1,134

The number refers to the number of walks the Mariners are on pace for after collecting seven in the 5-2 Opening Day victory over the Rangers.

Seven walks!  Unbelievable!  Obviously the concept that you are able to accomplish more if you’re able to get on base was something that Mike Hargrove was unable to get across during the past few hack-tastic Mariner teams.  Being able to coax bases on balls, and then running on the base paths, generated most of the Mariners’ runs,  beating Kevin Millwood, even though the Rangers’ ace is now the early season ERA leader after allowing no earned runs over six innings.  A Michael Young error allowed the M’s to go ahead 2-1 in the sixth inning, allowing Millwood to pick up the loss despite an unblemished ERA.  Throw in a clutch two-run double by Jose Lopez an inning later- after a passed ball, wild pitch, and an intentional pass to Ichiro by Rangers’ reliever Kazuo Fukumori- as Lopez flashed the form that led to 58 first-half RBIs and an All Star berth in 2006 and that’s all she wrote.

And with the Angels dropping their Opening Day match-up to Livan Hernandez and the Minnesota Twins 3-2 (with Torii Hunter being held hitless in four at-bats), the M’s find themselves alone at the top of the standings.  While that first win is indeed satisfying, the realist needs to point out that the only thing it really means is that the M’s will not challenge the 1988 Baltimore Orioles’ record of dropping their first 21 games of the season.

While it was great to see the M’s defying expectations and demonstrating some patience at the plate, somebody should pass that memo to Jose Vidro who, in the eighth inning, after a four-pitch walk to Brad Wilkerson by Rangers reliever Esteban German immediately swung and miss at a pitch up and out of the zone.  *Sigh*  That’s the M’s designated hitter for you….

Erik Bedard did a serviceable enough job, battling a strike zone that was arguably squeezed by home plate umpire Jim Joyce.  Still, despite giving up that first-inning home run that I totally called (though it was a solo shot to Young rather than a three-run blast), and walking a tight rope as he went to a full-count on ten of the first eighteen batters, Bedard pitched well enough to give the M’s a chance to get back into the ballgame, allowing just three hits while striking out five in five innings.

With tomorrow’s match-up pitting Felix Hernandez against Vincente Padilla (is he really the Rangers’ number two man? really?)  you almost have to feel sorry for Rangers fans.  Padilla has never really capitalized on the potential he showed with back-to-back 14-win seasons he had with the Phillies a handful of seasons ago.  To say Padilla’s 2007 season was a disaster is putting it mildly.  His walk rate rose, his strikeout rate plummeted, and his offerings were absolutely hammered by opposing batters.  In three appearances against the M’s last year, Padilla lost the first two, allowing 15 hits and 13 runs over nine innings, before tossing six innings of one-run ball against the Mariners last August, the last time the M’s have seen the offerings of the Nicaraguan right-hander.   Ichiro has collected 12 hits in 23 at-bats against Padilla for a career 1.281 OPS, while Adrian Beltre may be held to a .240 average by Padilla, but four of his six hits have gone yard.  I’m calling a funk blast for Beltre tomorrow.

It’s almost unfair to pit Padilla against Felix, but that’s how the M’s rotation falls.  The consensus about Felix is that this season he should come into his own, cementing himself as one of the dominating starters in the game.  When you consider that the last time he made an official major league start, he came within an out of a complete-game win against the Rangers last September, holding Texas to four hits and two runs while striking out eight. It’s going to be interesting to see if Felix can top that.  With McLaren having to go to the bullpen four times on Opening Day, he will be looking to get as many innings out of Felix as he can.  Is it too much to expect a three-hit shutout?

Let’s temper the expectations a bit.  The Rangers will at least be able to put across a run, but putting up plural may be a problem.  I’m picking the M’s to win by a final score of 10-1.  Yes, it will be ugly.

Opening Day!

Currently 90 minutes (give or take) from Erik Bedard’s first fastball thrown at the friendly confines of Safeco Field, and of the M’s taking steps to prove that their pre-season hype to win the division is nothing more than just hype.

Still, although the Safe can hopefully nullify the Rangers’ prodigious offense, fingers need to be crossed that Bedard’s debut in a Mariners’ uniform is successful.  Of course we have to ignore Bedard’s 9.50 spring training ERA (at the risk of overlooking the microscopic 0.95 mark he posted in last year’s spring), but some of the numbers don’t add up in Bedard’s favor.  The confines of the Safe have proven to be less-than-friendly for Bedard so far in his career.  Considering the small sample size, in nearly 23 career innings at the Safe, Bedard has allowed 36 base runners (2-1 hit-to-walk ratio) which led to an ERA a notch below 6.00.  Still, Bedard has won four of the six starts pitched against Texas, with 45 strikeouts against the swing-happy Rangers, allowing 32 hits and a 2.50 ERA in nearly 40 innings, allowing no home runs against the Ranger starting line-up.  (So don’t be surprised if a three-run blast is given up on the top half of the first inning.)

Texas starter Kevin Millwood also has a winning record against the Mariners, but in a far less dominating fashion, compiling a 7-6 record in 15 starts, allowing 139 base runners (119 hits)  in ninety-five innings.  Raul Ibanez has been a particular thorn in Millwood’s side, hitting Millwood at a .359 clip with five extra base hits in 39 at-bats.  Adrian Beltre has also demonstrated extra-base prowess against Millwood’s offerings, picking up six in 59 at-bats, while Richie Sexson has five, including three funk blasts, in forty-nine at-bats.

Although no set opening day line-up has been announced, manager John McLaren’s projected line-up, according to the M’s home page:

CF Ichiro

2B Lopez

LF Ibanez

1B Sexson

3B Beltre

RF Wilkerson

DH Vidro

C Johjima

SS Betancourt

Though the M’s may not blow the Rangers out of the water on Opening Day, they should pull out a close win, barring any dramatic implosion by the team’s bullpen.