After a seventh straight loss, this one a 6-4 tumble today against the Indians, the Mariners were left to embrace the positives of this game and a promise from manager Eric Wedge.
He says the Mariners will, without a doubt, be a better offensive club than what they’re now showing.
While that sounds like a bold statement considering what this team has (or hasn’t) done nine games into the season, it actually may not be so far-fetched considering how puny this offense has been.
The Mariners are batting .217 as a team with a .288 on-base percentage and a .315 slugging percentage, and they’ve hit four home runs. Heck, Jose Lopez could do that all by himself.
“We’ll most definitely be a better hitting team this year,” Wedge said after today’s game, when the Mariners made it interesting with seventh-inning homers by Ryan Langerhans and Michael Saunders. “I’ve said that all along and I feel that. We’re going to work to put up better at-bats, make better outs, make pitchers work. We’ve shown signs of that the first week, but we still lack consistency with that. We’re going to be a better-hitting team than what you’re seeing right now.”
They’ll get another chance tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays, who will arrive with former M’s manager Don Wakamatsu as their bench coach. Wak has taken nothing but the high road since his firing last season, but wouldn’t you love to know what he’s really thinking about a Mariners team that, in nine games, has stumbled through losses, lack of hitting and a clubhouse controversy with Jack Wilson’s refusal to stay in a game last week?
A few notes at the end of the first home series:
• One thing we’ve learned about Wedge is that he occasionally speaks in code to reporters, and it can be dangerous to assume what he means. Wednesday in Texas, for example, Wedge said Wilson didn’t return to the game after the second inning because he was “a little hazy.” The assumption was that Wilson was hurt, although Wilson said later that day that he was OK physically.
Sunday, when Wedge was asked for the third straight day about Wilson’s status, he described his benched second baseman’s status as “game on.” He described Wilson as his second baseman.
Still, Wilson wasn’t in the lineup for the third straight game.
“Jack is going to be back out there,” Wedge said. “We talked to him again today. He went out there and did some early with work with Luis (Rodriguez) and Adam (Kennedy). We’re through all that and now it’s ready to move on. I don’t hold grudges. Never have, never will.
“He’s game-on as of right now. He’s not in the lineup, but he’s game-on.”
• Catcher Adam Moore, who suffered a torn medial meniscus in his right knee Wednesday, is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday. He doesn’t have a good feeling about it.
“I had a meniscus tear in 2003 on my left knee when I was in college and never had any more issues,” Moore said this morning, leaning on a pair of crutches in the Mariners’ clubhouse. “But it was a minor tear and I was back within four weeks. This one feels completely different. With the other one, I could walk and actually could have played on it, it was that minor. This one, I can’t even walk right now. But I’m hoping for the best.”
Nobody will know the extent of the injury, or how long Moore will be out, until the operation. Dr. Edward Khalfayan, the Mariners’ medical director, said he could miss 6-8 weeks or be finished for the season.
“He basically said if I come out with a brace, it’s four months, basically the season,” Moore said. “If I come out with a little sleeve on my knee, I’ll only be out 6-8 weeks. It’s either a scope or a full-out repair.”
• Michael Saunders, who homered in the seventh inning, has an RBI in all five games he has played this season, tying him with John Olerud (2001) for the longest RBI streak to start a season.
• Wedge said he still didn’t know what Bradley spoke with an umpire about during the seventh inning Saturday night, or did he seem to be concerned about it.
“I’ve got enough other things going on right now,” Wedge said.
As for the ear plugs Bradley was seen wearing in his next at-bat, Wedge made light of it and said it was fine with him.
“Whatever works, man,” he said. “Every now and then all of us would like to put earplugs in, regardless of what job you’re doing.”
Maybe. But if Bradley wears earplugs in the field, I’ll cringe if there’s a tweener fly ball in shallow left field or to the left-center gap and he can’t hear a teammate yelling “I got it!”
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