Mariner Report
Wow, we stink; 3 and 3 again. That makes us a lousy 10 and 9 in the last three
weeks which is hardly the pace of a division champion. Nevertheless we managed
to cling to our lead over the Braves and extend our lead by one game over the
A’s. It’s bad when you’re happy to be done with the Padres and move on to the
A’s. The Padres beat us in another series, taking 2 of 3. . . If not for Arthur
Rhodes and Jeff Nelson giving grand slams to Rondell White, we would have won
two more games against them, but the bullpen seems to be breaking down, and the
loss of Kazuhiro Sasaki seems to be greater every day. Maybe Shigetosi Hasagawa
should be closing the games. Maybe our bullpen is still really good, but the
Padres (at least Rondell White) just have our number. Anyway, Nelson and Rhodes
need to get things together. The way they’ve been going they’re making one of
our biggest strengths a weakness. . . Next week we have 4 against the A’s and 3
against the Rangers. I’d be happy with a split against the A’s, but we have to
sweep the Rangers. We definitely have to beat the Rangers Saturday night, as I
(along with my dad and Robbie) will be in attendance at The Ballpark in
Arlington as Jamie Moyer seeks his (hopefully) 12th win. Moyer and Gil Meche
will be the double duty pitchers this week. . . On a milestone note, Edgar
Martinez became the Mariner’s all-time RBI leader (1,155) with a two run homer
on Friday (Ken Griffey Jr. was the former leader).
Mariner of the Week: I have to go with Freddy Garcia this week. Garcia would
have won 2 games this week had Rhodes not blown the game in the 9th. Freddy went
1-0 in 2 starts, with 12.2 innings and a 2.84 ERA.