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First things first. Happy Felix Day everyone! Second thing -- happy birthday Mike Blowers. Here is my favorite moment of yours.
Alright, with that out of the way, we can get to discussing the Seattle Mariners closing out the homestand against the Minnesota Twins. The Twins and Mariners face off with both teams sitting at 6-9. The key difference is that the Twins are expected to be at 6-9, but most people expected a bit more from the Mariners.
It is way too early in the season to say that series are important, but the Mariners could really use a solid series here for a couple of reasons: 1) getting back to .500 would be nice, 2) the Twins really aren't that good, and 3) the Mariners are about to have 13-straight games in a row. That is right, the next day without Mariners baseball isn't until May 7.
So what better way to kick this all off then sending King Felix to the mound. The Mariners starters haven't exactly been a boon to the squad so far this year, but Felix is a little exempt from that small sample size. Hernandez is coming off a start in which he made the Texas Rangers look like they were a lineup completely made up of Josh Hamiltons, going seven innings and striking out 12 in the process. King Felix has enjoyed his time against the Twins, racking up a 2.08 ERA against Minnesota in 16 starts.
The Twins counter with Phil Hughes, who has had an unfortunate 0-3 start to the season. This isn't exactly the Phil Hughes the Twins thought they were rewarding with a big extension after his career 2014 season. Still, three games qualifies as too soon to panic, and Hughes hasn't exactly pitched poorly to open the season. His downfall has been the long ball combined with one of the more anemic offenses in MLB. The Twins as a team have a wRC+ of 68. Combined, they are hitting .228/.286/.321, have scored the fourth-least amount of runs in the league and have eight home runs as a team. To put that number into context, as we all know, Nelson Cruz has eight home runs.
Game info
- Mariners, Twins: 7:10 p.m. PST
- TV: ROOT Sports
- Radio: 710 ESPN
- Online: mlb.tv