The One and Only First Place Mariners

It does sound real good doesn’t it the first place Mariners. They didn’t take long to believe that they are not intimidated by the Astros even in Houston. This doesn’t mean that the Mariners will have the Astros number the rest of the season however they are on a good role right now.

The Mariners started out scoring right away with four runs in the first inning including a three-run homer off the bat of Kyle Seager who had an outstanding game in the field as well. I am sure that the Astros would have scored more than one run in the game if it wasn’t for Kyle’s defense however the Mariners likely would have won anyway.

After scoring four runs in the first inning the Mariners came back to score two more runs in the second with a home run off the bat of Mike Zunino. It would be nice to see more off the bat of Zunino however we should enjoy whatever we can. As of late he is hitting the ball better so we can all hope this continues. The schedule the Mariners have for June we can use his bat. The great thing it doesn’t matter who makes the big plays the fact is someone is doing it every game. When we are not getting anything from the top of the lineup we are from those in the middle or the bottom of the lineup. Fortunately the top of the lineup is doing just fine right now. Jean Segura hit a home run into the left field seats in the fifth inning. It was his fifth of the season and he continues having multiple hits in games as well. Certainly won’t be complaining about his batting average of .333. Also his defense has been solid as well.

The great thing about the Mariners offense is that the team can ride on the back of any of the players. Anyone of them can get hot at any time. It is nice to see it is happening right now. What helps is that the Mariners are a pretty good road team as well. In fact often it feels like they do better on the road than at home.

James Paxton had a solid outing Tuesday though I wouldn’t call it his best. Not all of his pitches were working so he relied a lot on his fastball which is among the best. He had a bunch of runners on base however three double plays helped him get out of difficulty. Getting ahead six nothing in the first two innings certainly helped as well. Paxton pitched seven and two-thirds innings before being relieved by Juan Nicasio who had to throw only one pitch to finish off the eighth inning. Chasen Bradford pitched the ninth inning to close the game off. It was nice to give the bullpen pretty much a night off. Bradford is doing so well he didn’t give up a hit in one inning and lowered his era to 1.90. He is being a unsung hero letting other pitchers able to rest until they are truly needed.

The Mariners will now take on Lance McCullers Jr who is a right hander. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see both Span and Gamel in the game. Likely Gamel will be in right field and Span in left. This means that Heredia will probably not start against McCullers and Haniger will be in center. I am sure the rest of the lineup will stay the same. Go M’s.