Hoping Mother’s Day doesn’t turn into “Oh, Brother”’s Day
The Mariners streak of winning nine series in a row—the second-longest such streak in franchise history—came to a close last night. But with the Astros losing last night too, it’s a little easier to swallow. Seattle will look to salvage their current series this afternoon as they face off against the Blue Jays and their starter [checks notes] Jose Ureña.
Despite this being Ureña’s 11th season in MLB, and having 153 career starts, he’s only ever faced Seattle as a reliever. Three of his four appearances against them came last year as a member of the Rangers bullpen. And I think the essential fact to know about Ureña is that over those three appearances, he was only able to strike out 15.4% of the batters he faced. If you could only strike out the 2024 Seattle Mariners 15.4% of the time, I am not afraid of you. Words I’ll live to regret I’m sure, but I just don’t live in fear of a guy who’s running a 5+ ERA over the past seven seasons.
For the record, Ureña’s other career appearance against the Mariners came in a game in which these were the starting lineups:
Lineups
Speaking of lineups, after terrorizing the Mariners for the first two games of the series, Addison Barger has been moved up to the top third of the lineup for the first time in his career. Alejandro Kirk will catch again, meaning we’ll have to endure that ungodly shade of pink on his gear again.
For the Mariners, Cal Raleigh gets a day out of the crouch, and Jorge Polanco and Ben Williamson both get scheduled days off.
News:
Trent Thornton was in the clubhouse today, walking around. He says he’s feeling “better” and Dan Wilson says he seems to be recovering quickly from his appendicitis surgery. Victor Robles was also in the clubhouse today, making his presence known as always (“HELLO EVERYBODY, WAKE UP!”); Wilson says he’s right on track with his recovery. He’s still in the sling for now but is getting close to the end of his shoulder immobilization and will move to the next stage of his rehab soon.
Captain’s Log:
Dan Wilson on his pregame message to Bryce Miller, who’s been struggling to start the season:
“Stay true to who you are in terms of your identity and what makes you the player you are. For Bryce, it’s attacking the zone and using his heater, and working off of that. When he does that, that’s when he has the most success. So being able to get back to that today, and being in front of the home fans I think is a big energy boost, so that’s where his approach will be today.”
Game Info
First Pitch: 1:10 PT
TV: Wherever you ROOT, whether that’s on the cable channel, the MLB TV package, or the brand new ROOT Sports app
Radio: Ol’ reliable
This Day In Mariners History
- 1990: Henry Cotto hits an inside-the-park home run during a loss to the O’s
- 2004: Baseball Historian John Thorn and city officials in Pittsfield, Massachusetts announce the discovery of a by-law from 1791, which prohibited playing baseball within 80 yards of the town meeting house. This is the earliest known written reference to baseball.