This is an unusually busy few days for me, so I apologize but I don't have time to dawdle. Ordinarily these spring training game thread openers come as the result of dawdling, but because I can't do that, hey, all right, the Mariners are playing the Rangers, and we like the Mariners, and the Mariners are going to win. We can be so certain that the Mariners are going to win that we needn't even bother following along, which is good since this won't be an easy game to follow along with. There's no MLB.tv broadcast, and there's no radio feed, from either side. Not even Spanish-language. Nobody is interested in talking about this baseball game as it happens.
There is Gameday, and since it's in Peoria, there is PITCHfx, for those of you who desperately want to know whether Blake Beavan threw an 89mph straight fastball or a 91mph straight fastball. The Mariners' starting lineup:
Figgins, CF
Ryan, SS
Ichiro, RF
Montero, DH
Carp, LF
Olivo, C
Liddi, 1B
Catricala, 3B
Kawasaki, 2B
A year ago this 1-through-3 was out-homered by Casey Kotchman. That's a neat thing to know. As mentioned, Beavan's starting, and he'll be followed by some or all of Shawn Camp, Hong-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill, Aaron Heilman, Chance Ruffin, and Matt Fox. Have I mentioned how sad I am that this game isn't being broadcast? No, no I haven't, because I'm not.
This is the only Cactus League meeting between the Mariners and the Rangers this year. Sweep!