4/18: Open game thread for the one where they win again

Right now I'm reading a book called Cruel Optimism, and while its contents don't exactly translate to the point I'm going to make, boy tell me you've heard another phrase more endemic to the condition of following this godforsaken baseball team.

Thankfully, we also have a tradition of being given an exquisite grilled Reuben every five days between our usual diet of shit sandwiches, and the good news is that day falls on this very one! And to top it all off, said sandwich is getting a pretend-sized action figure of himself on this very day, which will hopefully be only one of many things different between 2015 and 2012.

It's still early, yes, and the Mariners have yet to give us anything beyond a few unexpected dingers and an army of troubling signs. But even the 2001 team lost four games in a row once, so you shouldn't get too upset about something with such a relative and fluctuating face value. Then again, I only know that statistic because I was convinced the 2001 Mariners went 3-7 over a stretch at least once during their 162 game season and well they didn't so uh, I guess I should stop doing things like that.

The lineup looks as you would expect, and thankfully Lloyd has given the right field job to Seth Smith over Nelson Cruz today, because we all watched the same baseball games as he did last week. This is where I'd say something snarky about Colby Lewis, except you know, we should probably get a few more wins under the belt before heading down that territory. Still a lot of ball to be played, and today is as good a day as any to right the shit. I mean, ship.

No, wait, the first one was right.

Game info

• Mariners vs Rangers, 6:10 PM PST
• TV: ROOT, MLB Network
• Radio: 710 ESPN, online: mlb.tv