Mariners Come Up Short Again

 The Mariners fell short in game number 2 because of the offense once again. Of course the pitching was good enough to win as well. Although he gave up two home runs Iwakuma the Astros only had four hits total against him in six innings. He could have pitched better however the Mariners offense isn’t making it easy to win anyway. At least this time they got seven hits in the game. On another positive note the Texas Rangers have lost both of their games as well.

The Mariners offense needs to relax and not think about playing against the Astros. At least the last two games of the series they will face the Astros three and four starters. Going for the Mariners Wednesday night will be James Paxton. Though he is in the lineup as the third starter he is more like a number one or two starter so this is real good for the Mariners.

Outside of home runs in the series the Astros haven’t done much against Hernandez and Iwakuma. Over the season the Mariners should do well if the hitting can come alive. We know that the offense can score five runs a game so they could have won both games if that had happened.

Kyle Seager always starts out slow in April and so far he has one hit. This doesn’t mean much in the first two games but if continues to struggle like he has in other April’s I would look to move him down in the lineup until he gets hot like we know he will. I would switch him to either six or seven in the lineup.

Leonys Martin and Mike Zunino both struck out twice on Tuesday night. Martin left four runners on base while Zunino left three. I am sure that both will be in the lineup again Wednesday night however I would have Heredia and Ruiz playing on Thursday if both of them struggle again.

At this point I like the top three of the rotation for the Mariners. I haven’t made up my mind yet about Gallardo and Miranda although both could have good upside as well as downside. If one of the two does well than I will be pleased. I have mentioned before that I do not really like the five-man rotation. I prefer four-man rotation like they used to back in the seventies and before. The fifth men in the rotation almost always have a losing record. I am sure the Mariners would have made the playoffs last year with a four-man rotation. If a team is on a long road trip than I can understand adding in a fifth starter; they could throw in the long reliever to start a game. I am sure guys like Felix and Paxton can pitch on three-day rest instead of four. Anyway best of luck to the Mariners in the final two games against Houston. We hope that the bats can come alive on Wednesday.