OT: Mariners and their playoff run

[River Dog]

It's probably time for another Mariners thread.

On Wednesday, the Mariners clinched their first divisional title since 2001, Ichiro's first year and the season we tied a record for most wins in a season. But we failed in the playoffs that season.

Last night, we clinched a first-round bye, actually had it clinched before our game with the Rockies started when Cleveland lost to Detroit. That's a huge advantage, especially as it applies to our pitching staff as it gives them a lot of time to get rested for the playoffs. Hopefully Bryan Woo will get healed as he's the ace of our staff.

After sweeping our series with the Rockies and winning 17 out of our last 18 games, we don't have a lot left to play for in our final regular season series at home vs. the Dodgers. With three games left to play for all teams, we're one game behind both the Yankees and Blue Jays for the best record in the AL, but both those teams own the tiebreaker over us so it would require an unlikely combination of us sweeping the Dodgers and both the Yanks and Jays losing at least two of their last 3. Additionally, HFA isn't nearly as big of a deal in the 7-game ALCS as it is in the NFL.

So, the question becomes, do we rest our players or do we keep the pedal to the metal so as not to lose the momentum of that 17 out of 18 game winning streak?

And, as a side note, Cal Raleigh is in the midst of a record home run hitting season, his total standing at 60, rarified air for a player in today's MLB. There are only 6 other players, three of whom careers are tainted with steroids use, that have reached the 60 HR mark: Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Aaron Judge, Babe Ruth, and Roger Maris. My guess is that we'll probably see Cal as DH for much of that last series, sparing him the arduous task of catching while preserving his chance at matching or surpassing some of those legends. And, along with the Yankees Aaron Judge, Cal has a good shot at the AL MVP award.

[trents]

One thing in Cal's favor for MVP over Judge, perhaps, is that Cal is more durable. Judge missed considerable playing time this year, which has been a pattern, I believe. Cal is the Lou Gehrig "iron horse" type of player you can count on to be out there every day.

[Aseahawkfan]

Yeah. Rest Cal against the Dodgers as DH so he can add to his HR total, but feel a bit refreshed for the playoffs. I say rest players a bit, but don't let them get rusty. Especially rest up the bullpen. We want those arms fresh and live for the playoffs.

[River Dog]

Yeah. Rest Cal against the Dodgers as DH so he can add to his HR total, but feel a bit refreshed for the playoffs. I say rest players a bit, but don't let them get rusty. Especially rest up the bullpen. We want those arms fresh and live for the playoffs.

I agree. I'd let Cal get his at bats not only to respect his personal quest, but to help keep the fans motivated. The home run record or other individual achievements isn't what floats my boat, but it does for a helluva lot of other people.

As you indicated, we have to be careful resting players too much. We're on a helluva run, winning 17 of the last 18 and we don't want to lose that momentum. Plus, they need some work to maintain their proficiency. Pitching in particular isn't something you can turn off and on like a faucet and expect everything to flow like normal. I'd let the guys go with their current starting rotation but put them on a pitch count, say 60 pitches, then put in another arm to keep the bullpen sharp. Munoz I'd only use every other night. Thanks to winning a first-round bye, they're going to have an entire week to rest.

The big concern is Bryan Woo. He's almost certainly not going to pitch this weekend, so even if he gets fully healed, he's in danger of losing his edge due to the long layoff, 2 1/2 to 3 weeks by the time the playoffs start. I imagine they'll have him pitching a few innings in some mock games next week, complete with opposing hitters, umpires, etc.

With regards to Cal's MVP quest, especially now that the Mariners have run off a long string of wins and got hot when it counted the most, clinching the division and a first-round bye in which Cal was instrumental, I think he has the inside track to the MVP. People who know me feel that I'm not a homer, that I'm as objective as they come when it comes to these kinds of things, and he'd get my vote. That's no slight on Aaron Judge, who is having a helluva year.

[River Dog]

Yeah. Rest Cal against the Dodgers as DH so he can add to his HR total, but feel a bit refreshed for the playoffs. I say rest players a bit, but don't let them get rusty. Especially rest up the bullpen. We want those arms fresh and live for the playoffs.

Cal caught all 9 innings of a close game last night, went 2-5 but didn't hit any dingers. The Mariners winning streak came to an end in a meaningless game.

After thinking about it, I've changed my mind on how I'd approach the final series, ie rest or play. If any of the starters, like Cal, J-Rod, Crawford, et al, want to play, I'd let them make the call. My dad, who had a saying for everything, once said "don't tell a rooster that he can't ... the chickens."

One other thing that happened last night is that the Astros were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. It's the first time since 2016.

[River Dog]

The Mariners are playing host to the winner of the Detroit-Cleveland wild card series in the best in the 5 AL divisional series scheduled to start this weekend. The first two games will be played in Seattle this Saturday and Sunday.

The Sunday game could cause some complications for the Seahawks home game vs. the Tampa Bay Bucs, now scheduled for a 1:05pm kickoff this Sunday. The two stadiums sit across the street from one another, so holding two major events at the same time is out of the question as there's not enough parking and traffic and transit would be a nightmare. There's also the question about emergency services, law enforcement, etc. If MLB decides to start at 6:00pm, they might be able to squeeze both games into the same day if the Hawks were to move their game back an hour or two earlier. The logical solution would be to move the Hawks game to Monday and create another MNF double header, but that would throw a monkey wrench into a lot of people's plans.

[Vegaseahawk]

I made it to T-Mobile for Tuesday & Wednesday's games against the Rockies. I always love coming back up to the PNW, & this time was no different. Ivar's by the ferry terminal, Jack's Fish Spot in the Pike Place, The Paramount Theater, & other Seattle landmarks warm my heart everytime I visit. Needless to say, the 3 run double by Naylor in the 8th on Tuesday caused the stadium to erupt like Mt St Helens. The 1st inning, (& the whole game), on Wednesday was awesome too. The final innings, & level of crowd noise both nights was electric. The celebration after the game was so much fun to witness. It will remain in my memory banks right up there as "the tip" when I attended the NFC championship game against the 49'ers on January 19th 2014.

[Stream Hawk]

I made it to T-Mobile for Tuesday & Wednesday's games against the Rockies. I always love coming back up to the PNW, & this time was no different. Ivar's by the ferry terminal, Jack's Fish Spot in the Pike Place, The Paramount Theater, & other Seattle landmarks warm my heart everytime I visit. Needless to say, the 3 run double by Naylor in the 8th on Tuesday caused the stadium to erupt like Mt St Helens. The 1st inning, (& the whole game), on Wednesday was awesome too. The final innings, & level of crowd noise both nights was electric. The celebration after the game was so much fun to witness. It will remain in my memory banks right up there as "the tip" when I attended the NFC championship game against the 49'ers on January 19th 2014.

That is incredible that you got to see those historic games. I was at a conference in Seaside, Oregon and was trying to see the Wednesday night game at a sports bar. Solid M’s crowd there! But I had a function to go to on the beach right before Cal‘s last at bat and their division clinching. So I watched on Fubo on my phone as I walked to the beach. Seeing and hearing the MVP chants and Cal actually blasting his 60th was unreal. I just started happily cheering and all these random people walking by were high-fiving when I told them. This is real stuff.

I will be a nervous wreck watching them this weekend, but I have a good feeling.

[Aseahawkfan]

Mariners versus Tigers. Let's see how this goes.

[River Dog]

I was a little confused with the way the brackets are arranged. I assumed that since the Blue Jays had the #1 seed, that they would draw the lowest seed to advance out of the first round, in this case, the Tigers. It seems strange that they wouldn't re-do the brackets after the first round.

I'm concerned about the long layoff. We ended the regular season by getting swept by the Dodgers then had a week of inactivity. A lot of our chances depends on the health of Bryan Woo. They claim that everything is progressing well, but we'll see. So far, I don't see that a pitching rotation has been announced.

I watched a lot of the wild card games this week, none in their entirety, but I tuned in regularly. That's a change for me as for the past 20 years, I couldn't tell you who won the World Series let alone watch any of the playoffs. The Mariners performance this season has renewed my love affair with baseball.

