7/31: Open Game Thread

Happy Félix/Trade Deadline Day! With the trade deadline past, it really feels like we are moving into the last part of the baseball season. Back-to-school ads are cropping up on local TV, and August, that summer month of Sundays, starts tomorrow. The Mariners begin their road trip from hell today, although this first leg of the trip (TEX, KC, OAK) isn’t as brutal as what the end of the trip will look like—at least, not travel-wise. The Mariners face two teams that were sellers at the trade deadline, meaning no Darvish and no Gray on this roadtrip, and one that’s one of the hotter teams in baseball. While I’m still pretty bearish on the possibility of the Mariners making any kind of stretch run, it will be interesting to see how the rotation shakes out moving forward, and if they can finally string enough wins together to get over .500 for good. Seemingly every time the Mariners have gotten hot this season, they’ve fallen on their faces. Here’s to not falling on your faces, guys.

Lineups!

Heredia gets the start in center, with Leonys manning right, bringing us oh-so-close to Isabelle’s dream of the All-Cuban Outfield. Maybe Ben Gamel will require a hydration break and we can run Ariel Miranda out there for an inning. Just spitballing here. The Mariners, as a team, have hit pretty well against Hamels. The Big Three have knocked him around especially hard on him, led by Robinson Canó and his three HR in 32 ABs. So, that probably means Carlos Ruiz is going 3-for-4 with a double and Guillermo will hit two HR. Baseball! It loves to make you look like a jerk. Ideally the Mariners will keep up their hot hitting and be able to spot Félix some runs as he pitches in the Playmobil castle known as Arlington Park.

Game info:

5:05 PST on FSSW, ROOTNW; on radio at 710 EPSN; and on MLB.tv.