Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Brooms Up! Mariners Earn First Sweep of 2021

Episode Date: May 31, 2021

The Mariners' first sweep of the season was of the four-game variety. D.C. talks about all four games on Catch-Up Monday. Sunday's game particularly pleased him, and Ty France looks like he's back to himself, as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Locked-on Mariners, this is ordinarily where I say something silly to set the mood for the program. I'm not going to do that today because it is Memorial Day. More than just a day off of workers' school. It's more than just a day to gather in the backyard and have a barbecue. It's a day to honor those who sacrificed themselves defending this great country. I want to thank those that gave their lives for us. I owe each and every one of them and their families a debt of gratitude that I can never begin to repent. Because of their sacrifice, idiots like me have the right to have silly shows like this one where I get paid to talk about a game, which in the grand scheme of things really has no bearing on anything.

Their sacrifice is not lost on me. I am truly grateful, and I am damn proud to be an American. Welcome to Lockdown Mariners, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Brooms up, gang. first sweep of the year for the M's, and it is of the four-game variety. I am D.C. Lundberg, welcome you to another week here on Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, or T-L-O-P-N, or Tlopin, or Tlopin for good measure.

Please remember to download rate and follow this program on whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast or any program here on Tlopin. Very easy to do, and so much fun. All you got to do is say, Smart device. Play Locked on Mayer's podcast. Play Locked on Anything podcast for that matter. Sorry about not having a show last Friday. I kind of had a feeling it might fall through the cracks. I had an assignment to finish up for school, and I wound up not being able to watch Thursday night's game.

And I'm sorry I missed it because looking at Chris Flexen's pitching line looks to me like he may have put on a clinic. Seven innings, only three hits, only one walk and six strikeouts. And that's on the heels of a downright embarrassing start in San Diego. Good for him for bouncing back in such a huge fashion. Raphael Montero and Kenan Middleton pitched the final two innings of that game, allowing three more hits and no more walks. The trio collectively struck out eight Texas Rangers, a kind of an easy team to strike out. Backing up just a bit, however, what would locked on Mariners be without a few dozen roster moves? And prior to Thursday's game, the M's optioned Wyatt Mills and Johann Ramirez back to Tacoma. To take their places, new arrivals Daniel Zamora and Hector Santiago were brought up

from the Rainiers. To make room on the 40-man roster for one of them, there have been so many comings and going, because I lost track of how many spots on the 40-man roster had been occupied. Anyways, Sam Della Plain was designated for assignment. I believe he was pitching in Tacoma. He never appeared in a big league game with the Mariners, but he had been in spring camp with the team the previous couple of seasons. And as of this, recording, he is still in DFA limbo, as it were. Brilliant pitching did it for the Mariners on Thursday. And on the offensive side of the ball, they put together quite an inning in the seventh. Thai France got things underway with a single. Tom Murphy singled one out later. Then Jacob

Nottingham walked to load the bases. The Rangers brought in a new pitcher, but Jack Mayfield doubled to plate two. Then Mitch Hanigar singled home another run one out later. Mayfield was thrown out at home trying to score. But the M's had a 5-0 lead at that point in the game with only six more outs to record. They scored their first two runs of the ball game on back-to-back home runs by Nottingham and Murphy in the third, again too reliant on the lawn ball. But that seventh inning was very, very welcome. They can string some hits and some bases on balls and whatnot together.

They just don't do it often enough. 5-0, the final score in that one, and I hope that Cindy had a good time at the ballgame. actually told me that she had a great time at the game. I'm glad she did. Next game was Friday night, which I also did not see. I saw the other two games in this series, ladies and gentlemen. We'll talk about those over the course of the next two segments. Friday night was a three to two victory for the M's. This one started by Justice Sheffield. And looking at his pitching line, it looks like it was something of a mixed bag. Five innings, six hits, two runs, both earned, two walks and a strikeout.

