6/17/22: Open Game Thread

The Seattle Mariners come for us all, Justin Upton

After spoiling a fine effort by George Kirby last night in a sleepy 4-1 loss, the Mariners lineup gets a shakeup tonight.

Lineups:

Hello, Justin Upton. You tried to stave it off but Mariners baseball comes for us all. Personally I am hoping Upton’s stay to be a short one, with a magically-healing Mitch Haniger or resurgent Jarred Kelenic pushing to take his spot sooner rather than later, but I won’t be mad if he wasn’t to exact his revenge on his former ballclub first. Speaking of revenge on old flames, you’ll see former Mariner Jack Mayfield is at third for the Halos, who got the news today that Anthony Rendon is having season-ending surgery on his wrist. It’s the second time in his three years as an Angel that Rendon will miss the remainder of the season due to surgery. Also, he’s already been an Angel for three years? Pandemic time, you crazy. You’ll also note today is an off-day for Ohtani with the lefty Robbie Ray on the mound, which moves Trout over to DH for some rest. Please win this game, Mariners.

News:

In a corresponding move for Justin Upton being activated, Sam Haggerty and his Godfather walk-up music have been optioned back to Tacoma.

Also, MLB is finally clamping down on that 13-pitcher limit come Monday, so one pitcher will have to be removed from the ‘pen and traded for a bench player from Tacoma (no idea if Haggerty can be recalled that quickly to fill that role). You might be seeing a final audition of sorts for some of the bullpen pitchers over the next few games.

Game info:

It’s another 7:10 start. You can see the game in all the old familiar places: ROOT Sports NW (TV) or streamed online via fuboTV or MLB TV if you’re out of area, or listen to the game on Seattle Sports 710. I’ll be dividing my attention between the Mariners game, the College World Series (in honor of Tim and with apologies to Jacob, go Notre Dame), and Modesto’s game tonight.