Mariners Game #60 Preview, 5/6/23: SEA at SDP

The Mariners and Padres were supposed to be two big-time players in the playoffs hunt this year; instead their seasons so far are more like that camp song “Going on a Bear Hunt”: bad, overly long, and ultimately pointless. My bad breaking open that weirdly pulsating amulet I picked up at a Phoenix thrift store at the Peoria Sports Complex this spring, everybody. It’s Logan Gilbert day, though, and he has a tendency to play the role of stopper when the team is circling the drain—although Luis Castillo did that on Friday night in Texas, and his reward was a big old goose egg on the scoreboard from the offense.

Lineups:

The lineups graphic was incomplete today, obviously the Padres’ fault, so instead you’re getting some good old-fashioned Twitter lineups, assuming the penny-farthings currently powering the site are still being pedaled furiously by their Victorian-era strongmen. First up, the Mariners:

Booooo, atPadres. A boring old SEA pun over a Vedder Cup reference? Natural rivals jokes? Something even more off the wall? Let’s lean into this a little. It’s literally all we have.

News:

• The Mariners have reinstated both RHP Andrés Muñoz and UTIL Dylan Moore from their IL stints. As corresponding moves, Trevor Gott has been placed on the 15-day IL, and Sam Haggerty has been optioned to Tacoma.
• Speaking of Tacoma, their rotation is all kinds of banged up right now, with depth options Tommy Milone and José Rodríguez both on the IL, so Bryan Woo will remain in the rotation for now while Marco is out.

Today’s game information:

Tonight’s game starts at 6:40 from lovely San Diego, which apparently suffers the same curse as Seattle in that the devil’s bargain for all the beautiful weather we have in the summers is paid for by consistently disappointing baseball. Dave Sims returns to the TV side to call the game on ROOT Sports NW, with Aaron Goldsmith; Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr. will call the game for the radio broadcast on 710 AM Seattle Sports.

Today in Mariners history:

• 1993: The most famous brawl in Mariners history (at least until the brawl with the Angels of 2022 emerges as a contender) occurs in Baltimore. The brawl lasted 20 minutes and ended with seven players total being ejected.

• 2016: The Mariners are already a disappointing and lousy team to watch, but a rookie reliever named Edwin Díaz makes an electrifying MLB debut against Cleveland, recording his first strikeout while hitting 101 mph and waking up a sleepwalking fanbase, who gave him a standing ovation. Get well soon, Sugar.
• 2021: Logan Gilbert sets a career high with seven strikeouts and earns his first career win, a 9-5 win over the Angels. Here’s hoping today has a little extra magic for Walter.
• 2022: 6/6 is a day for fights, apparently. An ugly point in the Mariners-Astros rivalry when Hector Neris hit Ty France in the top of the 9^th inning and the benches clear, and a beautiful point in the Julio Rodríguez ROY campaign when he restrains Neris from the fight, only so he can hit a go-ahead homer off him three pitches later.