74 pitches in those five innings, which is not very many. Both of his walking, Box came with one out in the second to back-to-back hitters, and he needed 13 pitches for those two played appearances alone. The Mariners' offense was largely held in check. Only six hits overall, only one walk, and nine strikeouts. Two of their three runs scored on a Kyle Lewis home run in the third, and again, the Ms were lying too heavily on the home run ball, but at least there was a runner on base this time.

Jared Kelnick had let off the inning with a four-pitch walk, later stole second base. Mitch Hanager and Kyle Seeger both struck out following Kalnick's base on balls, but they forced Rangers starter Jordan Lyles to throw 11 pitches between them. Manager struck out on a two-two count while Seeger had worked the count full. Anthony Mosevic pitched a scoreless inning, as did J.T. Chagua. I think I got his name down, ladies and gentlemen, but I shall continue to call him the avocado, just because it's kind of funny.

Kenan Middleton came in for the eighth, but gave way to Eric Swanson, after giving up a double and a walk, both with two outs. Swanson ended the 8th with a strikeout of Adolus Garcia, possibly the Rangers' hottest hitter, began the ninth inning with a base on balls, pardon me, to Joey Gallo. He does draw his fair share of walks and then a letter two out single, but he didn't allow anything else and earned his first save of the season. There's some bad news about Mr. Swanson, unfortunately, which I will talk about in B-block, but right now we've got the trivia corner.

Eric Swanson has two other Major League saves, both of them coming in back-to-back appearances in 2019. What was unusual about these two saves? I'll tell you about them after this word from sports trade. Ladies and gentlemen, have you guys heard about sports trade? It's where fantasy sports meets the stock market. Sports trade takes fantasy to the next level. Their platform allows you to buy and sell shares in your favorite players just like real stocks. It's a fair and exciting way to cash in on your knowledge of sports, and they just added baseball to the play. They just added baseball to the platform, so go ahead and check it out today. Making money with sports trade is simple as player values rise and fall based on two factors. One, their statistical performance in each game

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Don't sit on the sidelines any longer. Get in the game at sports trade.com, even if you want to drop Paul McCartney's song titles. Answer to the trivia question. Prior to Friday night, Eric Swanson had saved two other Major League Baseball games in back-to-back appearances in September 2019. What made this unusual is that they were both extra inning games. On September 19th in Pittsburgh, Mr. Swanson came in for the 11th inning

after the ends scored one run in the top of the frame to take a six-five lead. That play itself was unusual. Shedlong Jr. scoring an unearned run on a ball hit by Austin Nola, which was scored in any ending double play. Having not seen this play recently and frankly not remembering it, I can't comment further. But in any case, Mr. Swanson came into pitch, issued a one-out walk to Eric Gonzalez,

but struck out the other three hitters he faced to earn his first big league save. Two days later in Baltimore, September 21st, the M's scored one run at the top of the 13th, an RBI single by Tim Lopes, to score Malix Smith. Swanson was brought in from the pendant close out the game, hit Jonathan V.R. with one out. VR stole second, but then Austin Hayes grounded out, and Dwight Smith Jr. struck out to end the game, giving Mr. Swanson his second save.

I'm not sure of Dwight Smith Jr. is in the minors or at the big league level currently, but the next time the Mariners play him, I've got a story about his father. But this trivia corner is already longer than most, so I will save it. Coming up, has a member of the Rangers coaching staff walked away from the team in order to pursue his new career as a porn star? No, no, he hasn't. And now this word from the locker room. This episode is brought to you by the locker room, ladies and gentlemen.

Locker room is the first social audio platform made for sports fans just like you. The app is free to download, and once you're in, you can talk with me, mm-hmm. Other fans, athletes, and insiders in real time about your favorite team or sport. There's no rhyme or reason as to when I hop on locker room. Basically, when I have a free afternoon during a Mariners game, locker room is the perfect place to start or join conversations about the league. So if I'm not on there, start your own conversation, start your own Mariners watch party as it were.

