4/24/2022: Open Game Thread

How is Ty France supposed to top a 5-hit day? How is JP Crawford supposed to top hitting two home runs in three days? How am I supposed to top Addie’s recap? These questions and more will be answered this afternoon.

Salvador Perez is DHing today for Kansas City; his X-rays came back negative after he got hit on the hand last night. While I wish for the Mariners’ sake he could have gotten a day off to recover, I’m glad he’s OK because baseball is much better with Salvador Perez in it. Carlos Hernández gets the start for the City of Fountains, and I suggest the Mariners try to take advantage of that because they may have trouble scoring in the later innings. Scott Barlow hasn’t pitched since Wednesday and the Royals have tomorrow off, so Mike Matheny may try to get him some work no matter what the score.

On the Mariners side, it’s Ray Day. I’ll be monitoring (1) his fastball, which is down two and a half ticks from his Cy Young campaign, (2) how his butt looks in the cream Sunday alternates, and (3) how much of Aaron Goldsmith’s commentary is about Ray’s grunting.

If you’ve got time before the game, I will again link to Addie’s recap, which warrants two plugs in the same post, and Bren’s piece on Julio’s eighth inning walk. I’ve seen literally hundreds of thousands of pitches, and after thinking about it for a day, I cannot recall ever seeing a guttsier take in my life.

First pitch: 1:10 Pacific

TV: Root Sports (Goldy and Blow), or, if you’ve got MLB TV, I also recommend checking out the Royals broadcast. The trick to enjoying the Royals broadcasts is to understand that Ryan Lefebvre thinks that Rex Hudler is an idiot, but Rex has no idea. (I say this with love—I named my goldfish after Rex Hudler.)

Radio: 710 with Gary Hill Jr. and Ryan Rowland-Smith on the call—a rare combo, and a great excuse to do some Sunday baseball on the radio.

Number of game threads we’ll need: That’s up to you, the reader.