Mariners Moose Tracks, 5/9/21: Sam Carlson, Alex Cobb, Wander Franco, ratcoons

I don’t know about you, but whenever the Mariners lose in a disappointing fashion the night before a day game, I wake up like this:

I mean, to be fair, I basically always wake up like one of the three Sanderson Sisters, but usually it’s a little more good-natured Mary than the wicked Winifred. Anyway, on to the witchy links:

In Mariners news:

• All was not doom and gloom around the franchise last night as the affiliates were an Arkansas bullpen meltdown away from a perfect 4-for-4. Some highlights: Brandon Williamson got the start for Everett, striking out nine batters over four innings, and friend of the site Jarod Bayless earned the save. Everett shut out a talented Hillsboro Hops team, 3-0; Julio had a double, Zach DeLoach tripled, and catcher Carter Bins had a two-hit night. In Modesto, Sam Carlson made his first start since 2017, and his first with a full-season affiliate, and struck out seven in four innings. Noelvi Marte had a two-hit night in Modesto’s 5-2 win over the A’s affiliate, the Stockton Ports. And Jarred Kelenic had another two hits in another decisive win for Tacoma, 9-4. Check out all the day’s box scores here.

Programming note: our minor-league roundup, The Midshipman’s Log, will return this week, in some form. With affiliates switching over to a six-game series schedule (but some of those series ending on different days), we need to figure out what makes sense as a publishing schedule, but rest assured, it will return.

• You might have noticed if you checked out the Rainiers game last night that Hector Santiago pitched the first four innings for Tacoma, giving up no runs and striking out seven, which is how I found out the Mariners signed Hector Santiago. At this rate expect to see him in Seattle by Monday.

In Former Mariners news:

Staff Dae-Ho Lee appreciator Eric about flipped his lid over this one:

Around the League:

• The Angels placed Alex Cobb on the 10-day IL with a blister.
• The Rays announced Mariner-in-my-heart Chris Archer has been transferred to the 60-day IL with right lateral forearm tightness. Someday, Chris. There’s a place for us. Someday.
• Speaking of people I wish were Mariners, Padres prospect (and my favorite draft prospect in the 2020 draft) Robert Hassell III, in his first 21 professional PAs, has six hits, including two doubles, a triple, and two HR. He’s also walked twice. If you happen to have access to the California League (I refuse to call it Low-A West), get an eyeful of him while you can, because he won’t be there long.
• There were some bonkers games last night, and you can read the recaps at our fellow SBN sites, like how the Dodgers almost blew the biggest lead in MLB history to the Angels, of all teams; Atlanta pulling out an extra-innings win over NL East rival Philadelphia; the Gurriel brothers facing off....truly, it is such a treat to have all this baseball, and I really don’t take for granted having all these fun storylines to follow when at this time last year the most baseball exposure I had was trying to learn how to keep my infielders in MLB The Show from throwing the ball into their own faces.
• Speaking of storylines, if you were following the Mets pseudo-drama between Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil (I say rat, you say raccoon), you’ll be happy to know all seems well on that front:

• The Durham Bulls aren’t technically in the big leagues, but I feel like you probably want to see Wander Franco crushing this baseball anyway:

Your weekly bird content:

Your bird twitter thread of the week is this one, in which a daughter painstakingly chronicles a group of California Condors that have taken up residence on her mom’s deck. The birds have made a huge mess, but since they’re a protected species, there’s only so much that can be done to shoo the birds away. There’s also a cute interview with the mom in question, who says with typical mom-wisdom and just a touch of ominousness: “They leave when they want to.”