Happy Felix Day: Mariners Look To Rebound From Shutout Loss

Josh Tomlin is in the midst of by far his best MLB season, and by “best” I mean “3.78 ERA.” Before this outing it was arguably still his best season yet, though yesterday his ERA started with a familiar four. Last night in Seattle, Tomlin held a lefty-heavy Mariners lineup to Kyle Seager‘s fifth-inning single and nothing else. He pitched a complete game with eleven strikeouts and no walks.

We always joke about this because this always happens. The most nameless pitchers can dominate the Mariners on any given night, and this was just another one of those nights. Tomlin’s been a bust for years, but then he faced the M’s and got to be the best pitcher in the world for one game. Phil Humber threw a perfect game against this team, remember. This just happens.

Roenis Elias was rocked for all five of the game’s earned runs over his six innings. He stuck out two while walking two, allowing a Yan Gomes homer and five other hits. His first inning started with a groundout, then went double-single-double for the first two runs. His fifth inning started with a strikeout, then went single-double-balk-sac fly for two more runs. Gomes homered in the sixth, Nick Swisher flew out, and that was it for Elias. And the Mariners, of course. So now it’s Felix Day. Happy Felix Day!

Felix Hernandez starts for the Mariners this afternoon, of course, and there’s a critical series win on the line. They’re all critical when a team is this close to the playoffs, of course, which is why this season feels a little bit more exciting than those 90-loss campaigns of years gone by. Made up imaginary guy T.J. House will be the King’s competition, and given how little we know about House it’s only fair to assume one thing: CGSO. Too soon?