8/17: Open game thread

It was hard to swallow yesterday's pill of a game, because Felix Hernandez's run of beyond brilliance made it seem like no matter which game he was pitching in the Mariners would have to win. So finally, for the first time in months, King Felix stumbled, the Detroit Tigers took advantage and are a half step ahead of the Mariners in the Wild Card race.

This is also why playoff baseball, or at least meaningful baseball, is absolutely brilliant/completely heart wrenching. For the next month, this will be our lives as Seattle Mariners fans - every game matters. Right now, the Mariners sit one-half game behind the Tigers. After today, they could sit one-half game ahead of the Tigers.

The Mariners have a good chance of that in the final game of the series when they go up against rookie Robbie Ray. Ray was called up after Annibal Sanchez hit the disabled list, and has been decent so far, but not exactly the kind of stellar call-up you want to make during August. He owns a xFIP of 4.60, which slightly helps offset his 5.31 ERA a bit for Tigers fans, but doesn't do too many things too greatly. He had two solid starts back in May during his first time with the club but was sent back down after the Rangers piled seven runs in three innings on him. In his last outing, and first since being called up again, he gave up four runs in five innings to the Pirates.

Chris Young takes the mound for the Mariners and hopefully he can continue his magical ways of getting out of jams without letting too many runs across the board. Young owns a xFIP of 5.15, but Young has been lucky to keep the number of runs down. He has gone at least six innings pitched with less than two earned runs in 11 starts this season. Hitters generally put the ball in play against Young and usually his defense backs him up. That will be an easier case against the Tigers as their once vaunted offense has struggled a bit since the All-Star Break, except for Miguel Cabrera who is 12-for-29 in his past seven games.

Game info

• Seattle Mariners @ Detroit Tigers, 10:08 a.m. PT
• Today's game will be televised on ROOT Sports (and nationally on TBS!), broadcast on 710 ESPN, and available to out-of-market viewers at MLB TV here (this game is free for non-subscribers).

Today's lineup