Series Preview: Toronto Blue Jays @ Seattle Mariners

Seattle: 31-50
Blue Jays: 40-43

GAMES

Game 1: R.A. Dickey vs Roy Halladay
Game 2: RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH vs Jesse Litsch
Game 3: Jarrod Washburn* vs Dustin McGowan

We missed Halladay last time around so it'll be good to catch him this time around and for some reason a pairing of Dickey and Doc seems so perfect. Anyways, Halladay's been a beast this season as some of you are aware, having tossed more innings than anyone in baseball and holding an impressive 100-19 K to BB ratio. Halladay's missing more bats this year but that has come at a slight cost of groundballs, however he still remains above average in that area and is overall one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Jesse Litsch has taken a big step forward as a pitch-to-contact guy this season, and although that's likely to cause rolled eyes around these parts, it's a pretty smart idea when you have a defense as good as Toronto's (one of the best in the majors). He's missing the zone a lot less often than in 2007, but most of those pitches are ending up in play rather than as strikes in the catcher's glove. It just goes to show what happens when you pair good defense with low walk totals.

Since the last time we faced McGowan his results have regressed toward where we would expect them to. Though his groundball rate is still severely down from the previous season, his homeruns are less flukeishly low (though still low) and his hits and line drive rate have come back toward 2007 as well. Overall, he's a somewhat wild pitcher with good stuff that sometimes can do a good job at keeping the ball on the ground. All in all, a good middle of the rotation pitcher.

Likely Starters:
C Gregg Zaun^
1 Lyle Overbay*
2 Joe Inglett*
3 Scott Rolen
S Marco Scutaro
L Adam Lind*
C Vernon Wells
R Alex Rios
D Matt Stairs*

Don't underestimate the Blue Jays lineup. While they score about as many runs as the Mariners, their overall OPS+ is 96, underlying that they've been unlucky so far this year at turning baserunners into runs. You might even call it a slump...

CONTEXT

Man we just got outclassed that series. I went into it with some hope that we could pull out this series, but we just got destroyed. Months of anticipation, thinking we had a chance to compete with the best and in one fell swoop San Deigo shows us just what it actually takes to lose. Do the Mariners have what it takes over the long haul? Sure, we still cling to a lead, but it's a tenuous grip at best and San Diego has shown that they're in it to win it. This team really needs to buckle down and start reeling off some solid losing streaks.

THIS SERIES BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Tsunami Stout
Pelican Brewing. Pacific City, OR

A prime example of what is termed in the beer snob world, a foreign stout, it straddles the line between your normal stout like Guinness, and your imperial stouts like delicious Ten Fidy or Stone. It's sweeter than the basic stouts but not as thick as the imperials and all in all, make damn fine morning brews.