5/8/21: Open Game Thread

If Wednesday’s no-hit affair was a nadir of the season, yesterday was a healing salve. Climbing back from multiple deficits? J.P. Crawford hitting his first homer of the year? Kendall Graveman doing Kendall Graveman things? All awesome to see. The good times will hopefully keep rolling tonight.

It’ll be another bullpen day for the Mariners, with Erik Swanson slated to go two innings, with one of Ljay Newsome or Robert Dugger following for the bulk. Although the Rangers activated Khris Davis (yeah, he’s in Texas now) from the injured list this afternoon, he isn’t in the starting lineup, although with Justus Sheffield going tomorrow, we should see him then. J.P. is once again in the fifth spot of the lineup, and if he can replicate or come close to his excellent performance last night, he might stay there for a while yet. Seattle’s lineup is the same as yesterday’s, save Luis Torrens catching and Sam Haggerty patrolling left field, so we might see some more adventures in that corner. The Rangers counter with Kohei Arihara, who they signed from NPB in December. Arihara’s had a homer problem in his first six big league starts, and his Savant page shows a whole lot of blue, which should bode well for the bats. His slider and splitter aren’t slouches, though, so if they can pounce on his fastball, they should be in good shape.

Game Time: 4:05pm PDT

TV: ROOT Sports NW, MLB.tv

Radio: 710 ESPN Seattle, MLB At Bat