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Baseball returns to Safeco Field after a short road trip that saw the Mariners put up a winning record (yay!) but fall to 7.5 games back in the race for the second Wild Card spot (boo!). Of course, at this point in the season, keeping track of Seattle's position in the playoff race is more or less academic. This is sad, but they've played like a bunch of bums so it's no less than they deserve. That, of course, doesn't mean that we will stop being frustrated with them when they do dumb things.
For example, tonight we get to watch Logan Morrison start against one of the better left-handed pitchers in MLB. Morrison has been utterly impotent when it comes to facing lefties in 2015: in 108 PA, his wRC+ is an ultra meager 30. I understand that Guti is feelin' bad today, which has prompted this disastrous decision, but Lloyd would almost certainly have been better off starting Seth Smith over LoMo and inserting Montero at 1B. Jack certainly handicapped this team's roster by acquiring Trumbo (both in terms of flexibility and quality), but Lloyd has been misusing his players all season. It's almost as if they're trying to do their best to make us not feel bad when they're both (deservedly) replaced before the beginning of next season. THANKS, GUYS.
As for the opposition, this'll be the first time that Cole Hamels has faced Seattle since he beat them last August during an interleague game between the Phillies and the M's. Hamels is currently signed through the 2018 season (at least), so this will likely be the first of many intradivision games that he starts against Seattle. He is good at pitching, so his coming to the AL West is kind of a bummer, but it'll be fun to see him battle against Nelson Cruz.
Go M's!