8/4: Open game thread

So here are the Mariners, limping through the final 1/3 of the season with the worst bullpen I remember them having this millennium. They are starting Jesus Sucre at catcher, who is possibly the worst hitter in this lineup; one that includes the pitcher, Vidal Nuno.

Oh, yes, that's right. Vidal Nuno, the only saving grace of the Welington Castillo-Mark Trumbo trade, makes his Mariner starting debut tonight. With Nuno making such sporadic appearances during his time in Seattle it's easy to forget that just last year he started 28 games and threw 160+ innings in the major leagues. Now they weren't particularly stellar innings, Nuno ran a 4.51 FIP after all. But there's a chance he can be a 4th or 5th starter in the major leagues. Given his cheapness and the fact that he's left-handed Nuno being a starting pitcher for Seattle would be a boon and go far to assuage the pain of the trade that brought him here.

Of course he picks a rough place to debut in Colorado and facing their highly touted prospect, big right-hander Jon Gray. Gray features a power fastball-slider combo with still developing command. If, and of course it's a big if, the Mariners can lay off the slider out of the zone they should theoretically be able to drive up Gray's pitch count and get some time against the Rockies bullpen.

Lastly if the Mariners win tonight it will be three wins in a row. The last time the Mariners won three games in a row was May 25-27 in a sweep of Tampa Bay. May. Three games. It is now August.

Win, ya scruffy looking nerf herders.

Game info

• Mariners @ Rockies, 5:40 PST, Coors Field
• TV: ROOT, Radio: 710 ESPN, Online: MLBTV