5/8: Open game thread

The Mariners will be looking to take the series against the Astros this afternoon as they send Hisashi Iwakuma to the mound to face Astros righty Collin McHugh, who has been having quite the interesting year pitching for the as-of-yet-unnamed team which currently sits at the cellar of the AL West.

After putting up solid back-to-back 3-4 win seasons, which he is again about on pace for, McHugh has never quite done the same thing twice. In 2014 it was strikeouts, averaging just over 9 K/9 with a sexy 3.11 xFIP to go along with it. In 2015 he dropped the Ks but threw 50 more innings than a year before, raising his groundball rate up to 45% and being a solid member of an Astros rotation that took its team into the postseason despite all odds to the contrary. Now he's rolling out a .411 BABIP with a ridiculously inflated ERA and a tendency to give up dingers at a higher rate than he has since 2013. He hasn't even thrown 30 innings yet, but also, I heard that somebody is currently in last place can you tell me who I just don't know, Kenner, maybe you know, please, someone tell me.

So make a cup of coffee and settle down for what will be either a boring burner or a lead-padder, a game in which adults in funny uniforms swing pink sticks at balls and then notice afterwards their bank accounts have $970k more in it than when they woke up that morning. Go biz, indeed. Go biz, indeed.

PS: call your mom

Game info

• Mariners @ Astros, 11:10 AM PDT
• TV: ROOT
• Radio: 710 ESPN
• Online: mlb.tv