Gritty M's Comeback

I took my 8 year old son to see the Mariners play against the Oakland A's last night. After 3 innings, Carlos Silva served up some softballs and the A's battered him for 6 runs. I had a flashback to a game I went to 25 years ago, when my best friend and I went to a similar game. At that time, we were down 6-0 early, so we hopped a bus and went home. Except that the hometown nine rallied behind Pete O'Brien, tied the game, and lost 7-6. I vowed never to leave too early again.

Last night, we were down in simiar fashion, losing 6-1. However, a few timely hits along with homeruns by Frankie Gutierrez and Russell "the muscle" Branyan, brought the M's back. Finally, Jose Lopez capped off the game in the 9th by fouling off 100 pitches until he lashed a single to drive in the winning run. Of course, the team mobbed Lopez halfway to second base and the fans went nuts. Scoreboard: M's win 8-7.

What impressed me most was the club's determination. The probability of winning after 3 innings must have been 1-2%. It's the equivalent of being down by 4 touchdowns in a football game and then rising to the occasion.

It's nothing short of amazing that the team left April with a winning record and now leads the division by 3.5 games. Statistical analysis says that the Mariners shouldn't be doing this. They are getting lousy performances from the heart of their order: Beltre (no homeruns), Griffey (not driving in runs), Lopez (low batting average), and Bettancourt (no walks). And Carlos Silva continues to throw crap at hitters, putting the team in position to lose every time he starts. What will happen first? Will the hitters get hot or the pitching staff cool down? In any event, it's alot of fun to watch competitive Mariner baseball again.