Dustin Ackley Homers Twice In Loss
Apr 14, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Seattle Mariners left fielder Dustin Ackley (13) bats during the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
In his last plate appearance on Saturday, Dustin Ackley homered. In his first plate appearance on Sunday, Dustin Ackley homered. In his second plate appearance on Sunday, Dustin Ackley homered. This output helped raise his season line to .264/.331/.434, good for a 111 wRC+. Ackley has given the team positive value at the plate, on the bases, and in left field, somehow. His 0.7 WAR is second to Kyle Seager amongst position players on the team. While we were ignoring Ackley, he put together a nice stretch and all of a sudden another lost season doesn’t seem like a guarantee. Oh, and the Seattle Mariners played and lost. More on that now.
Roenis Elias allowed a grand slam in the second inning and that’s what’s second-most important to know about his outing. He went five innings with five strikeouts and a walk, which betters his already-awesome K/BB numbers, and that’s the most important piece of new information on the young starter. Elias got knocked around on an offense heavy day, but the underlying peripherals pointed, as they have so often lately, to a guy who is simply better than a number five. Grand slams suck, but aside from that (and the eight other hits he allowed) Elias looked good. Again. Maybe he’s good!
Seattle’s offense made a sloppy mess of Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie, who served up a Seager bomb in addition to the two by Ackley. Eight of nine starting position players got a hit, and the ninth, Ackley, had three. Brad Miller and James Jones had big doubles, though the team did only draw one walk (Justin Smoak). The M’s got three in the third, three in the fourth, and one in the fifth. They didn’t get anything later, because the Royals bullpen is better than the Royals rotation.
Danny Farquhar, of all people, served up the game for good, giving up four runs on two hits and two walks in an inning of work. The coffin was sealed by a three-run home run by made up imaginary second baseman Johnny Giavotella, and home runs by guys who don’t even exist are always the actual worst home runs. Farquhar’s ERA ballooned to 3.20 after that seventh inning, if you’re into that kind of stuff.
The homestand continues, as the Tampa Bay Rays are in town. They’ve been playing like crap lately, and one assumes that their goal is to stop playing like crap. Here to make sure that they keep playing like crap is Felix Hernandez, who faces off against Cesar Ramos at 7:10. I seem to remember this one game where Felix played the Rays at Safeco, but I can’t remember if anything special or exciting happened that day. Totally can’t remember if the game was any good, but it sure was one of the most beautiful days there’s ever been.