7/31/21: Open Game Thread

I talked about this on the podcast the other week but do people really not know the knuckle trick for remembering which months have 30 vs. 31 days? Personally I find the rhyme hard to remember (who starts counting the year in September?) whereas knuckles are easy: start with January on the big knuckle of your right hand, then the next dip is February; tap the smallest knuckle twice for July and August and count back to finish the year. So easy! Anyway that’s a long-winded way of saying I had to check myself on whether or not today was still July or August. Judging from the weather outside my window, it’s mid-October. It’s 100 and sunny with 34% humidity in Arlington, TX right now, but luckily none of that matters because there’s a roof and air-conditioning in Tuff Shed Stadium now.

Here’s how the Mariners and Rangers match up today:

Tyler Anderson will be making his first start as a Mariner and the Rangers are greeting him with a most righty-heavy lineup. Side note, did we all notice Nate Lowe has chosen to be Nathaniel now? Well, it might not have been his choice, exactly:

Don’t mess with Texas, but more importantly don’t mess with the moms of Texas Rangers.

Cal Raleigh is back in the lineup today and will have the challenge of catching a brand-new pitcher, and Abraham Toro gets another start at second base.

For the Rangers, tonight’s scheduled starter was Kyle Gibson, who was of course dealt to the Phillies with Ian Kennedy and pitching prospect Hans Crouse for a prospect return headlined by RHP Spencer Howard (#27 in the Top 100 on MLB Pipeline) along with two other pitching prospects. The Rangers will be rolling with Taylor Hearn instead, who made a brief start against the Astros last week (three no-hit innings). I like Taylor Hearn a lot and wish very much he didn’t pitch for an in-division rival, forcing me to root against his success. That sucks. The only good thing about playing the Astros is I find most of their squad villainous to some degree and can indulge in letting the hate flow freely.

Tonight’s game starts at 4:05 PT, because Texas, and can be seen on ROOT Sports NW, heard on 710 ESPN or the MLB app, and streamed on MLB dot TV, although it is not a juicy enough matchup to draw the free game of the day nod. If you do have MLB TV, the rest of the AL West is already underway (A’s vs. Angels, Astros vs. Giants) if you, like me, care to engage in a nice tall glass of haterade.