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What a crazy weekend it has been! We got snow in the mountains! It rained hard, the wind blew harder, and the sun tried its best to do a nice springtime weather impersonation. Taijuan Walker got absolutely obliterated by the A's to open the series and send everyone into a panicked frenzy. But then, J.A. Happ, out of all people, was the calm before the storm that is Felix Hernandez. J.A. Happ, out of all people, restored a little bit of order in the Mariners' universe, and the stage is set for King Felix to make all things right in the world again.
King Felix was put on this Earth to continually bail the Mariners out every time they needed someone to post bail. This is what he does. Felix does positive things like return the Mariners to .500. He wins the final game to take the series home. He yells and he screams when he strikes people out and overall makes you feel validated to be a Mariners fan. Last night, the Mariners beat the Athletics in extra-innings thanks to a display of power from Nelson Cruz, some solid pitching by J.A. Happ, a great cutoff throw by Brad Miller, and a huge overturned call going their way. Hopefully, today, the Mariners will only need power from someone and solid pitching by Felix Hernandez.
Hernandez was our opening day savior like we needed him to be. He is currently ranked No. 9 in xFIP in all of the Major Leagues at 1.59. Some people might say small sample size, but I have no problems referencing small sample sizes in a positive fashion. Lloyd McClendon is throwing out the lineup that screams in it to win it, although I don't think a lot of us thought Cruz would have opened the season playing four out of six games in right field. McClendon told us way back when that Cruz would see time in the field a couple of days a week. Currently, his math is completely backwards.
The A's are trotting out Jesse Hahn. You probably remember Hahn from not ver much because he made 14 starts for the San Diego Padres last season. Hahn came to the A's over the winter as one of 1,347 trades Billy Beane made this summer. He likes to strike guys out, which is a good habit for pitchers. He does that with a plus sinker and a plus curveball. He's faced the Mariners once before last season, and he bested Erasmo Ramirez, 4-1. But that Mariners lineup had people like Endy Chavez, James Jones and John Buck in its midst. Things are a bit different this time around.
Game info
- 1:05 PM PST
- TV: ROOT, Radio: 710 ESPN, online: mlb.tv