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Been a while since we faced Seattle - I know this, because we didn't have a logo on file for the Mariners and had to go searching for one. Turns out it's almost three years, and the last time didn't go too well for the Diamondbacks in June 2006, as we got swept at Chase, losing the three games by a combined margin of 25-12. That's been the only meeting of these two sides since 2001, so not much of a track record there.
The Mariners have obviously more experience of Garland, with his time in the American League, and it's mostly not gone well for our guy. Of the four Seattle players with twenty or more PAs against him, they're all batting at least .291, and it goes up from there to Yuniesky Betancourt's .450 [9-for-20]. Ichiro is hitting .378 [17-for-45], and that's when he wasn't being tickled by Ken Griffey - see the Fanshot if you don't have a clue what I'm talking about. In contrast, Eric Byrnes is the only Diamondback with more than three PAs against Washburn: he's 10-for-37, but the last of those was the 2006 series mentioned above, so little recent form either.
Garland has struggled of late, going 0-5 with a 6.67 ERA in his last five starts. He has been somewhat unlucky - three of those losses were quality outings, and he's averaged three runs of support per game in that time - but he has been walking too many people. However, last time was an improvement, with only one free pass in seven innings, and we'll look to see that continuing. Of course, be nice if we could rack up another dozen runs or so, though doing that three times in a row been done less than a dozen times in the past fifty years, so I'm not expecting it.
Spent most of the day packing. Again. Well, actually clearing out the barn, and we took 398 lbs of old invoices over to the recycling company for shredding and processing. We'll be going paperless from now on, I think. But I do feel that there is now light at the end of the tunnel - even if it is largely blocked by a large pile of boxes... Expect to be about for most of this, one way or another.
And we might just see a familiar face - to the extent that he seems to be stalking us - because the Mariners just claimed former Diamondbacks Josh Wilson off waivers from the Padres. I guess Seattle will be ok if they run out of bullpen arms tonight...
Lineup
- Felipe Lopez DH
- Stephen Drew SS
- Justin Upton RF
- Mark Reynolds 3B
- Gerardo Parra CF
- Tony Clark 1B
- Eric Byrnes LF
- Miguel Montero C
- Ryan Roberts 2B + Jon Garland/P
Oh, joy: Tony Clark's back, with his .179 batting average. I haven't heard yet who is been moved off the roster, but one would presume it's likely Josh Whitesell. No Chris Young in the line-up either: I am presuming this is precautionary, after his groin tweaked, but I am also worried by the absence of Chris Snyder behind the plate. And also potentially extremely bad news on the Brandon Webb front. According to Nick Piecoro:
Webb is back in
to undergo an MRI as they determine if he might need to undergo surgery... The stiffness and soreness have persisted, hence the additional MRI to determine if it’s more serious -- if it’s a labrum or rotator cuff issue. If that’s the case and it requires surgery, it would give the club pause about picking up his 2010 option, which is worth $8.5 million and includes a $2 million buyout. So there is a chance we’ve seen the last of Webb with the Diamondbacks. Phoenix