The Seattle Mariners 5-3 Opening Day win over the Oakland A's serves as notice to the havoc that will be wreaked upon American League starting pitchers. Five runs on six hits is proof that the M's don't need a traditional masher to put some runs on the board. Thanks to the patience at the plate that saw the Mariners draw 8 walks, and some defensive miscues by Oakland, the M's put the pressure on the A's early by jumping out to a 3-0 lead by the third inning.
The 2009 Mariners do not win this game. They wouldn't have had half as many men on base. Chone Figgins and his two walks, two runs and two steals, along with Casey Kotchman and his 4 RBI's showed exactly why GM Jack Zduriencik coveted both players.
Make no mistake, this was not a great game played by the Mariners. Base running miscues by Milton Bradley and Ichiro cost the Mariners at least one run. Felix Hernandez was sharp at times, but an uncharacteristic six walks ultimately prevented Felix from picking up the win. Even Jack Wilson, widely considered the best defensive shortstop in baseball, made an error on what would have been an easy double play.
Yes, it's only the first game of a very long season. But I've always felt that the Mariners offense was better than what the "experts" projected. To see the M's put up five runs and constantly have men on base is as surprising to me as finding out Ricky Martin likes dudes.
Lastly, I feel it's important to note that the last time Duke captured the national title, the Mariners won 116 games. We'll see if history repeats itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment