Mariners Game #48 Preview: 5/21 at CHW

The Windy, Rainy, Chilly, No-Good City

It’s cold. It was cold yesterday. It’s cold today. It will probably be cold tomorrow—we just won’t have to care because the Mariners will have moved on to Houston.

But that cold could be a good thing today. The weather is what Aaron and Hyphen kept referring to as a “forcefield” last night that kept the batted balls from flying farther than the warning track. That could be just what a contact-heavy pitcher like Logan Evans needs.

While the weather might be good for Evans, it’s more portentous for the Mariners’ lineup, who will be facing Shane Smith. Smith has been the Sox’ best player this year; I’m guessing he’ll be their All Star. His best pitch is a disappearing change up that comes in at 90 mph. And he sets it up with an fastball that looks a lot livelier than its velocity would make you think. It always looks to me like it’s gaining steam right before it hits home plate.

Given the Mariners’ penchant beating the likes of Skubal, Eovaldi, Crochet, Fried, and King, maybe it’ll be OK.

Lineups

Same starting lineup as the last two days. This is the first time the Mariners have had the same starting lineup for every game of a three-game series since the Mariners took on Anaheim from May 2-4 2017. This was that lineup:

It was the only time Scott Servais ever did it in nearly 10 years as manager, though he did once put out the same line up three games in a row, but across multiple series, in August 2019.

Game Information

First Pitch: 11:10 PT
TV: ROOT Sports NW, the ROOT Sports App, the MLB.TV package
Radio: Ol’ reliable

News

George Kirby is scheduled to start tomorrow.

This Day in Mariners History

• 1996: Griffey becomes the youngest player ever to 200 home runs, part of a six-run fourth inning in a 13-7 victory at Fenway
• 2000: Rickey Henderson hits a leadoff home run for the second consecutive day, and the 77th time in his career