8/18: Open game thread

Here we go again with the Mariners playing the very hot Texas Rangers in very hot Globe Life Stadium. In high school I played in a baseball tournament in DFW in August. After every defensive inning you would do nothing but sit in the dugout and silently drink water. At one point after being dumb kids and sneaking out of our hotel in the middle of the night I remember seeing a thermometer that said 91 degrees. This was a 1:40 AM. Dallas is hot, and I do not understand why people live there.

Anyway Hisashi Iwakuma is making his first start since his no-hitter. Man, that sure was fun and whoah boy has nothing been fun since. It will be interesting to see how many pitches the Mariners let Iwakuma throw as his last two starts rank 1-2 in pitches thrown for his career. The Mariners need their starters to churn some innings, no doubt. But I cannot imagine a pending free agent like Iwakuma is too thrilled about the team grinding him to dust in the final months of a losing season.

The Mariners will have a lineup full of professional baseball players of diverse skills and value. Some of them I like. Some of them I don't particularly care for. It would sure be nice to see a win that didn't involve a blown 7 run lead for the first time in a week.

Win, ya worn out guitar strings.

Game info

• Mariners @ Rangers, 5:05 PST, Globe Life Park
• TV: ROOT, Radio: 710 ESPN, Online: MLBTV