In which the Mariners try to right the ship
The Seattle Mariners go into today’s game coming off of a disappointing series loss to the Angels. Sitting at 2-5, the Mariners desperately need a win to stop the proverbial bleeding and right the proverbial ship. A loss, and they’re off to their worst start since 2017 — a season that saw them underperform their talent level from the start, and in which they were never able to recover.
Obviously one more loss wouldn’t make that big a difference. But with Logan Gilbert facing Aaron Civale today, and Marco Gonzales facing Cal Quantrill tomorrow, one would think that this is the game to win. 2-6 could easily turn into 2-7.
With the righty Civale on the hill, the Mariners will again turn to Jarred Kelenic and Cooper Hummel, with A.J. Pollock taking a seat. The pesky Guardians don’t look much different than they did last weekend at T-Mobile. Please don’t give Mike Zunino any fastballs over the middle. Please.
Today’s game begins at 1:10 PM PT, and will be TV broadcast on Root Sports NW and MLB.tv and radio broastcast on 710 AM Seattle Sports and Mariners.com. Dave Sims and Mike Blowers will be calling the game on TV, while Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith will describe the game through the magic of radio.
On April 7, 2018, every starting hitter except Daniel Vogelbach gets a hit as the Mariners hang 11 on the Twins and go to 4-3 on the year. That includes starting left fielder Ichiro Suzuki, who goes 2-for-3 in what would prove to be the penultimate multi-hit game of his career, and the last time he would ever play in Minnesota.
Scott Servais acknowledged pre-game that he believes the team will get into more of a rhythm as the season progresses, particularly when it comes to controlling the zone. He admitted that the pitching staff walked far too many guys in the first week, especially against lefties. “Getting strike one” will be an emphasis.
Servais also noted that, while Logan Gilbert’s splitter is another valuable tool in his arsenal, they don’t expect him to throw it much more than he did in his first start. He threw it eight times, all against lefties, and generated five whiffs. Despite the success, Logan and the coaching staff see it has a pitch to sprinkle in situationally, rather than an emphasis to plan around.
