Mariners Game #141 Preview, 9/9/23: SEA at TB

Yesterday’s loss and the postgame comments that followed were... not fun, to say the least. Thankfully, it seems to have already blown over.

But hey, if there’s any lingering ugliness, I can’t think of a better way to wash that away than a bounce back today!

Lineups:

As expected, Bryan Woo is skipping his scheduled start, with Seattle opting for a bullpen day of sorts. They’ll be using Trent Thornton as the opener for one, possibly two innings if everything goes near-perfectly, with Luke Weaver to follow as the bulk arm. Lineup-wise, the M’s are running out their usual squad against a righty, but Brian O’Keefe will get the start behind the dish - look for Cal Raleigh to come in for some pinch-hitting heroics should the need arise.

For the Rays, Yandy Díaz is getting the day off, but they’re still boasting a pretty scary lineup - and that’s without mentioning Aaron Civale, who will be on the mound today. Since coming over from the Guardians in a deadline deal, Civale has been electric across six starts, running a FIP of 2.28 and a diet George Kirby-esque 7.4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The saving grace, though, is that he hasn’t exactly gone deep into games, only reaching six innings once since coming over to the Rays. If the M’s bats can keep the pressure on and continue to take advantage of Civale underperforming his FIP (3.82 ERA in Tampa), they just might pull this one out, despite the mismatch on paper.

Game Info:

The silliness of East Coast road trip times continues, as today’s first pitch is at 1:05pm. You’ll be able to catch the game on ROOT Sports as per usual, with Dave Sims and Dan Wilson on the call, but if you don’t have access to ROOT or are in the blackout zone, you can also watch on FS1 nationally - Alex Faust, Tom Verducci, and Ken Rosenthal will be the broadcasting squad over there. For radio, turn your dial to 710 Seattle Sports, where Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith will call the action.

This Day in Mariners History:

• 2018: After scoring the game-winning run in the bottom of the 8th, Mitch Haniger sealed the 3-2 win over the Yankees with a diving catch out of right field for the final out of the game. Robinson Canó also drove in Haniger for his 6th game-winning RBI of the season.
• 2015: Vidal Nuño struck out a career-high ten batters while allowing just one hit over seven innings against the Rangers, earning the win. For Nuño, this snapped a twenty-start stretch without a win, and was his first since June 27th, 2014.
• 2011: Alex Liddi notched his first big league hit while Ichiro went 4-for-5 with a homer, as the M’s beat the Royals 7-3.
• 2001: Bret Boone broke Charlie Gehringer’s 67-year-old RBI record by an American League second baseman, knocking in his 128th run.