Saturday, September 18, 2021

Kelenic Mariners Win Friday Night

 Mariners 6 Royals 2

Jarred Kelenic was the player of
the game Friday night. Jarred
had two two-run home runs to
make the difference in the game.

Kelenic was the youngest player
to hit two home runs in a game
since Alex Rodriguez did it back
in 1996. Both home runs were
off of Jon Heasley making his
major league debut. It would 
have been nice off of one of
the other Royal starters but 
have to start somewhere. It 
has to boost JK confidence
though. 

Kelenic though still batting
under .200 for the season he
is hitting .255 for the month
of September. Good for being
in the playoff race. It would
be nice to see him get some
key hits with the bases loaded.
It seems JK is up to bat with
bases loaded more than anyone
and he hasn't been to successful
for the most part.

Hitting .255 for September 
certainly gives us hope how
next season may look. Another
question will he be back in
center field next year or moved
to one of the corner spots. Still
have to figure whether Kyle
Lewis will be center field or
a corner spot himself when
he isn't not dhing. 

Chris Flexen had another good
outing going five and two-thirds
innings. Better fielding behind
him may have been able to go
seven innings instead. Joe Smith
bailed Flexen in the sixth inning
getting a strikeout with runners 
on base. Flexen now is 12-6 and
in his starts the Mariners are 19-9.
Not bad for a pitcher we weren't
sure of going into the season.

Drew Steckenrider struggled in
this one including giving up a
home run in the seventh inning.
Paul Sewald came in to bail 
out the team getting Perez and
had a good eighth inning to.
Diego Castillo finished off
the game without surrendering
a run though gave up a hit 
and a run. At this point the
Mariners are using Steckenrider,
Sewald and Castillo where 
the lineup for opposing team
is in. All three doing good 
though a few stumbling blocks
on occasion. 

Casey Sadler and Joe Smith are
doing well in their roles. It would
be nice if the Mariners could have
another reliever step up when
Steckenrider, Sewald and Castillo
each need a night off. Otherwise
the starters need to go a little
further in those games. 

We hope for more success in the
final two games of the series.
Mariners end the season playing
the Oakland A's seven times and
the LA Angels six times. The
Mariners have any chance left
in the wild card race they have
to dominate both the A's and
the Angels. It is possible but
they will have to play their best
baseball of the season. Go M's.

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