Mariners Take One on the Chin

 Erasmo Ramirez had another quality start for the Mariners. He went a total of six innings. He was matching Houston Astros star pitcher Dallas Keuchel pitch for pitch until the fifth inning when he gave up two home runs. The only runs he gave up in his six innings. Another quality start for Ramirez. Right now he is the ace of the starters with Paxton and Felix out. Paxton could be back pitching in a week and Felix maybe ten days. He is expected to do simulated game on the weekend. When He left the game Ramirez was behind 2-1 but Kyle Seager tied the score with a home run in the bottom of the sixth. The tie was short lived since the Astros scored four runs with two off of lefty specialist Mark Rzep (keep it short) could get anyone out and reliable Nick Vincent gave up his first two runs all season at Safeco field. Vincent left the game and Danny Altavilla finished the seventh and pitched the eighth as well without surrendering a run. Newcomer Ryan Garton pitched the ninth without giving up a hit. The final score was 6-2.

This shows that the Mariners are close but a little bit off the number one team the Astros. They were able to keep it close until the bullpen came into the game. Justin Verlander will make his debut for the Astros Tuesday night. I expect great things from him since he will want to impress his new teammates. This could be another tough hard game and it may come down to the Mariners’ bullpen again if Ariel Miranda can pitch a quality game. He has struggled throughout the second half of the season. He is the only one on the Mariner staff that has started every game. This being his first full season in the major leagues you have to wonder if he has pitched his limit. We will see Tuesday night for sure.

The series against the Astros will be tough and I wonder how it will be against the Angels over the weekend. Depending how these two series end this could be it for the season run toward the wild card. A lot will depend on how much heart they have.

Do we now have to look at what Dipoto will do setting the team up for next year to compete against the Astros. With the young team that they have we know that the Astros will not leave anytime soon. Of course we can’t forget the Angels and Rangers. I am sure it will be a few years for the A’s to rebuild since they got rid of a lot of their top players over this season.

It will be interesting to see what Dipoto will actually do during the off-season. We know that he will be busy and he will add more parts to the team. Primarily he will be working on the pitching staff. We know the position players are in a good place although we are not sure whether Danny Valencia and Yonder Alonso will both be back. I am sure they would like to however how much it will cost is anyone’s guess. The Mariners may look at trading a position player to get a quality starting pitcher. The real one in that regard would be Kyle Seager who has had an up and down season. The same goes for catcher Mike Zunino. I am sure that Dipoto will want him to return at this point.

The starting pitching right now looks to be James Paxton and King Felix as long as both can stay healthy. I don’t think Iwakuma will return next season and then there is Mike Leake who they recently picked up. Those will be in the mix and the Mariners will look to add to that. Erasmo Ramirez could be the fifth starter or be in the mix in the bullpen. The same would go for Ariel Miranda. Marco Gonzales who had an outstanding game pitching in relief in his last outing may find a place as well. The remainder of September may decide what Dipoto will do. Also we can’t forget Andrews Albers who has pitched well in the place of Paxton. We do know that the Mariners won’t have room for them all in the rotation or in the bullpen. We will talk about the bullpen later on. Go M’s.