[jshawaii22]

I agree on the brackets, but I'd rather be playing Detroit instead of NY, wouldn't you?
To win, It seems to be all about Woo right now and his always solid 6 innings --
The "layoff" which is only 5 days (same as all-star break) allows us to align our starting rotation and the bullpen. Its the only advantage there really is as home field doesn't seem to mean much in the playoffs.

Wild Stat: New York vs Boston game 5 was highest tuned in MLB game in over 20 years, head to head with NFL and SF vs LA was a (be honest) killer game.
MLB is making a comeback!

[River Dog]

I agree on the brackets, but I'd rather be playing Detroit instead of NY, wouldn't you?
To win, It seems to be all about Woo right now and his always solid 6 innings --
The "layoff" which is only 5 days (same as all-star break) allows us to align our starting rotation and the bullpen. Its the only advantage there really is as home field doesn't seem to mean much in the playoffs.

Wild Stat: New York vs Boston game 5 was highest tuned in MLB game in over 20 years, head to head with NFL and SF vs LA was a (be honest) killer game.
MLB is making a comeback!

I didn't start getting super interested in MLB until recently, within the past month or so, so I couldn't honestly say which team I'd rather face. It depends on the pitching matchups. I noticed Thursday that the Yankees have a lot of left-handed bats, and we don't have a left-handed starter, so that might make a difference.

I didn't know about the Game 5 TV numbers, but it doesn't surprise me. Yankees-Red Sox is the biggest MLB rivalry and one of the biggest in all of professional sports. Both have huge, very dedicated fan bases. Plus, judging by the atmosphere in the games I've been watching, I'm getting the sense that I'm not the only one that has experienced a baseball revival, that it's really taken off this season.

[Aseahawkfan]

Blew through the bullpen and went into OT with 11 innings and lost the game. Not a great start.

[trents]

Tigers take #1. Bummer! And it's going to be tough tomorrow against Skubal. And the whole question of Woo's availability is up in the air. His injury was really bad timing. Even if he is available for this series he will be rusty and a little out of condition.

But besides all that, I really missed listening to the Root Sports play by play guys call the game. It was not the same at all! It sounded so alien.

[River Dog]

I made it to the 10th inning before I fell asleep. First thing I did when I woke up was to check for the final score. Big let down.

We can't complain about the pitching, holding them to 2 runs in 10 innings. Both our runs were driven in by J-Rod. All 6 of our hits came from just two players: J-Rod and Cal.

[Aseahawkfan]

I made it to the 10th inning before I fell asleep. First thing I did when I woke up was to check for the final score. Big let down.

We can't complain about the pitching, holding them to 2 runs in 10 innings. Both our runs were driven in by J-Rod. All 6 of our hits came from just two players: J-Rod and Cal.

I was listening to sports radio. Question came up which Ms are most important to the team winning. People were picking various players. All I could think in my head is the entire team needs to step up to have any shot of a World Series. Every damn one including the bat boy. No one can have off days or letdowns or what not. It's the playoffs. You gotta be on your game as a team for every game or you won't bring home a World Series win.

Sure enough pitching was good enough. Julio and Cal did enough. Rest of the team failure.

Ms have no chance unless the entire team is pushing hard and hitting on all cylinders.

[trents]

Well, there is this. I think the last time the M's played Detroit, they lit up Skubal. Let's hope he has another off day.

[Stream Hawk]

I’m so disappointed in our performance last night. It’s like we simply can’t hit sometimes. And when we can’t hit it’s over. Also Dan lifting Robles for Raley was beyond frustrating. He overthinks matchups; can’t remove your best players.

[Aseahawkfan]

Got 1 win. Just need to take 1 in Detroit to bring it home.

[Stream Hawk]

Such a big win. I’m suddenly more concerned about our offense than pitching. Much like being suddenly concerned about Seahawks defense. Thus, we will be fine?

[Aseahawkfan]

Such a big win. I’m suddenly more concerned about our offense than pitching. Much like being suddenly concerned about Seahawks defense. Thus, we will be fine?