You'll find fans on the locker room just like yourself for watch parties, debates, post-game breakdowns, and of course reacting to big news or rumors. Follow me on the locker room at Locked-on Mariners, oddly enough, and keep an eye out for when my locker room opens. Go download the free app now, currently available on all iOS devices, and there's a beta version for Android, which is what I use. Be sure to create a profile and join the MLB group for the latest league updates. Again, no rhyme of reason as to when I have my room open. It just kind of depends on when I have a few free minutes. So follow me at Locked-on Mariners, and maybe we'll get a chance to chat sometime this week,

or in the near future. Locker room, changing the way we talk about sports. Now back to Lockdown Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, Joey Martin. After taking the first two games of the series on Thursday and Friday night, the Mariners took game three on Saturday, and I actually got to see this one. But prior to the game, there was another player placed on the injured list, unfortunately,

and that would be the aforementioned Eric Swanson. He was placed on the 10-day D.L. today with a groin strain. An MRI the next day revealed that the injury was worse than originally feared, and he's going to be out of commission for a while, I'm afraid. He was having a very good season out of the pen and had earned the save in the game the day before. It's just a shame, ladies and gentlemen, especially considering how poorly he had pitched

to the big league level over the previous two seasons. He had finally put it together, and then something like this happens. I hope he comes back sooner than expected. I hope his rehab goes well, and I hope he could get back to doing what he was doing out of the pen. I was really happy that he was putting it together such a good season, especially in light of what he had done at the big league level over the previous two. Now I'm repeating what I already said. Taking Mr. Swanson's place on the roster was Will Vest,

who was activated from the 10-day injured list. Also, Casey Sadler was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. He's also going to be out of commission for a while, unfortunately. long Jr. is on a rehab assignment with the Tacoma Rainier's. He might be back in the bigs sooner rather than later. So that's good news as well. Anyways, for Saturday's game, Justin Dunn was a starting pitcher for the M's and the two issues that have plagued Mr. Dunn this season, the base on balls and high pitch counts. The latter came up to bite him pretty much right away. Even though he retired the site in the first, he needed 16 pitches to do so, which is not

horrible, but it's not great either. It's more than you'd like to see. And he threw 21 in the second. The third inning was a breeze, needing a mere nine pitches to record two groundouts and a flyout. But the fourth was a mess. He started off by hitting Isaiah Kline or Philepha with a two-nothing pitch, then walked Nate Lowe on four straight. Pete Woodworth came out to calm him down as it was looking like one of those innings, which could spiral out of control very quickly. And the ends only had a one run lead at that point. He struck out Adoles Garcia, again arguably the Rangers' hottest hitter at this time, but it took eight pitches, and then he walked Joey Gallo to load up the bases. Nick Solac, pardon me, hit a sack fly, and the Rangers had tied the game without getting a base

hit. Brock Holt then grounded out, so Dunn was able to limit the damage on the scoreboard, but he needed 31 pitches to get through the fourth inning, so you knew he was not going to get very deep into the ball game. Again. The fifth was better, but still too many pitches for a one, two, three inning, and he was pulled with two out in the sixth after allowing an Adolos Garcia single. 98 pitches for Mr. Dunn over those five and two-thirds, two hits, one run, it was earned, two walks and eight strikeouts. The good part about this outing is that he looked very good at times. He needs to gain consistency within each start, and I think he can put it all together. He's got the skill set and he's got the command.

I know that sounds weird to say, but he's shown that he has better command that his numbers indicates. The TV crew was kind of contemplating that it might be a concentration issue for him. I'm not sure. He just needs to be more consistent. And once he does, he won't have these innings where he throws 20, 25 pitches to face three or four hitters. Daniel Zamora came in to relieve him and he pitched one in one-third innings. Paul C. Wald came in for the 8th.

