Mariners lose 5-4, just the facts with David R. Skiba

The Seattle Mariners lost 5-4 to the Detroit Tigers in a Major League Baseball game.  They had zero hits in fourteen attempts with runners in scoring positions.  A runner in scoring position is any player occupying second or third base as defined by baseball.  Here are just the facts, fourteen of them, accompanied by some helpful tips in the yard.

This would have been a compressed image of Dustin Ackley hitting a two-run home run to tie the game in the bottom of the 4th inning.  Due to things, instead you get this.

1.  Today the Mariners went 0-14 with RISP.

Soil is composed of three parts - silt, clay, and sand.  Clay-loam soils are typically more desirable for agriculture in a Mediterranean climate.

2. The Mariners left 11 men on base.

Raised bed gardening can be an effective means of increasing production per plant by means of retaining higher soil temperatures and increasing microbial communities over a smaller area.

3. Dustin Ackley has a wRC+ of 139 since June 1st (50 PAs).

A key component of any soil structure, and thus your raised beds, is drainage.  Soil depth is key for many plant types, yet not imperative for all vegetables.  What is very important however is soil oxygen content.  Soil must be able to aerate and thus have open space for roots occupy and obtain nutrients between particles.  Waterlogged soil leads to a mangrove.  You are not growing fruits in a mangrove.  Increase soil aeration by mixing in stones of various sizes to your raised-bed soil.

4. Mike Zunino was HBP today, his third of the year.  Last season Mike Zunino had 17 HBP.  This season, so far, Mike Zunino has 17 walks.

Speaking of drainage, one interesting way to take water off of a space with bad drainage is the installation of a French drain.  A French drain can be created quite easily by digging a trench that is two-to-two and a half feet deep and filling the first 10 or so inches with 1-inch gravel, installing the French drain, covering the drain with another near-foot of 1-inch gravel, laying filter paper on top of the gravel, and then filling in the top of the trench with soil.  A French drain has holes bored in to the pipe, and is placed with the holes facing down in the trench.  Direct the water to a dryer spot of your garden.

5.  Jesus Sucre has a batting average that matches the number I wore playing college football.  I was a running back.

A really simple way to keep slugs off of your produce is by laying down a 1/2" copper wire.  The electricity from this wire will shock the slugs, keeping them from the area you have encircled.  This wire must be cleaned occasionally, as with enough dirt build-up, these wires lose their ability to produce a shock.

6.  Jesus Sucre, of 470 position players with 25 PAs, has the lowest BA of all of them (.038).

Water when the sun is least intense during the day, morning is best, the stomata of the plant are still closed and thus not performing gas exchange.  This means that evapotranspiration is not occurring at a rapid rate and thus the water will be more firmly held and for longer duration within the plant.

7.  The .205 BA with RISP for the Mariners is the lowest team average with RISP since at least 1999.

In the first year of growing strawberries, flowering bodies should be pinched off to increase nutrients retained by the plant as opposed to the fruit.  By allowing the strawberry plant to retain nutrients in the first season, a much more vigorous harvest will be had for years to come.

This would have been an image of Mark Trumbo's three hits, none of which came with RISP.

8.  Jesus Sucre became just the eighth Mariner to record two sacrifice hits in a game in the last ten years.

Hay-bale gardening is a current trend that can also increase yields and is as simple as planting straight in to bales of hay.  Daily watering and fertilizing can create a garden that not only was simple to install, but per-square foot, is more productive than what can be done by planting straight in to the ground.

9.  Dustin Ackley recorded his first outfield assist since August 1, 2014.

A video of Dustin Ackley's outfield assist.

Grapes can be grown without any watering in areas that receive more than 10 inches of water per year.  Simply planting the vine in a deep hole with five gallons of water will be enough to grow the vine for its entire life without influence from irrigation.

10.  J.A. Happ went 4-plus innings and threw this pitch to Jefry Marte who hit it a long way in the 4th inning.

Grinding used egg shells in to the soil can be an important calcium boost for your crops.  Calcium is one of the most-important nutrients for healthy late-season production in crops.

11.  This is the last batter J.A. Happ threw to in the 5th inning.

Lettuce can be extremely susceptible to sunburn.  Having a screen for the crop to take off the midday sun can keep lettuce viable longer as the season goes on.

12.  The Mariners are now 24-11 (.686) when scoring 4+ runs in 2015.  They were 67-12 (.848) when doing the same in 2014.

"Forking" your garden is not just a trick that the local hooligans will do to piss you off.  Placing plastic forks in your soil will keep birds and other pests (your dog) from walking through your rows and ruining your hard work!

13.  Nelson Cruz now has 2 fWAR on the season after three walks today.

An image of Nelson Cruz walking

A really neat way to increase production of a potato plant is to grow it in a barrel/tire/anything tubular.  Every time you see the greens of the potato poke through the soil, place more dirt on top of the plant.  This will result in more tubers, thus more potatoes.

14. Nelson Cruz has the highest WPA among Mariners hitters (4.58) and the next highest belongs to Brad Miller (0.52).  Non-Nelson Cruz Mariners position players have combined for a WPA of -5.58.

Hops are ripe when the yellow pollen (lupulin) comes off on your hands when you touch the hop cones.  Harvest them.  Make beer.  Drink that while watching the Mariners and you will like them more.  Works for me.

An image of me crying in to a beer.