I hope the offense is shaking the rust off. Hitting is all about timing and practice. They sat around for a week while the Tigers played non-stop. Sort of like the NBA when a top seed basketball team that has been sitting for the first series drops the first game causing concern, then crushes their opponent once they get the rust off and get going again.

[River Dog]

Good game last night. Once again, our pitching was superb. Wilson went to the bullpen early and often, and for the most part, with the exception of Matt Brash giving up a 2 run double, they came through. Detroit got just two hits. J-Rod came through again, driving in the game winner after Cal had doubled.

I watched most of the game. We didn't get home until the 4th inning when Polanco hit the first of his two HRs. I had to delay watching SNF, finished the last of it this morning.

Today's a travel day then we get two in the Motor City on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. The 5th game, if necessary, is in Seattle on Friday afternoon. I'm hoping that Woo will be able to go on Wednesday. They have yet to announce the pitching matchups for that game.

[Stream Hawk]

Woo is out for the entire series. They called that on Saturday morning. I’m excited for Walter tomorrow as he has been our ace for a few years, and is pitching better again. I imagine Kirby will handle game 4. Come on hitters, it’s time to start ripping again.

[River Dog]

Woo is out for the entire series. They called that on Saturday morning. I’m excited for Walter tomorrow as he has been our ace for a few years, and is pitching better again. I imagine Kirby will handle game 4. Come on hitters, it’s time to start ripping again.

I hadn't heard that Woo was out for the Tigers series. It must be more serious than what we were told originally. Thanks for the update.

Yeah, the pitching has been fantastic these first couple of games, but the next two will be in Detroit and both daytime games where the air is warmer and the ball travels further. FYI Logan Gilbert is our scheduled starting pitcher for tomorrow. Bryce Miller might be another option for Wednesday. Kirby pitched Saturday, so they might hold him back for a possible Game 5 on Friday.

I'm going to be on the road Wednesday and will need an option to listen to the game via radio, either streaming or OTA. Any suggestions?

[Stream Hawk]

Walter is Logan’s nickname; I don’t know its origins but I like it. Miller concerns me for Wednesday, and I expect Kirby on 4 days rest. Skubal is going on 4 days rest for game 5, if necessary. I like the Rock (Castillo) at home for game 5.

I’ll be working in the field Wednesday, also our 19th wedding anniversary. A series win would be quite the gift

[River Dog]

Walter is Logan’s nickname; I don’t know its origins but I like it. Miller concerns me for Wednesday, and I expect Kirby on 4 days rest. Skubal is going on 4 days rest for game 5, if necessary. I like the Rock (Castillo) at home for game 5.

I’ll be working in the field Wednesday, also our 19th wedding anniversary. A series win would be quite the gift

I hadn't heard of that nickname. Actually, Logan Gilbert reminds me of a pitcher who once played for the Tigers by the name of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych:

https://www.bing.com/search?q=mark+the+ ... 1&hsmssg=0

We'll see how Wilson manages his pitching staff. IMO he did an excellent job of managing the game last night, taking out Castillo with 2 outs in the 5th even though he had given up just one hit and no runs, but his pitch count was up in the mid 80's, pretty high by today's standards. I guess that comes from him being a catcher.

And Happy Anniversary!

[trents]

M's pitchers have been throwing a lot of pitches these first two games and there's got to be a lot of tired arms as we progress into the series. Although we won the game last night, Skubal went deep into the game and gave his bull pin some rest. That could make a big difference going forward. That's my biggest concern right now. Detroit's batters are really disciplined at the plate and have good eyes. They make you throw strikes.

[Aseahawkfan]

My feeling is if the Mariners have a real shot of going to the World Series and winning, they should be able to beat the Tigers without Woo. If they can't, they won't beat the Yanks or Blue Jays much less the Dodgers even with Woo.

Dodgers are stacked. Huge payroll. The monster that money built to buy championships like they can do in baseball with no real salary cap. So the Mariners have to play far beyond their payroll or statistical abilities for any shot of beating the monster teams we'll be facing.

