Mariners Game #110 Preview, 8/4/23: SEA at Anaheim

The Mariners, thanks to Carlos Estevez momentarily forgetting where the strike zone is and Cade Marlowe’s Cinderella moment, cleared the first hurdle of this series last night, despite Shohei Ohtani’s best efforts, in a game where FanGraphs favored the Angels to win almost 60/40. Today Shohei can only hurt them at the plate, but things don’t get easier for the Mariners hitters, who have to contend with lefty Reid Detmers, whose strikeout rate of 29.3% is sixth-best in the majors.

Lineups:

MLB.com

As you’d expect, Seattle is deploying a righty-heavy lineup to start out against the lefty Detmers.

Detmers’s much-ballyhooed curveball didn’t turn out to be quite the weapon prospect evaluators thought it would be in the bigs, but it’s played back up recently as he’s amped up his slider to be a whiff-getting weapon, making this an especially tough matchup, as sliders have been kryptonite for Mariners hitters this season. Detmers can struggle to command the zone, so batters would be well-advised to try to lay off his secondaries and look for the fastball, which can get hit hard. Righties should also be looking for his changeup, which he throws exclusively to right-handed hitters; it’s a terrible pitch that’s gotten pasted, so he only throws it as a get-me-over pitch or to steal a strike.

Tonight’s game info:

Tonight’s game starts at 6:38 PT and will be televised on ROOT Sports NW, with Dave Sims and Aaron Goldsmith on the call. It will also be broadcast on 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

The series will continue tomorrow, with the game starting a half-hour earlier (6:07 PT, so actually thirty-one minutes earlier? I hate the Angels so much) as George Kirby takes on anther lefty in Tyler Anderson. Sunday’s series finale begins at 1:07 PT with Bryce Miller against Chase Silseth.

Today in Mariners history:

• 1979: Ruppert Jones hits a pop foul that stuck in a speaker above the first base dugout. It was ruled a strike.
• 1980: The Maury Wills Managerial Era begins in Seattle. The Maury Wills Managerial Era would end May 6, 1981, at a record of 26-56.
• 2005: A 19-year-old named Félix Hernández makes his MLB debut. Exactly seven years later, he would celebrate by throwing a two-hit shutout in Yankee Stadium for a 1-0 win.