9/23/21: Open Game Thread

About that header image: in this, the year of J.P. Crawford consistently being delightful, one small thing that I enjoy is how the instant the final out is made in a Mariners victory, J.P. immediately untucks his jersey. It is extremely relatable to those of us who come home and immediately kick off our pinchy shoes/shuck off our Real Pants/fling our bras across the room, and just one other small thing I have come to love about John Paul Crawford.

Okay, that was the fun part of the thread, now the less-fun part. It’s a Kikuchi start day [pause for groans]. Man it is a bummer that that’s such a bummer of a sentence to type these days. Even worse, the A’s are running out Chris Bassitt, who is Very Good, so today kind of figures to be a less-fun day. But hey, three out of four ain’t bad, and as my main goal for this series was to Mess Up The A’s Playoff Chances, as they have so often played spoiler for the Mariners, I’m pretty happy regardless of today’s outcome.

You can find today’s game at 12:37 PT on all the usual suspects, ROOT Sports NW if you have daytime TV access and 710 ESPN if you’re riding around in your car, or follow along on MLB dot com if your boss isn’t a Mariners fan, to which I say, boo to your boss, you should probably quit.