Mariners Game #88 Preview: 7/8/23, SEA at HOU

Uh oh. This game is airing on FOX. I don’t love that since nationally televised games generally haven’t gone great for this era of Mariners baseball.

But on the other hand, they’ve got as much momentum as the 2023 team has had. As you may have heard, the Mariners won back-to-back games at the Juice Box for the first time since 2018. That 2018 series is one of my favorite series of all time: Edwin Díaz had recorded saves in the first three games and then when the Mariners were threatening to take the lead late in Game 4, he called the dugout and demanded to pitch if the Mariners took the lead. They did, and he recorded his fourth save in a row.

With a win today, the Mariners could set themselves up to try for another four-game sweep in Houston. But I think even if they leave town with a split, it’ll be hard to be too disappointed.

Bryan Woo has the ball for the boys in teal. And while the Astros are always a tough assignment—even without Álvarez and Altuve—it’s a decent matchup since the Astros are worse against the fastball than against breaking stuff.

Annoyingly, Framber Valdez will pitch for Houston. Swing low, boys.

Lineups

Photo credits: Robert Beck /Sports Illustrated, Bob Levey, Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire, Carmen Mandato, all via Getty Images

With the lefty Valdez on the mound for the Astros, Tom Murphy, AJ Pollock, and Dylan Moore will get starts while Cal Raleigh, Jarred Kelenic, and Kolten Wong sit. I like seeing DMo in the lineup because his high fly-ball rate is a good match for Valdez.

Game Info

First Pitch: 4:15 PT
TV: FOX (Joe Davis and John Smoltz (you’ll spare us all of a lot of grief if you just get off of his lawn before the game even starts) with Ken Rosenthal on the sidelines). If your local FOX affiliate is broadcasting Braves/Rays, you should be able to watch on mlb dot tv
Radio: 710 ESPN and mariners dot com (Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill, Jr.)

This Day In Mariners History

• 1982 - Bruce Bochte successfully pulls off the hidden ball trick against Rich Dauer in the 7th inning of 4 - 3 win against the Baltimore Orioles (I couldn’t find video)
• 1989: With the bases loaded and one out in the 11th, Dave Valle barely beats out a double play, which allows the walk-off run to score
• 1994: Alex Rodriguez makes his MLB debut in a game in which the Mariners hit into the ninth unassisted triple play in MLB history. Watching Dave Niehaus and Ron Fairly figure it out in real time is incredible

• 1997: Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Edgar Martinez are all starters at the All-Star Game; Randy strikes out Craig Biggio and Barry Bonds, Edgar hits a home run off Greg Maddux (and is later caught stealing(?))
• 2001: The Mariners climb to 63-24 with a 9-2 win over the Dodgers in which Aaron Sele records the only RBI of his career
• 2021: Logan Gilbert gives the finest performance of his rookie year—7 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 8 K vs. the Yankees
• 2022: Game 6 of the win streak, wherein Eugenio Suárez hits the first walk-off home run of his career

Pregame Discussion Poll

Second poll, abusing my authority as the preview writer, just because I’m personally curious about this