Mariners Split with Padres

The Seattle Mariners had a chance to take two in the series from the Padres. On Tuesday night the Mariners won 11-4 with six home runs; however, the Padres beat the Mariners 4-2 on Wednesday night.

It was the first time since 2004 the Mariners had hit six home runs at Safeco Field in a game since 2004 when they did it to the Kanas City Royals. The Mariners show that they can hit home runs at Safeco Field despite excuses by former Mariner players like Beltre. It always amazed me because players from other teams could hit home runs at Safeco Field even before they moved in the fences.

What would have been nice if the Mariners could have saved a few runs from Tuesday to be used on Wednesday; however, they did have opportunities to score runs but left ten runners in scoring position without a hit.

The Mariners were smart taking a lot of pitches to get starter James Shields out of the game after six innings but they were only able to score one run off him and that was a home run by Brad Miller. In fact Miller was the offense since he drove in a run with a double in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The middle of the Mariners batting order had several opportunities to drive in runs but I would at least excuse Nelson Cruz since he has done well so far. Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager have been inconsistent; hopefully that can change soon.

The bottom of the batting order continues to falter when they have opportunities to score runs. It seems to me the Mariners need to make changes at the bottom of the batting order. The most likely change has to do with Dustin Ackley. Early next week Austin Jackson is expected to be back from the disabled list. Of course he did not light fires when he was in the lineup either; however, he may be better lower in the lineup.

The big question when Jackson returns who will be taken off the twenty-five man roster. Now with Brad Miller expected to be super sub who is left out in the cold. The three main choices are Dustin Ackley, Rickie Weeks, and Willie Bloomquist. I could see any of three being let loose. Ackley would be the best choice if the Mariners are able to make a trade. Weeks and Bloomquist would be released because they have little value in a trade.

One thing for sure is that I am glad that I do not have to make the decision. Now with Cruz playing mostly in right field the Mariners have the choice with either Brad Miller or Seth Miller playing in left field and the other DH when facing right handed pitchers. When facing left handed pitching the best choice would be Rickie Weeks at DH and Rugg-iano in left. So you can see that pushes Ackley out of the picture.

Lately the Mariners have been facing mostly right handed pitching so neither Weeks nor Ruggiano are getting much playing time. I would look at the weekly schedule and see if they can put either Weeks or Ruggiano in the lineup against a right hander. In fact I would have had Ruggiano in the lineup Wednesday night because when you face other teams number one pitcher the Mariners likely won’t score a lot of runs anyway. Looking at it another way Tuesday night may have been better with Ruggiano in the lineup because they are facing not as good as a pitcher. Either way should have been done to give Ruggiano at bats.

Next time what will the Mariners do with Danny Farquhar? Plus the Mariners face the Red Sox in four games in Seattle.