Okay, turns out I got home later than I expected, so I don't really have time to say much of anything. Which is just as well, because, frankly, there wasn't a whole lot of action or suspense. All this game consisted of was Ichiro roping a triple, Vidro trying to kill Kelvim Escobar and in so doing driving Ichiro home, Ichiro plating another run when a bouncer to first suddenly leaped over Kotchman's head, and Miguel Batista throwing a bitch-ton of strikes. Oh, and there was this:
The Angels don't have the lowest line drive rate and the second-fewest homers in the AL by mistake; they can be successfully neutralized by a guy who pounds the zone like Batista did tonight. Aside from Vlad's screaming line drive that somehow found a glove in left field that so many lesser-struck balls have managed to elude, Batista was never in any kind of trouble at all, getting grounder after grounder in cementing himself as the second-best arm in the rotation. At no point did I feel threatened in this game, and credit has to be split between Batista's location and the Angels' refusing to wait him out. This is exactly what Josh Towers' 1-0 win over Jeff Weaver must've felt like.
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From the Mariners.com game recap:
There were pregame festivities with drums, music and dancers dressed in colorful outfits.
"I wasn't here, so I didn't get to see any of the performances," Ichiro said, "but when I saw a small clip of it on the TV, I noticed that they were playing Chinese music, so it made me think they didn't comprehend Japan."
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Big game tomorrow, obviously, but while the pitching matchup isn't favorable, Lackey's no better than Escobar, and Weaver should be every bit as good as Batista in hitting the zone. The Angels are going to have to single us to death if they want to hang on, and though that's sort of their MO, there are far more terrifying offenses to face.
By the grace of God, by 1pm tomorrow afternoon may we still be talking about this series instead of something horrible that's happened.