The Mariners took 2 of 3 from the Diamondbacks; that’s good news, right? But, of course, the Mariners still managed to lose ground to both the A’s and Astros; that’s … less good.
The Friday game happened opposite the Seahawks’ third pre-season game, so while I had it on a smaller TV, it largely went unnoticed. I guess Erasmo Ramirez had a pretty good game, and the bullpen was lockdown. The M’s managed a 4-run rally in the 3rd inning, and played add-on with a couple solo homers after that to keep the Diamondbacks at bay. 6-3 win to kick things off.
The Saturday game happened opposite a pretty raging marathon of the card game spades; quite honestly I forgot the game was even on! Wade LeBlanc bounced back with a solid effort, the bullpen was a little shaky, but we were able to come from behind in the 9th with a Kyle Seager 2-run double to send it into extras, where we won it in the 10th on a Denard Span homer. This was the one where Edwin Diaz got his 50th save, so I guess Scott Servais gets a free haircut or something.
The Sunday game was on, but I opted for a Kingsman movie marathon instead; I tried following along with the action on Twitter, but wasn’t too invested. With a chance to sweep away Arizona, Mike Leake just didn’t have it. He gave up a 5-spot in the 3rd and that was that; the M’s lost 5-2. Of course, what hurts about this one is that we loaded the bases in the 9th (after scoring that 2nd run) with no outs, but Haniger ripped a line drive to the third baseman and Cano bounced into a double play. Just a crusher.
Yesterday, the M’s got to enjoy their second off-day in less than a week. Today we have a 2-game set in San Diego before 4 games in Oakland. So, a pretty big week.
But, like I said before, I dunno. Feels like this week is doomed to go sour in a hurry, which should effectively end the season for the Mariners. 17 seasons in a row – from 2002-2018 – with no playoffs. Still no appearance in a World Series (to say nothing of having zero titles). The farm system is among the worst in all of baseball. We’re paying a ton of money to just a few guys who aren’t really helping a whole lot, and we’re set to give away truckloads more to a guy who can only DH and is certainly not getting any better from here on out.
It’s bleak. I’d say it couldn’t get much bleaker, but talk to me again in a week.
Mariners just hit a new low by getting swept by the freaking padres…