Larry Ness
I had the Mariners in all three games against the Angels, winning the first two and getting a 'no play' when Bedard was a game time scratch (hip). I'll stick with the Mariners again tonight, as they host the Royals in the first game of this two-game set. The Royals are off to a solid 7-5 start in '08, led by their pitching staff. KC owns the best ERA in MLB at 2.58 and its bullpen ERA is 1.16, the best of any relief staff, as well. Zach Greinke is off to a 2-0 start, allowing just one ER in his 15 innings for an ERA of 0.60. However, let's step back a minute. Greinke was a hot prospect back in '04 and '05 but was just 13-28 with a 4.99 ERA in 57 starts (Royals were a pathetic 18-39 in those starts!). He was hurt almost all of '06 and then last year made just 14 starts in his 52 appearances, posting a 7-7 mark with a 3.69 ERA (Royals were 5-9 in his starts). So pardon me if I'm not ready to hand him the Cy Young award, just yet! Let's also not get too excited over the Royals as a team, especially on the road. Since the team went 83-79 in 2003 (which included a 49-39 road mark), the Royals have gone a disastrous 109-216 (.335) on the road the last four seasons. They are 4-2 on the road this year but that includes a three-game sweep at Detroit (everyone knows the Tigers opened the year 0-7) plus losing two of three at Minnesota. Meanwhile, the Mariners were MLB's second-biggest "moneymakers" in 2007, with a profit of $1,924 for the season (at $100/game). Most of those profits came at home, where they went 49-32 (plus-$1,355). Seattle just 'killed' left-handed pitching last season (28-13 and plus-$1,730), but has opened 0-2 vs lefties in 2008. Seattle is however, 4-1 at home this year when facing a right-handed starter, averaging a healthy 5.8 RPG. Lefty Jarrod Washburn gets the start for Seattle and after a mediocre start at Baltimore in his season debut (5 IP / 6 hits / 3 ERs in a 7-4 loss), he pitched very well last Wednesday at Tampa, going seven innings while allowing six hits and one ER in a 7-1 win. Washburn's been somewhat of a disappointment in his first two years with the Mariners but he has made 63 starts over the last two seasons, while giving Seattle almost 200 innings of work in each year. He's a solid 8-4 with a 3.36 ERA in 14 career stars vs KC (teams are 9-5) and the Royals have notably had trouble vs left-handers the past few years. They went 19-26 vs lefties last year which actually looks pretty good when you realize the team was just 30-74 vs lefties in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, combined (are 1-1 vs lefties to open '08). The Royals have only scored 38 runs in their 12 games, while the Mariners (in just one more game) have scored 61. Look for veteran left-hander Washburn to give them a solid start and for the Seattle bats to get to Greinke.
AL Game of the Week
15* Seattle Mariners
