of the Yankees for the first wild card spot, and only 1.5 games behind Houston for the division lead. Got a long way to go, but the Mariners are here to stay.
The Rockies come to town this weekend, then it’s a quick trip to Anaheim and Colorado, then it’s the All Star Break. Let’s get ready to rumble and whatnot.