Willie Bloomquist, leadoff hitter. Research has shown that the number two spot is where you maybe should put your best hitter, so naturally that’s where the Mariners putEndy Chavez.Mike ZuninoDH’d in the three spot, the traditional place for the team’s best hitter.Justin Smoakand his .389 slugging percentage hit cleanup.Stefen RomeroandCole Gillespiejoined Chavez to form the starting outfield, withJohn Buckstarting behind the plate. That’s the mess that beat the Detroit Tigers by a score of 3-2.
That such a lineup got it done against an always-scary Tigers team is, of course, amazing. Bloomquist and Gillespie led the Mariners offense with two hits apiece, driving in all three runs in the process. The team only got one walk, but it was from Zunino. Zunino! Of all people.Nick Franklinstruck out three times while going hitless. Franklin’s batting .128, or three points higher than Chavez. This lineup, I tell ya.
Chalk this one up to another incredibleChris Youngperformance. He struck out a batter per each of his six frames, includingTorii Hunter(twice!) andMiguel Cabrera. Young walked only two and gave up only a Cabrera homer. The first batter of the seventh doubled, then scored on aDominic Leonewild pitch. You know what, I’m on board. Young’s good. Or if he’s not good, he’s at leastbeengood, from a results standpoint. Peripherals still tell us more about future performance, but guys have been known to pitch better or worse than their peripherals for extended periods of time. Seems Young’s doing that right now. Let the good times roll.
The rubber match comes today, withMax Scherzerscheduled to throw for the Tigers. Scherzer, you’ll recall, won theCy Youngaward just last season. So far he’s been essentially the same, just with a few more walks than usual (3.0 BB/9 vs. 2.89 for his career). His homers allowed, while still under his career average, are coming a little more frequently than last season, and so it’s safe to say he’s off his Cy Young pace, if only barely.Roenis Eliasstarts for the Mariners, and we all know all about him. A win today means the M’s take another series over a top team, which makes all that Astros business a little easier to stomach. More importantly, it means .500 again.
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