June has been a nice month to be a Mariners fan. After a sweep over the Red Sox, the Mariners have now had two seperate five game winning streaks and then a four game winning streak to make them 16-9 in June. I know that six game losing streak was tough but the Mariners now sit just five games back of the Angels and three games ahead of the A’s in what’s turning out to be the best division in the American League. Heck, even the Rangers have gotten hot.
Man, did the Mariners get some good pitching yesterday. Ryan Feierabend had his best start of the season (and really his only “good” start) and then the pen took over. Jason Davis picked up the win with two scoreless frames but this was definitely a team pitching effort. And then Jose Lopez comes up with the big hit to win it.
Richie Sexson is still struggling at the plate and if the Mariners expect to make a run, he needs to be one of their horses. A .733 OPS isn’t going to cut it and while the homeruns are there, the rest of the package really isn’t. And the same goes for Adrian Beltre, who’s on pace to put up numbers around what he had last year. Not bad, but not nearly enough for what we’re paying him.
Ichiro on the other hand has gotten it done. He had two more hits yesterday and he’s back up to .364. He’s on pace to rack up more hits in a season then he has since he set the record back in 2004. And he’s well on his way to another 110 runs and 45 steals. In fact, if the season ended today, his .885 OPS would be a career high.
I’m not sure what happened to Jeff Weaver but I like it. He’s had two nice starts in a row and his last four have been solid. Right now though, there really is no leader in the rotation. Jarrod Washburn has been their best pitcher but he’s only 6-6. And even he’s been shaky in June (6.39 ERA with a .346 batting average against).
The Mariners finish their homestand this weekend with three against the visit Blue Jays. It’ll be Washburn going up against Dustin McGowan so hopefully Washburn can get it done because Saturday, the Mariners will have to face Roy Halladay.