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The Rockies are in town for the first time since July 2nd, 2006. The last time they visited Safeco Field, Jarrod Washburn got the start. He pitched seven 2-run innings, but picked up a no-decision after Putz blew the save and Julio Mateo picked up the loss in the 11th inning. Richie Sexson and Ichiro Suzuki each hit a home run for the M's. Rene Rivera was the starting catcher. Jeremy Reed went 0-5 while starting in center. Carl Everett, Roberto Petagine, Eduardo Perez, and Eddie Guardado were also humans who played for the Mariners. (It's been a little while since the Rockies came to Seattle.)
Fast-forwarding to today, Ketel Marte gets this evening's game off, which means that James Jones is playing in center field and batting leadoff. In his career, Jonesy has slashed a mean .194/.239/.254 with a wRC+ of 42 while batting first (143 PA), so you can definitely understand why Lloyd feels obligated to put him there. (At least he makes up for his lack of offense with superior defense, right? A UZR/150 of -29.3 in 700+ innings in the field is definitely good, yeah?) If he somehow manages to find himself on base (probably via a fielder's choice or error), I guess it'll be fun to see if he can swipe some bases? He is VERY good at that... if not much else.
On the other side of the ball, the Mariners have won six of Iwakuma's last seven starts. During that stretch, Kuma has an ERA of 2.98 and has averaged 7 IP per outing. Not too shabby. After a rough/injury-plagued start to his season, Hisashi Iwakuma has settled down and is once again pitching like Hisashi Iwakuma. Hopefully he's able to continue his string of good starts and perform well again tonight.
The Rockies are very bad at baseball. The Mariners should win tonight. Do it, M's!