8/20/18: Open Game Thread

I don’t know about you, but I sure would like it if the Seattle Mariners won their baseball game tonight. It’d be real neat if they could put a little win streak together, maybe at the same time as the Oakland A’s collapse into a sinkhole, then make the playoffs, get hot, win their first championship, and finally return the unrequited love I’ve shown them for the entirety of my existence.

Is that too much to ask?

Of course, the first domino in that faltering Rube Goldberg machine of a plan is to win tonight. This is no easy task, as the Mariners face Carrot Gerrit Cole and the defending champs. Tonight marks the start of Seattle’s second straight series against a 2017 World Series participant, and second of three consecutive matchups with a playoff team from last season.

The M’s have beaten Houston four times in a row, and each of the last two times they faced Cole. While the ‘Stros were sans-Springer for the recent four-game set, the Mariners were also without one of their outfielders. Tonight, he returns. The man who is there for you any time of day, whether AM or PM, providing too much good stuff at every step of the way.

Lineups

First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: Root Sports NW, mlb.TV for out-of-market viewers

Radio: 710 ESPN, MLB At-Bat app