Ichiro CF Soriano LF Lopez 2B Pagan CF Guillen RF Lee 1B Ibanez LF Barrett C Sexson 1B DeRosa 3B Johjima C Murton RF Beltre 3B Theriot 2B Betancourt SS Izturis SS Washburn P Hill P ---------- ----------
Washburn (5-5, 3.94) Hill (5-4, 2.71)
A few hours ago while sitting in the backyard I found myself really looking forward to this series. I thought, "hey, maybe there's something to this whole interleague thing after all." When else would I get to watch a game in Wrigley Field with a rooting interest? When else would I have the opportunity to watch Rich Hill and Ichiro, two of my favorite players in baseball, square off in a meaningful encounter? When else would I have the chance to maybe watch the Mariners on WGN and not have to deal with the painfully insufferable Hawk Harrelson?
Then I thought, "oh wait, no, it's because the Cubs are bad." Of course!
DEFENSE WATCH:
Mariners: -21 groundballs, -8 flyballs, -29 overall (sixth-worst in MLB)
Cubs: +3 groundballs, +18 flyballs, +21 overall (tied sixth-best in MLB)
(Numbers taken from THT, which calculates them based on expected outcomes from each team's balls in play. It's not a straight measure of defensive efficiency; it takes line drives and grounders and fly balls into account, meaning if a team's pitching staff is giving up a lot of screamers, they won't penalize the defense for it.)
LET'S GO MARINERS!!