Igoe4Mariners
06-13-2010, 08:30 PM
Yeah we lost a little data, but that's not going to stop me from keeping the previews going for these cruddy Mariners.
The Seattle Mariners (24-39) and St. Louis Cardinals (34-29) meet for the first time since the 2004 season. The Cardinals have since become a postseason mainstay and a World Series Champion behind a dominant pitching staff and the wonderful Albert Pujols. This time around, the Cardinals will be hosting the Mariners in a new ballpark, Busch Stadium.
The Mariners are in the midst of a terrible stretch in which they have seen their record dip to a season-low 15 games under .500. After losing Saturday's affair with the Padres by a score of 7-1, veterans Milton Bradley, Cliff Lee, and Chone Figgins called a players-only meeting in which they called out everyone using the term "accountability". The Mariners responded with a great effort on Sunday afternoon behind a dominating performance on the hill by Felix Hernandez and a few clutch extra-base hits. Heading into the St. Louis series, the Mariners will need to continue their clutch hitting if they won't to come away with any wins against the Cardinals. They won't have the luxury of having aces Cliff Lee or Felix Hernandez on the mound. Instead they will have three soft-tossing, unproven lefties going against a heavy right-handed hitting team. This could spell the formula of a sweep if the Mariners don't bring the wood ready to hit.
St. Louis is in an unfamiliar position at this time of the season: in second place in their division. The Cincinatti Reds have given them all they can handle and more in this early season and the Cardinals haven't exactly responded well. On their most recent road trip, they went a dismal 1-5 against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, and are only 4-6 this current month. They sit 1.5 games back of first in a division they haven't lost in the past two seasons. However, it is still extremely early and they are a different animal at home. The middle of their lineup has been phenominal as expected coming into this season with Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Ryan Ludwick leading the way. Unsung heroes David Freese, Felipe Lopez, and Skip Schumaker have all got on base at a high percentage to spark the meat of the order. Pitching-wise it doesn't get much better than the one-two punch of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright (who the Mariners will see in game one of this series). And former Mariner starting pitcher, Ryan Franklin, leads the bullpen as he has turned into one of the game's most consistent closers.
Pitching Matchups
Luke French, LHP (0-0, 6.35) vs. Adam Wainwright, RHP (8-4, 2.30)
Ryan Rowland-Smith, LHP (0-5, 6.62) vs. Jeff Suppan, RHP (0-2, 7.84)
Jason Vargas, LHP (4-2, 3.05) vs. Jaime Garcia, LHP (6-2, 1.49)
I don't think game one is very winnable with Wainwright going for the Cards. I think game two and game three are somewhat winnable, but I can just see Pujols killing all three of our left-handed pitchers and leading the Cardinals to a series sweep. Lets hope I'm wrong.
The Seattle Mariners (24-39) and St. Louis Cardinals (34-29) meet for the first time since the 2004 season. The Cardinals have since become a postseason mainstay and a World Series Champion behind a dominant pitching staff and the wonderful Albert Pujols. This time around, the Cardinals will be hosting the Mariners in a new ballpark, Busch Stadium.
The Mariners are in the midst of a terrible stretch in which they have seen their record dip to a season-low 15 games under .500. After losing Saturday's affair with the Padres by a score of 7-1, veterans Milton Bradley, Cliff Lee, and Chone Figgins called a players-only meeting in which they called out everyone using the term "accountability". The Mariners responded with a great effort on Sunday afternoon behind a dominating performance on the hill by Felix Hernandez and a few clutch extra-base hits. Heading into the St. Louis series, the Mariners will need to continue their clutch hitting if they won't to come away with any wins against the Cardinals. They won't have the luxury of having aces Cliff Lee or Felix Hernandez on the mound. Instead they will have three soft-tossing, unproven lefties going against a heavy right-handed hitting team. This could spell the formula of a sweep if the Mariners don't bring the wood ready to hit.
St. Louis is in an unfamiliar position at this time of the season: in second place in their division. The Cincinatti Reds have given them all they can handle and more in this early season and the Cardinals haven't exactly responded well. On their most recent road trip, they went a dismal 1-5 against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, and are only 4-6 this current month. They sit 1.5 games back of first in a division they haven't lost in the past two seasons. However, it is still extremely early and they are a different animal at home. The middle of their lineup has been phenominal as expected coming into this season with Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Ryan Ludwick leading the way. Unsung heroes David Freese, Felipe Lopez, and Skip Schumaker have all got on base at a high percentage to spark the meat of the order. Pitching-wise it doesn't get much better than the one-two punch of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright (who the Mariners will see in game one of this series). And former Mariner starting pitcher, Ryan Franklin, leads the bullpen as he has turned into one of the game's most consistent closers.
Pitching Matchups
Luke French, LHP (0-0, 6.35) vs. Adam Wainwright, RHP (8-4, 2.30)
Ryan Rowland-Smith, LHP (0-5, 6.62) vs. Jeff Suppan, RHP (0-2, 7.84)
Jason Vargas, LHP (4-2, 3.05) vs. Jaime Garcia, LHP (6-2, 1.49)
I don't think game one is very winnable with Wainwright going for the Cards. I think game two and game three are somewhat winnable, but I can just see Pujols killing all three of our left-handed pitchers and leading the Cardinals to a series sweep. Lets hope I'm wrong.