Game #13: Los Angeles Angels versus Seattle Mariners

The M’s go for the sweep.  Can Bedard pull it off?  Will Saunders shut down the M’s bats?

What’s the over/ under on total bases Raul racks up today?  I’m pegging it at four….

M’s claw back to .500

Yeah, yeah.  So everybody knows how pathetic the M’s played the Angels last season, losing 13 of 19 games against the club to help Los Angeles win the West, just like how the M’s woeful showing against Oakland in 2006 helped the A’s waltz away with the division crown.  So of course last night’s 8-3 victory ensuring that the M’s will take the first series between their division archrivals is surely something to celebrate, as taking a series from the Angels- or any division rival for that matter, but especially the Angels- certainly tastes sweet.

Consider this: last year, the M’s weren’t able to take a series from Los Angeles until their fourth attempt, winning two of three from July 30- Aug 1.  This year, it took all of two games to claim a series win!

And for the second straight night in a row, it was a clutch at-bat by Richie Sexson that helped propel the Mariners to victory.  A night after working a bases-loaded walk to force in the tying run,  Sexson crushed a fifth-inning offering to deep center for his second home run of the season, plating Jose Vidro and giving the M’s a 5-3 lead that they would never relent.  Considering that Sexson is the highest -paid first baseman in the league, it sure is nice to see him offering production that justifies his salary.

There were those who booed him at Safeco last season and darn near called for his head as he suffered miserably while being hampered with injuries.  But baseball has a funny way of regressing to the norm, statistically speaking.  Considering Richie’s career .263 average and .514 OPS, there’s every good a chance that he could hit sixty points higher than his career average and slug 120 points higher this season to compensate for the horrid numbers he posted last year. After all, we are talking about a guy who slugged 39 home-runs and knocked in 121 RBIs his first season with the Mariners, arguably the best offensive season by a Seattle first baseman since Tino Martinez in that storied 1995 season, if not ever.  There might be an argument to make that Sexson’s negatives outweigh his positives and that if there was ever a time to move him in a trade, it would be now.  Well, Sexson’s salary makes it all but prohibitive to move Sexson in a trade unless the M’s are willing to pay a good chunk of change.  And so far this year Richie is batting better with runners on than with the bases empty- a .313 with a 1.250 OPS in twenty-two plate appearances with runners on compared to a .200 average and .590 OPS when he has little incentive to knock in any runners.  The six walks he’s picked up in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances with runners on means that his strike-zone judgment is wildly improved this year compared to last, as Richie is waiting for his pitch and making pitchers pay for it.  If there’s any chance that Sexson can repeat those 39 HR, 116 RBI numbers, wouldn’t it be worth keeping him in the line up?

And of course, while Richie may have played a deciding factor in tying or putting the score ahead the past two games, he faces stiff competition for win shares from Raul Ibanez, who is on an absolute tear the first two games of the series as he single-handedly seeks revenge against the Angels.  With his 5-for-8 performance in the first two games of the series, along with two intentional walks, the Angels have succeeded in keeping Raul off the bases just three times in ten plate appearances, as Raul has raised his average by sixty points while adding nearly 300 points to his OPS with the four extra base hits he’s compiled.

Although Carlos Silva dared the Angels to smack the offerings that he had dancing around the strike zone all night- and Los Angeles did  pick up 11 hits against Silva, eight of which were singles- it can’t be denied that Silva tossed eight solid innings, with 65 of his 98 pitches going for strikes, even if he didn’t rack up a strikeout.  Silva completely neutralized the dangerous portion of the Angels’ line-up, keeping Los Angeles’ #2 through #5 hitters hitless in fifteen at-bats, with a walk to Vladimir Guerrero (the Angels’ only walk of the game) his only blemish.  Jon Garland, meanwhile, six runs- three unearned- on 12 hits in five innings, meaning that in his last two starts against the M’s, Garland has allowed 16 runs- eight unearned (getting little defensive support)- on 22 hits allowed in just under eight innings.  I’m sure the M’s batters are glad that Garland was traded into the AL West, as he increases the opportunity for them to pad their stats against the right hander.

The M’s go for the sweep today, pitting Erik Bedard on the mound against Joe Saunders in what should be the pitching duel of the series.  Although the Mariners have momentum on their side, Bedard has struggled against the Angels, dropping three of four decisions while allowing a 6.18 ERA and nearly two base runners per inning in 27.2 innings over five starts.  Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter have had little trouble with Bedard’s offerings, combining to hit .452 in 31 at-bats with five extra-base hits, though Bedard has neutralized the bat of Mariner killer Gery Matthews Jr., holding him to three hits in 12 at-bats with five strikeouts.  It’s been nearly two years since Bedard faced the Angels last- allowing six runs on ten hits in 3.2 innings in a game otherwise notable for being the major league debut of Jered Weaver- so perhaps a little maturity may lead to a different outcome.

Meanwhile, Bedard’s opponent on the mound is entering the game on an absolute roll.  Although he got a no-decision in his last start, Saunders enters the game with an 0.56 ERA so far this season in 18 innings, allowing just eight hits and three walks for an 0.69 WHIP.  Despite these dominating numbers, Seattle has eaten Saunders up alive, with Saunders allowing a 7.24 ERA and two runners an innings in just under 22 innings.  There’s no reason to expect Raul or Sexson to not continue their hot hitting, as Raul has four hits in eight at-bats against Saunders- with a home run- while Sexson has gone yard for his only hit off Saunders in four at-bats.  Saunders allowed five runs on nine hits, with Adrian Beltre knocking in a couple of RBIs, the last time he faced the M’s last September.

Maybe this won’t be a pitcher’s duel after all.  Maybe those in Safeco should be prepared to duck.  Still, I’m holding my breath and calling the Angels on this one, 5-2, with the M’s runs coming on another Raul Ibanez two-run home run.