7/6: Open game thread

Mondays after three-day-weekends can be rough, but (just in case you've yet to hear this) here is some baseball-related good news:

#Mariners option OF James Jones to Triple-A Tacoma after game to clear space for RHP Hisashi Iwakuma to be activated Monday from DL.

— Bob Dutton (@TNT_Mariners) July 6, 2015

Hooray!

As for today's game, Iwakuma is returning from a lengthy DL stint. He looked not great in three games back in April, and while some of his struggles may have been tied to his injury, it might be a bit unrealistic to assume that Iwakuma will manage to return to the 2013/early-2014 version of himself. (These expectations are particularly unfounded for tonight.) Look for Iwakuma to have a fairly light pitching load as he takes the last step to round himself back into shape and grind away the last bit of rust off of his pitching arm. While it's entirely possible that he'll put up a vintage Iwakuma performance (~7 IP, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 ER), it's probably more likely that he runs into a little bit of trouble tonight; even without Miguel Cabrera, Detroit has a pretty potent lineup. Hopefully the M's can muster some run support (Alfredo Simon is not very good) and get Kuma his first win since September 26th, 2014.

Game info:

• Mariners vs Tigers, 7:10 PM PST
• TV: ROOT
• Radio: 710 ESPN
• Online: MLB.tv
• Additional note: A reminder that Lloyd McClendon will not be managing the Mariners during this series against the Tigers due to a death in his family. Trent Jewett will be managing the team in McClendon's absence