Series Preview: Boston Red Sox @ Seattle Mariners

Seattle: 18-33
Red Sox: 31-22

GAMES

Game 1: Felix Hernandez vs Bartolo Colon
Game 2: Miguel Batista vs Daisuke Matsuzaka
Game 3: Erik Bedard* vs Tim Wakefield

Alright, fellas, ready for dress rehearsal? Yuni, stop eating back there! We don't have much time to go over this so let's get it right this time okay? First up is Bartolo Colon. Now, what's our game plan against him? Now, he throws a fastball about 80% of the time; Felix take note of that, Colon has a Cy Young Award, he knows how to pitch. No, not like you Jarrod, Colon's fastball can actually break a window. I understand he's been injured off and on for the past three years and only has five innings pitched this year so remember to be aggressive.

Okay, next up we have Matsuzaka. Now, he's been throwing a lot of pitches lately and he's been walking many people so obviously he's going to try and throw strikes this time. So remember to be really aggressive.

We get to finish up against the knuckleballer Wakefield. His walks are up too so what should we do? Exactly Kenji! He'll be abandoning his knuckleball and throwing much more fastballs. I knew your catching insights would come in handy Joh. Now Timmy's fastball isn't that good so lets remember to be really super incredibly ultra aggressive.

Likely Starters:
C Jason Varitek
1 Kevin Youkilis
2 Dustin Pedroia
3 Mike Lowell
S Julio Lugo
L Manny Ramirez
C Jacoby Ellsbury
R J.D. Drew
D David Ortiz

Last year the Red Sox succeeded mostly on the strength of their run prevention with a team ERA+ of 123 against "only" a team OPS+ of 107. This year has seen a swapping of roles with the offense running up a team OPS+ of 117 against a team ERA+ of "just" 104.

Up and down the entire lineup, here's a completely list of Boston hitters with at least 20 at bats who have an OPS+ below 100 (total sample = 15 hitters): 2B Dustin Pedroia (96 OPS+), SS Julio Lugo (92 OPS+). That's good. Mariner hitters with OPS+ above 100 under the same cutoff: Adrian Beltre, Raul Ibanez, Ichiro Suzuki. That's bad.

CONTEXT

Bad news: Richie Sexson over the last 43 plate appearences has struck out 18 times and walked twice.
Good news: Adrian Beltre has 22 walks to 32 strikeouts this season. He's on pace to draw the most walks in any season of his career paired with the fewest strikeouts of any season of his Seattle career.
Worse news: If it weren't for Ichiro Suzuki's proficiency at stealing bases, the Mariners would be below average at every offensive category.

THIS SERIES BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Blootvoeste Bruin
Walking Man Brewing. Stevenson, WA

This is the Walking Man Barefoot Brown ale that's been soured with kombucha culture. It pours a dark brown with a nice head to it. The aroma betrays its origins as you can detect the sourness but underneath that is the definite qualities of a brown ale with some oat coming through. Upon tasting the oat becomes even more noticeable and the sourness degrades into a green apple-like pucker. Some vanilla and cinnamon balance it out. The palate is full. I really enjoyed this beer and it's a great one to sit and mingle over as it improves as it warms.