Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
There are a lot of talented baseball players on the roster of the Seattle Mariners. They have the talent to win a lot of games. The fact that they haven’t is a bit of a mystery to me but it is at least clear that they haven’t been able to put a winning formula on the field all that often. They have had some injuries to be sure and that has certainly had an effect on their play. Though there are some good signs in their play they also have some clear holes in their games of late. All of that should be able to be overcome in their three-game set against the Oakland Athletics.
In the American League West there is only one team to think of as the best. The A’s have played better than anyone else and run down the Texas Rangers to take the division lead and then stretch it quickly as well to a few games. In the midst of that run they have shown the ability to win games in any manner of ways. For the next three games however they might find it more difficult that some think to beat a team they lead by nearly twelve games in the division.
Joe Saunders looked good early in the game opener. Saturday the M’s have “King” Felix Hernandez going for them and on Sunday they will turn the ball over to Hisashi Iwakuma. We all know about Hernandez who is dominant more times than not. Saunders is a solid guy that can shut down teams now and then. Iwakuma has been decent lately. Well, that is if you consider a 29 scoreless inning streak decent. I consider it dominant.
Considering the other two guys ability and Iwakuma finding it apparently offensive to give up earned runs anymore, the Mariners have a real chance to take two of three at the very least in this series and show a little bit of what they know they can do. We’ll see what happens.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.
