The M's offense is on an absolute tear right now, posting run totals that resemble football scores. In the last two games, the M's have scored 23 runs. In contrast, the M's scored 24 runs in their first nine games in May. To help put this offensive explosion into even further perspective, the M's run total from the last two days accounts for 15% of their total runs scored this season.
Unfortunately, the pitching has been abysmal, squandering leads and putting extra wear and tear on the bullpen. This is a major cause for concern, as the offense is not going to be able to sustain this current offensive explosion. Unless the starting pitching stops throwing batting practice, this is going to make for a long season.
Pineiro was the third consecutive Seattle starting pitcher to fail to pitch past the fourth inning, lasting just 3.2 innings. He allowed six runs, walked four and failed to record a strike out. He struggled with his location all night and rarely used his fastball, which is cause for concern. Hopefully, he just didn't have a good feel for it last night and is not trying to pitch through an injury.
After relieving Joel in the third inning, Mateo was lights out, working 3.1 innings of two hit ball. Mateo is the team's best pitcher right now, posting an absurd .41 ERA on the season and holding opponents to a .154/.205/.179 line. His dominance led me to make the suggestion last night about the possibility of stretching Mateo out and trying him in the rotation. He has begun to make longer appearances out of the bullpen this month and at this point, it may not be a horrible idea. It's a long shot, but something to consider nonetheless.
Since the M's started their recent road trip on May 6th, Adrian Beltre has been on a tear, hitting .344/.387/.655. He's hitting the ball with authority and it appears that he may be regaining his power stroke. He hit an absolute blast on the first pitch he saw in the fourth off former Mariner John Halama, which registered 440 feet. Hopefully, he has made whatever adjustments he needed to make and this is just a sign of things to come.
Wiki Gonzalez continued his hot hitting last night, hitting a pair of doubles and collecting two RBI's. Which begs the question, who is this guy? Wiki has played well since his call-up and hasn't had any serious lapses in common sense or laziness. As long as Wiki continues to hit, he should be receiving the majority of the time behind the plate. He also made a very good throw to nab a greedy Manny Ramirez as he took a big turn around third and got caught napping.
This is probably too short of a game recap for a game like the one last night. Unfortunately, I am short on time and this is going to have to suffice. For those who also watched the game, feel free to add your own thoughts and observations in the comment section.
Tonight's game has Ryan Franklin facing off against Wade Miller at 7:05 PM. Hopefully the M's can continue to their offensive barrage on Wade Miller, who held the Mariners to just three hits and two runs over five innings in his first start of the season last week.