Somethings got to give

[Igoe4Mariners]

The Angels come into town to battle the Mariners in the series I'm dubbing as the "toilet series". Two teams that were supposed to battle it out at the top of the division are now sitting at the bottom of the AL West.

However, one sweep or series win could vault the winning team in the right direction while the other goes on to fall apart even more.

The Angels are currently on a 0-7 road trip while the Mariners are in the midst of a 0-6 homestand. Something has to give right?

The pitching matchups:

Jered Weaver, RHP (3-1, 3.19) vs. Felix Hernandez, RHP (2-2, 3.10)
Joe Saunders, LHP (1-5, 7.04) vs. Doug Fister, RHP (2-1, 1.29)
Ervin Santana, RHP (1-2, 4.02) vs. Jason Vargas, LHP (2-2, 3.69)


What do you guys think? Can we take the series? Can we even win a game? And if we get swept is our season most likely over at this point?

[clarknova]

I'd like to think we have a pretty good shot to win games 1 and 2, but only if we can score 3 or more runs. If not we're going to get swept. If we get swept, management will have no choice but to do something. Otherwise the stands in Safeco will start to look like Tampa's did in the early 2000's. Or Oakland's this year. The fans are collectively stating that if you can get a team to the playoffs, we'll show up in droves- and for years afterward, but if you can't score any runs, we're not coming. At my house I can turn the game off.

[Igoe4Mariners]

Yeah, we really need to win game one, but the bad thing is we have ALWAYS struggled against the three starters the Angels are throwing. I know we have hit Weaver somewhat in the past, but Santana always dominates us and for some reason, we can't hit Saunders at all even though he is bad.

[clarknova]

It's always struck me how odd it is that some players do so well against certain teams. It used to kind of bother me when Rick Rizzszzsz would bring up how a pitcher has done historically against the Mariners when the pitcher had been in the league for 10+ years and had faced 5 completely different line-ups. It always seemed like a mathematical anomaly to me. Was he actually insinuating that this guy is at his best BECAUSE he's playing against Seattle, no matter who we run out there? I was forced to consider that this might actually be the case though. How else can you explain how Pedro Martinez has pitched against the M's throughout his career? I mean, he's a hall of fame pitcher, but no matter who we put out there, we'd get KILLED. I'd have to check, but I'm pretty sure his career era against the Ms was less that a run. Then there's offensive players that always seemed to have our number, no matter who they were facing- The three that always come to mind as Mariners killers are Rafael Palmeiro, Garret Anderson, and Vladimir Guerrero.
It really makes me think about how much of the game is mental and confidence related. How else can it be explained that 7 of our 9 hitters are slumping at the exact same time? It's not a coincidence, and where as it's easy to feel hopeless when we can't buy an earned run right now, that thought actually gives me hope.

[Igoe4Mariners]

It is quite perplexive, but that just explains how mental the game of baseball really is. Every sport is mental, but baseball and golf can really mess you up if you start getting frustrated and doubting yourself.

[Igoe4Mariners]

Well looks like we are the ones giving it up to the Angels. Nothing is going right this season. Looks like the season is over.

[JosephC]

In my opinion this is the season changing game... I would agree. This could easily make us sellers.

[Igoe4Mariners]

Yes, hopefully we can get some good prospects