Mariners Game #118 Preview, 8/14/23: SEA at KCR

The title of today’s series preview got me thinking: did you ever do a cake walk? We used to have them at my school’s Halloween Carnival. You’d walk around while music played, stop on a number, and if your number got picked you’d get A WHOLE CAKE, or maybe a least a dozen cupcakes or brownies or something, that you got to choose off a big table loaded down with treats. I just remember being absolutely flabbergasted as a kid when my number came up and I’d get to pick out the most beautifully decorated cake on the table. It felt obscenely easy for such a generous payoff, which I guessed was where the origin of the phrase came from, but no! The cakewalk has its roots in Black communities on plantations, pre- and post-Emancipation, and the use of “cakewalk” as a term for something easy or effortless came from the exaggeratedly graceful and fluid steps of the dance. There was still a cake given as a prize, though, because cake always makes a good prize.

The Mariners today start a lengthy, late-season road trip that, with apologies to my esteemed colleague Jake, will definitely will not be a cakewalk, because nothing done in the oppressive humidity of a Midwest summer is easy, not even playing the Royals.

Well, looking at these matchups, maybe playing the Royals. On paper, at least, the Mariners have the much more impressive squad; we’ll see if that’s the squad that shows up tonight.

Tonight’s game information:

Today’s game starts at 5:10 PT, because Midwest, and can be found on ROOT Sports NW, where Dave Sims and Aaron Goldsmith will have the call. If you’re panicking over the next week-plus wondering where Angie is, no worries: she’s taking a well-deserved family vacation. Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr. will have the radio call on 710 AM Seattle Sports.

Today in Mariners history:

• 2000: Edgar Martinez ties a career-high with 113 RBI; he would end up with 145 RBI on the season.
• 2012: Eric Thames delivered a 2-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Mariners a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. American League save leader and future Mariners Fernando Rodney blew just his 2nd save of the season.
• 2017: Thyago Vieira made his Major League debut, becoming the 4^th Brazilian-born player to appear in a Major League game and just the second Brazilian-born pitcher.