Thus I don't even worry about it. If a storybook season is going to happen this year, Mariners will have to beat some monster teams to make it happen. That means everyone gotta step up and step up big for any real shot at a World Series. Our pitchers will have to be lights out to beat whoever we got coming after the Tigers if the Mariners get by them.

Only good thing I can claim about it is if the Mariners win, it won't be no soft World Series win in a down year. It will be a David versus Goliath type of win and we're David...only chance we got is if the baseball gods are with us and everyone is giving everything they got.

[Stream Hawk]

I agree if the M’s want to talk championships, they should be able to handle this series without Woo. I admittedly lost a lot of confidence on game 1. Hopefully they can bring it back. Of relevant note, Naylor is becoming a daddy so he at least won’t be there for game 3. A lot is riding on the next couple days!

[River Dog]

I've lost quite a bit of confidence after these past two games. We're going to have to start hitting or we're not getting past the Tigers whether or not we have Woo in the rotation. You can't win very many games when you score just 2-3 runs a game. I'll be on pins and needles this afternoon.

I'm still looking for an option to live stream the radio call so I can listen to the game tomorrow as we'll be on the road.

[Stream Hawk]

I agree we need to score more runs. Even up four to one I don’t have any confidence. Come on offense I know you got it in you. It’s good to see Naylor back in the lineup; must’ve had the baby. But he really needs to contribute some at bats DEFENSE here!

[Aseahawkfan]

Ms take game 3. Guaranteed to come home, but I'd be just as happy to see them close it out in Detroit. The bats are kicking the rust off.

[Stream Hawk]

I want to take it tomorrow. Let’s go Bluejays. Yankees will always terrify me.

[River Dog]

Yeah, our bats finally came to life, and with one exception, the pitching remained top notch. Huge win as now the Tigers have to win two straight, including one in our house. The one run that Gilbert did give up was unearned, scored when Crawford made a bad throw on a double play ball.

The only thing I was upset about was that pitcher, Ferguson, who they brought in to close the game out in the ninth. The guy couldn't find the plate, 4 pitch walks with a 7-run lead, forcing Wilson to bring in Munoz to get the last 3 outs. With a short turnaround today, I was hoping that we could keep from using Munoz. But he only threw 9 pitches, so it's not like we burned him out.

Bryce Miller gets the start today, and the bullpen is relatively fresh.

[Aseahawkfan]

It all comes down to Game 5. Yankees at least were knocked out if the Ms can come up with a home win against the Tigers. We'll see how it goes as now Ms learn to play a win or stay home game.

[Aseahawkfan]

Sheesh. Close the damn game out before we deplete our entire pitching staff.

Can't close a game at home to get one run. Absolutely pathetic. Zero chance of a World Series win. I doubt this team can get past the Blue Jays if they beat the Tigers and guaranteed the Dodgers will eat them alive if they went to the World Series.

15 innings. And all our starting pitchers. At least we got the win, but no idea who starts the next game.

[trents]

The series against the Jays starts Sunday. Quick turnaround plus the travel. There will be a bunch of tired Mariners that take the field that day. And the Jays closed their series early so are well rested. Not a good situation.

[River Dog]

I didn't make it all the way through the game, fell asleep in the 11th.

We did burn through a lot of pitchers, but it's not the end of the world. We'll probably start Bryce Miller on 4 days' rest, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Wilson give Bryan Woo a shot. With our pitching staff stressed over the course of a 15-inning game, it would be the perfect situation for him to come to the rescue. We also might see Emerson Hancock. Castillo only threw 15 pitches last night, so he should be ready to go on Monday.

[Stream Hawk]

Wow, what a series game. I love that Jorge walked it off as he’s been one of our best clutch hitters this year. As for Woo he will probably be pitching in game 3. I feel good about Miller starting 1 and Castillo (Rock) in game 2 as he only threw 15 pitches last night in his stellar relief performance.

I think we are the better team even without home-field advantage. Cal hits a lot of jacks in Toronto and against them.

M’s in 6.

[Aseahawkfan]

Game 1 goes to the Ms. If Woo is back, Ms got a real shot at this.