7/1/2018: Open Game Thread

Welcome back! You may be experiencing some time traveling sickness after last night, so feel free to grab some starches and Pedialyte for the second Sweepsmas in the past four days. It’s also Nelson Cruz’s 38th birthday! It’s ALSO Canada Day! Unfortunately, with the Mariners reverting to more contemporary colors, we’ll sadly see Dee Gordon’s hat perform a 180 instead of further celebration.

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Odds are good the Mariners’ performance will not fade, however. James Paxton toes the rubber for the M’s today against the Royals’ ace (by results this year), Brad Keller. Keller is a rule-5 pick whose plucking from the Diamondbacks organization began with strong bullpen work and, without a single pitch in Triple-A, has included five increasingly solid starts over the past few weeks. Even with that potential, the Royals’ offense is, as we’ve seen, limited. Throughout the entire month of June they failed to win a single game in which their opponents scored more than one (1) run. Headed into an off-day tomorrow, the Mariners have their entire bullpen available to some degree, and can secure their 5th positive sweep of the season (or 6th, if you count the one game makeup against the Twins as its own series) this year! 2027 looked great, but 2018 has some wild things too.

Lineups!

Game Time: 1:10 PM PT

TV: ROOT NW

Radio: 710 KIRO Seattle, 750 KXTG Portland, 1040 TSN Vancouver B.C.,

Online: MLB.TV