You have to hand it to the Padres - they tried their damndest, and actually managed to out-hit the Mariners by a count of 10-8 while striking out just three times to the Mariners' 12. The Padres put together a solid effort on Monday afternoon, but they just weren't able to come up with enough runs to knock the Mariners off, with Kevin Frandsen stranding the winning run 90 feet away on the last out of the game. So, two days into action, the M's remain unbeaten.
From start to finish, this was a pretty uninteresting game, even as Spring Training games are concerned. It didn't feature Erik Bedard, or Felix Hernandez, or Michael Pineda, and it's too early for any of the performances or results to mean very much with respect to the various roster competitions. So this was just baseball for the sake of baseball, and while that certainly isn't a bad thing, it's a hard thing to pay attention to for hours at a time. I think baseball like this is best utilized as background noise while you work on something else - something that might someday make a difference in the world, like a vaccine, or a zesty paper clip with glitter on it.
Being radio-only at this point, it's hard to speak to the highlights, but the Mariners played some sparkling infield defense, snaring some grounders and turning a double play. Gabe Gross and Brendan Ryan pounded well-hit doubles, while Greg Halman and Johermyn Chavez pounded better-hit home runs. Halman pulled an inside hanging slider from a lefty into left-center field, while Chavez ripped a first-pitch fastball from legitimate reliever Ernesto Frieri over the fence in straightaway left. Chavez blast came in the ninth, and it looked like the game-winner until Chris Seddon happened.
Lowlights would be a rough first inning from Doug Fister and shaky relief that gave back three leads. To be perfectly honest I really can't provide any kind of analysis when I've listened to a game on the radio, and it's hard to come up with humor when you don't care at all about the subject material. It isn't even March yet. The Mariners and Padres might as well have played 168 minutes of hopscotch.
March does begin tomorrow, and with it, the Mariners begin their tour against other teams that might actually stand a chance of beating them. It's Texas on Tuesday at 12:05, with Nate Robertson facing off against Matt Harrison. Robertson's scheduled to throw two innings, which is about twice as long as his average start from last season. Godspeed.