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Hark! You there! Yes, you! Have you heard the news? The Seattle Mariners have become fun again! It’s been a long road, as meandering and pockmarked as a prepubescent wandering through a middle school hallway, but we got there.
Jarred Kelenic is up. Logan Gilbert is up. And tonight, Yusei Kikuchi pitches. The same Yusei Kikuchi that just six days ago struck out 11 Dodgers in fewer than seven innings. In the words of the incomparable Joshamee Gibbs from Pirates of the Caribbean: I smell a change in the winds, says I.
After beating Shane Bieber in a game that they had no business winning, the Mariners will now face a Detroit Tigers team that is, in a word, putrid.
Lineups!
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Would the presence of the final four members of this Mariner lineup normally fill me with a feeling of ennui so intense that I would feel like walking straight into Puget Sound? Absolutely. Does having Jarred Kelenic at the top of the order more than make up for it? Absolutely.
With that being said, I sure hope that Yusei Kikuchi can go deep into this one.
The decision to call up Brady Lail is due to multiple relievers being unavailable to pitch today. Lail has the ability to give Seattle at least two innings if needed.
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) May 17, 2021
Guessing that Graveman, Swanson, Montero, Sewald and Misiewicz won't be available.
I’m sure Brady Lail is a perfectly nice young man. I hope he doesn’t have to pitch tonight, though he’s been perfectly serviceable in Tacoma so far this year.
Game time: 7:10 PM PST
TV: Root Sports NW
Radio: 710 AM ESPN Seattle
Streaming: MLB.tv