Mariners Game #62 Preview, 6/9/23: SEA at “LA”A

Hello from Seattle, where the weather has taken a turn back towards our familiar “June Gloom,” and the team has taken a turn back towards our familiar “June Doom.” After getting their clocks thoroughly cleaned by AL West rivals the Rangers last weekend, the Mariners hope to not repeat the cycle this weekend against the Angels.

It’s been a minute since the Mariners faced the Angels, who are for once not doing their very best to squander their two generational talents, so catch up with what’s been going on in Los Angeles Anaheim with today’s series preview, if you haven’t yet. (It contains a link to a recap I wrote that apparently referenced Sartre, bringing my number of recaps referencing depressing French philosophers to three, for this season. It is barely past the first week of June. Also, two of those were wins.) Tonight you will be treated to a Jake Parr recap, so even if the Mariners lose this battle of aces, trust that you’ll learn something from the ‘cap, even if it’s not wrested from a copy of Existential Philosophy for Dummies.

Today’s lineups:

Mike Ford gets the start over AJ Pollock for handedness reasons, I guess, although I’d sure rather see Pollock put up a moderately competitive at-bat than watch Ford flail through three straight splitters from Shohei. But hey, maybe everyone spent a little time on the splitter machine after their hopefully daily practice against the slider machine.

Injury updates:

• RHP Penn Murfee has been activated from the IL; as a corresponding move, Matt Festa has been optioned back to Tacoma.

Today’s game information:

Today’s game starts at 6:38 PT, because the Angels continue to be annoying with their start times. Just make it 6:40, you chuckleheads. As for the broadcast, today’s game is on Apple TV, which means 90% of the bars you might want to watch the game at won’t have it. Love to grow the game. Angels TV announcer Wayne Randazzo and Oakland-born former MLB pitcher Dontrelle Willis will have the national call, with Heidi Watney as sideline reporter. If you would like to keep your blood pressure in check I recommend simulcasting 710 AM Seattle Sports off your device of choice, where Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr. will give you analysis that actually mentions the Seattle Mariners once in a while.

Today in Mariners history:

Pickings are slim for today but here you go:

• 1999: Ken Griffey Jr. homers off the third deck façade in at Coors Field; at 478 feet, this is somehow only the sixth-longest homer in Coors Field history.
• 2014: Félix Hernández is named the American League Pitcher of the Week for the period ending June 8^th. Hernandez went 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA, one walk and 23 strikeouts in 14.0 innings over two starts to claim his second career weekly honor.
• 2021: Jake Fraley robs game-winning home run as Mariners beat Tigers in 11 innings.
• Look, I warned you the pickings were slim for today. Today is also the day the Mariners took Dustin Ackley second overall in the 2009 draft, but I’ve been leaving out all the first-round draft choice notes for this month, as they are mostly too depressing to contemplate.