It was very good, and I was listening to this portion of the ball game on the radio. And when it was 3 to 1 going into the 9th, I said out loud, anyone but Montero. And lo and behold, guess you, Scott's service brings out to close the ball game, one of the most consistently unreliable relievers on the team, Raphael Montero. And of course, I feared the worst, because that's usually what Montero gives you when he pitches the 6th inning rather than the 9th. But he got the first guy to strike out on a foul tip. Then Adolus Garcia grounded softly to third baseman Eric Campbell.

He reached base, and from the way it was described on the radio, could have possibly been scored an error, but Garcia was given a base hit. I'm not sure what the fair ruling is since I didn't see it. But in any case, Garcia gets a base hit. Joey Gallo followed with a single, which sent Garcia to third. Gallo stole second base to erase the possibility of a groundball double play. but Nick Solac hit the ball in the air anyway, deep enough for a sack fly to bring the score to 3 to 2.

Brock Holt then flew out to end the game, and the M's for all intents and purposes dodged a bullet. Why is Montaro still closing ball games? I'd rather have Seawald out there closing, or anyone else, frankly. In the bottom of the 8th, the mayor has got a very important insurance run off the bat of Mitch Hanager in the form of a solo home run. If not for that run, the game would have been 10. tied at two, and Montara would have blown yet another save. But alas, Montaer gets credit for his save. However, it was Mitch Hanigur, who, for all intents and purposes, saved the ballgame.

J.P. Crawford also homered earlier in the ballgame in the seventh. He actually hit this home run. When I left the house, in between me leaving the house and getting to my car in the driveway, that's when he hit his home run. This was his second ding-dong of the season. both have come against the Rangers, and both have come at the expense of Mike Fultenevich, who pitched pretty well on Saturday.

Back to the second inning, the Mariners actually scored a run without hitting the ball out of the ballpark. Imagine that. Kyle Lewis began things with a single. Thai France worked the count full, then walked, and it looked like the beginnings of a pretty good inning. But J.P. Crawford grounded into a double play,

although Lewis did advance to third. Jose Godoy was next, and he lined a single to left field to plate Lewis. So they were able to string some things together, even though a double play was in the middle of things. And they did it early in the game, no less, something that they've struggled to do. With done exiting the game with a tie score,

the win went to Daniel Zamora, who was making his Mariner debut. His only other big league win came in 2018 with the Mets. Having got a question or a comment for the show? I would love to hear it, so send it over to Locked on Mariner. at gmail.com. I'll address it on the air

in a future mailbag episode which next one will be on Wednesday. Questions and comments on any subject are welcome and encouraged. Does not need to be about baseball, does not need to be about sports, anything that's on your little mind. Send it to Lockedon Mariners at gmail.com.

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Here once again is your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you once again, Mr. J.M. Sir. Why did I say it like that? Anyways, the Mariners got themselves back to 500 on Sunday with a 4-2 win. It was a very good overall win. The offense was not too reliant on the home run ball, and Yusea Kikinche was excellent, absolutely excellent through six innings. He got tired in the seventh and left with two out in the inning, but man, was he good?

One thing that he did that Justin Dunnas often had trouble with, strike one, strike two. He was aggressive in the strike zone. He was using his fastball and his cutter effectively, and he looked like he was feeling quite a bit better than usual, maybe a lot looser than usual as well, because his mid-90s fastball was reaching 97, 98 quite a few times. He even reached 99 once, and I am not one who was impressed at all with how hard a pitcher throws. But when a pitcher is throwing his fastball that much faster than he ordinarily does, it's a pretty

good indication that he's feeling all right that day. After the second inning, I said out loud that this could be a long day for the Rangers. He threw 25 pitches in the first two innings, and that includes Nate Lowe's 10 pitch at bat to end the second. On the flip side, the Rangers starter whose name I am about to butcher, and for which I will preemptively apologize, Hyeong Jong-Yong, through 26 pitches in the first inning alone. He was very uneconomical with his pitch count, and with two out in the first, the Mariners were able to get something together to score run, a Kyle Lewis single,

