We’re back after that short four-game trip to Kansas City, which actually probably seemed three games too long for the Mariners considering how they played. We’ll talk with manager Eric Wedge in an hour or so to see if he’s got his voice back after the airing-out he gave the team o
n Saturday.
Until then, we’ve got a rare instance of full-squad early work getting ready to start. Heaven knows there hasn’t been a lot of effective late work going on so far this season, so we’ll see what this team can accomplish at 3:30 this afternoon.
We’ll be back with more after visiting with Wedge, but until then here area a few notes:
• Cry all you want about the Mariners’ horrible record, there’s more to this team than wins. For example, Mariners starting pitchers lead the American League in percentage of strikes thrown (65 percent). Felix Hernandez, Jason Vargas, Doug Fister, Erik Bedard and Michael Pineda rank second in the league with a 3.12 strikeout/walk ratio and third with 2.36 walks per nine innings.
• First baseman Justin Smoak has a .421 average in his current six-game hitting streak and – behold! – is the only Mariner batting at least .300.
• The Mariners are tied with the Red Sox for the AL lead with 61 walks. The Mariners also lead the major leagues with five bases-loaded walks. They scored on three of them (OK, really bad joke there. Sorry).
• Adam Kennedy has lost his job as a No. 3 hitter. He’s back in the lineup at second base, but he’s batting sixth.
Here’s what the Mariners, a .214-hitting team, will roll out tonight against Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer:
Ichiro Suzuki, right field
Chone Figgins, third base
Milton Bradley, left field
Jack Cust, DH
Justin Smoak, first base
Adam Kennedy, second base
Miguel Olivo, catcher
Ryan Langerhans, center field
Brendan Ryan, shortstop
Starting pitcher: Left-hander Jason Vargas (0-1, 4.86 ERA).
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