OT: Mariners and their playoff run

[River Dog]

Huge win for the Mariners. It has to rank in the top 5 wins in franchise history to this point. With our pitching staff depleted after playing a 15-inning game two days earlier, we needed a strong outing from our Game 1 starter, and that's exactly what Bryce Miller gave us. Our taking Game 1 on the road in a 7-game series really backs the Blue Jays into a corner. They don't want to come into our house needing 2 wins in 3 games. Expect them to pull out the stops today.

Speier finally got over his penchant for giving up gopher balls, Brash and Munoz slammed the door in the 8th and 9th. I was looking at the pitch count and strikes. Between our three relievers, they threw 24 pitches, 20 of them for strikes. Nothing irritates me more than a relief pitcher who comes in with a two run lead then starts walking batters. Excellent work by our bullpen.

We should have gotten more runs as we blew a couple of scoring opportunities. I initially got mad when in the first inning, Cal Raliegh tried to score from third on a ground ball, but I quickly realized that they probably sent him to stay out of the double play and knew that if he was out, that we'd still have two on base with a runner in scoring position.

Early start today at 2:00pm. Let's hope Logan Gilbert turns in another strong performance.

[burrrton]

I'm questioning the decision to pitch Gilbert 3 days after he pitched some relief.

[Aseahawkfan]

Gilbert on short rest is rough. I was thinking Luis would go since he threw 15 pitches, but I guess Logan must have felt ready. We drained the pitching staff so low, someone was going on short rest. I guess they went with the younger guy. I hope Woo makes it back to pitch in this series. This is all win or go home at this point. So anyone and everyone gotta step up to make history. I guess Dan Wilson is doing his best and we'll see what happens.

[Aseahawkfan]

Well damn, this is new. Mariners up 2 and 0 in the ALCS. This is crazy. These pitchers we been building up all these years starting to show their quality. Pretty crazy. Now we head home for 3 games.

[River Dog]

I'm questioning the decision to pitch Gilbert 3 days after he pitched some relief.

If not Gilbert, who are you going to pitch? Wilson didn't have very many good options. He could have started Castillo, but he pitched on Friday, too, or he could have started Emerson Hancock, but he was coming off the DL, and we saw how shaky he was. Would you have rather him have started Woo? Besides, Gilbert didn't exactly pitch a marathon, he threw just 34 pitches.

I have to defer to the manager's judgement in cases like this. He knows how those pitchers are feeling, knows what his trainers are telling him about their health. Plus, at this point, it's one of those hindsight is 20/20 propositions.

The bullpen was spectacular again, and our bats finally came to life. I'm going to be attending Game 4 with my daughter and BIL, and if we win on Wednesday, we will get an opportunity to watch a truly historic occasion, the M's finally making it to the World Series. I thought we might be seeing Bryan Woo in Game 4, but I see that they've named Castillo as the starter.

But first we have Game 3 to worry about. George Kirby gets the start. He had a good outing in his last start, that 15 inning marathon against the Tigers last Friday. The bullpen should be fairly well rested, with Munoz, Brash, and Speier all available.

[burrrton]

He could have started Castillo, but he pitched on Friday, too

I was thinking of Castillo having thrown far fewer pitches in relief (iirc).

Eh, it all worked out, so what the h3ll do I know.

I have to defer to the manager's judgement in cases like this. He knows how those pitchers are feeling, knows what his trainers are telling him about their health. Plus, at this point, it's one of those hindsight is 20/20 propositions.

Agree on all counts.

[Vegaseahawk]

Who would've thunk it. To come out of Toronto at 2-0 is amazing. It's great to see the guys playing loose & calm. I'm stoked. There's a podcast I've been listening to by a guy named Brady Farkas. It's called Refuse To Lose. I listen on Spotify. He's pretty knowlegable.

https://open.spotify.com/show/1oBvJopLughGl4ndijlZPf?si=0089ace72a80442f

[River Dog]

Kirby gets the start tomorrow in Game 3, Castillo Thursday in Game 4. I was expecting to see Woo in one of those two games, and it leaves me to wonder if he's suffered a setback or if Dan's just being extra cautious, especially leading in the series 2-0. I hope it's the latter.

Don't be surprised to see a lot of Blue Jays fans at the games in Seattle. I've gone to Mariners-Blue Jays games before, and there are a lot of fans that will drive down from Vancouver, BC.

And BTW, I'll be going to Game 4 on Thursday. It was my daughter's idea. I'll be meeting her and my BIL. If we lose, you'll know who to blame.

[Aseahawkfan]

I wouldn't mind seeing Woo start in the bullpen. Ge Woo some innings to build him back up if we make the World Series.

[River Dog]

I wouldn't mind seeing Woo start in the bullpen. Ge Woo some innings to build him back up if we make the World Series.

I was thinking the same thing. Let him work in a long relief situation at the start of an inning or when the bases are empty, so he doesn't get thrown to the wolves right off the bat. But I've come to trust Dan Wilson's judgement, so I'm good with whatever he decides.

Here's some more info on Woo's status:

"All reports have been good, as we had expected, and (he) continues to make his progression,” Wilson said. “Obviously, the live (at-bats Monday) was a big step for him. He felt pretty good yesterday. I think he’s going to get out and throw a little bit today. Getting him back, one of the guys that has really led this staff this year, obviously, will be huge for us, whatever that looks like as we get into the later part of this series. But getting him back and getting him healthy is the key.”

Woo has recently hit a couple of important benchmarks as he works his way back from the pec injury. He threw a bullpen session prior to Seattle’s ALDS Game 5 win Friday, and Monday he tossed a live batting practice to Mariners hitters before Game 2 of the ALCS in Toronto.

“The live went great. I think just slowly trying to build over the last couple weeks, like I said, do it the right way,” Woo said Tuesday. “Obviously, frustrating not being out there, but everything looks good, feels good so far. I’ll be ready to go whenever my name gets called.”

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/mlb/seat ... j3CgSVl72g