a Kyle Seeger walk, and a Thai-France double, which scored Lewis for a one-nothing lead. It was great to see them do that, and it was great to see them do that in the very first inning. They did it again in the third. With one out in that inning, Kyle Lewis reached second on an error by center fielder Adolas Garcia. The TV broadcasting was more or less advocating for the official score to change the ruling from an error and give Lewis a double. I personally don't agree with that assessment. The ball that Garcia, the ball hit Garcia's glove. He flat out misplated. That's the definition of a fielding error, is it not? Yes, Lewis smoked the ball, but the fielder had a play on it, which he whipped. It was right at him, and it's often

said that the most difficult play for a center fieler is the ball hit right at him. And as someone who has tried to play center field and failed utterly, I can attest to that fact, although I had trouble with just about every ball hit to me in center. I can play left, okay, didn't have the arm for right, what am I talking about? Anyways, with one out and Lewis at second. Kyle Seeger lined a single to right field, which sent Lewis the first. Ty France came up once again, and once again he delivered. He plated both halves of the Kyle connection with the single of his own, and the M's had a 3-0 lead without hitting a home run.

And Mr. France had delivered all three Mariner RBI. He is pretty much back to himself, it looks like, that arm problem he had had a very profound effect on his swing, and since coming off the DL on May 24th, He is slashing 375, 423, 458, and has his batting average back up to 252, I believe, and rising. He's driven in five runs in those seven games. He has nine hits, and two of them are doubles. He's back to himself, gang, and the Ms need him.

With him back and hopefully remaining consistent, I think the offense will start to improve. I think his consistency early in the season was a key for them. Now that he's hitting fifth in the lineup instead of second, he's in a run-producing spot, and I think he'll thrive there. He strikes me as a very good guy to have in the number five spot, pardon me. The M's added a solo home run from Kyle Seeger in the fifth inning. It would go on to win four to two. Kikajan was great through six innings, again just got tired in the seven and started to lose

command. If it weren't for a throwing error, another throwing error from J.P. Crawford and the fourth, he would have retired the first 15 batters in a row. Kikigasan gave up a lead-off single to Willie Calhoun in the sixth for the Rangers' first base knock, but he was quickly erased on a double play. The Rangers scored both of their runs in the seventh on a Joey Gallo home run, but they were down 4-0 already at that point, and with the way things were going on the mound for the M's,

I did not feel to me at all like the Rangers had a chance to come back. The avocado cleaned up the seventh inning for Kikiketian and struck out Brock Holt with a full count. Paul Seawald got the eighth, and he allowed a way. one-out single to Jason Martin only, and Keenan Middleton pitched a one, two, three, ninth, utilizing only five pitches to end the ball game in earnest fourth save of the season. This was a great game. This was the type of game you hope to see when you spend money and make the effort to go out to the ballpark. And while the first few innings were very slow because of the Rangers' starter had a poor game,

Kikishan more than did his part to move things along in a swift pace. and the time of the game was three hours exactly. This was almost an exemplary ball game. That's all for this one, ladies and gentlemen. Tomorrow we will be talking about this afternoon's game against the Oakland A's 110 p.m. start time, which I am happy about. Since that means I don't have to stay up late recording the show, it'll be James Caprillion versus Logan Gilbert.

And joining me tomorrow to talk about the game, it will be Carol Siever, Glomer, and a Corned Bee sandwich. Please remember to download, rate, and follow Locked-on Mariners. Look for us in any podcasting app that springs into your brainhead. Leave a rating and review of the podcasting app that you choose, so allows. Thank you for listening, ladies and gentlemen. I do hope you enjoyed it. Before I say goodbye on this Memorial Day,

I want to again sincerely thank those who gave the ultimate sacrifice defending the United States of America. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, have a great day. Get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with the locked on today. Podcast. Host Peter Bukowski will keep you updated on the latest news in every major sport with Lockdown's team of local experts. Follow the Lockdown Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever else you get your podcasts.

This is Joey Martin for Lockdown Mariners, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network.