Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - In the Big Inning...

Episode Date: April 8, 2021

After the Mariners struggled against White Sox pitching for the whole series, they took out all their frustrations in the 6th inning. D.C. talks about that hit parade, which produced seven runs. (Eight for the game overall.) Unfortunately, Justin Dunn had another bad outing, and more unfortunately, two Mariners were placed on the injured list prior to Wednesday's game. D.C. also talks about these two injuries, and previews the upcoming series against the Minnesota Twins. He also talks briefly about the catcher's interference call, the umpires' handling of the situation, and about instant replay at large. 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, me and some of my college buddies steal a rival team's mascot, which is kept at my house, causing mayhem. Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lunders. Thank you very much, J.M. And Mariners finally got to White Sox pitching. Another big inning for the Mariners, which we will discuss today on Locked-on Mariner's, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network brought to you by the locker room.

Please remember to download, rate and follow Locked-on Mariners using whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariners podcast or any program here on the Locked-on Podcast Network. Yes, indeed, gang. The Mariners sent 11 men to the plate in the sixth inning yesterday afternoon. Another long ball game, almost four hours. Fortunately, for those of us who are not so young anymore, it was a 110 start time rather than a 10-10 start time rather than a 7-10 start time. That big sixth inning certainly extended the game time, but it was still very nice to see.

Don't get me wrong. Although I was listening to it on radio at the time, so I didn't see it. Decided to listen to the game and take a nice drive into Cordillade and had lunch in Hayden. Very pleasant way to spend the afternoon gang. Anyways, I'm off topic again. Another contributing factor to the length of the ball game was Justin Dunn, unfortunately, who threw 93 pitches in his four-and-two-thirds innings.

Only 48 of them were strikes, just a little over. half, and he threw first pitch strikes to only around 40% of the batters he faced. He was able to get out of jams in the first and second innings after walking a bunch of guys, but had very good third and fourth innings, blew up again in the fifth, started walking guys again, and was removed in favor of Will Vest with two outs in the inning after walking in a run on four pitches. Two more of his runners scored on the very next play, a two-run single by Zach Collins. He walked eight hitters, did allow only one.

One hit, three runs allowed, as I noted, all of them were earned, struck out three. Yeah, you know, gang, I do not want to pile on Justin Dunn. He seems like a likable guy, but he really needs to work on his command. I don't know if it's a mechanics issue, if he's inconsistent with his mechanics, an inconsistent release point, something in his head. I have no idea, but it's got to change. This game is an extreme example of the kind of game you'll typically get from him. not very many hits allowed and a crap ton of walks.

Sooner or later, if you put that many guys on base via bases on balls, it's going to come back to bite you. And it did in the fifth before he had to be removed from the game. And aside from that two-run single vest gave up, the bullpen did its job for the most part. Graveman did load the bases with no one out of the 8th, but he was able to escape trouble, thanks in part to Luis Robert,

hitting a line drive way too near J.P. Crawford, who snared it, threw on to second base to double the runner off and end that particular inning. But after Dunn's implosion of sorts in the fifth, the game seemed like it was over at that point, given how the previous two games had gone. But that all changed in the sixth. Dallas Keikl was still on the mound for the pale hose, who had been pretty good up until that point.

Jose Marmaléhos worked the count full, and then drew a walk to lead off. And then on the very next pitch, Dylan Moore laced a single to right field, moving Marmo all the way to third. Keiko was removed for the ball game at that point. He had also thrown a lot of pitches in his five-plus innings. He was at times vintage Dallas Keiko, but at times a little shaky. He also threw 93 pitches, same total as Justin Dunn. And he also threw a lot of balls out of the zone, about 58% of them.

In from the bullpen came yet another hard thrower. Seems like that's all the Chai Sox have down there. Matt Foster, and almost immediately the hit parade began in early. Tom Murphy singled on a 1-0 count to load up the bases, then Taylor Tremelf took the first pitch he saw into right field for an RBI single, Marmo scoring on the play. Sam Haggerty struck out on three pitches. He got the start in right field today while Manninger-D-Hed, but then J.P. Crawford drives in more on a line-drive single.

The aforementioned Mitch Hanager then hit a sack fly out to right, bringing home Murphy to tie the ball game at four. Thai France then came up and made a Foster throw a ton of pitches before working a basis on balls to reload the bases for veteran Kyle Seeger. Dave Sims noted on radio that given the 11 pitch at bat to France, very, very impressive, Seeger should have, quote, encyclopedic knowledge, end quote, of Foster's repertoire, and it seemed to pay off. Kyle Seeger took a fastball up out of the zone on the inside edge, the other way for a three-run double. The M's head scored six runs thus far in the inning and had batted a round. Jose Marmalejo, Marmales, pardon me, was back up who had begun the inning with a walk against Kikl.

This time, he'd single sharply to center, bringing home Siger for the inning's seventh run, and the Mariners' eighth overall. They now led by four. Matt Foster's nightmarish afternoon was ended by manager Tony Larusa. Yeah, he's back, gang. Jose Ruiz came in and induced a force play. off the bat of Dylan Moore, but my oh my. I didn't even mean to make it, Dave Neos reference there.

Kind of glad I did. Major damage for the Mariners in the sixth inning. It was great to see the M's finally string some hits together and come up with a big inning like that. Their big inning against San Francisco on opening day was very, very different. That was more taking advantage of bases on balls for the most part. Hopefully the M's can build some momentum off that big inning going into Minnesota later today.

I expect a much better game for, from Marco Gonzalez this afternoon, making a second start of the season. His first start was a clunker. But remember, gang, his first start last season was also quite poor, and he went on to have an outstanding season. I'll talk about the twins later today in C Block, and on the other side of this impending break, a few more notes from yesterday's game and some injury news, unfortunately. The two players who had to leave Tuesday's games were both placed on the injured list

prior to yesterday's game, but that will all be upcoming, as at this time I present the trivia corner and this trivia question. There was a catcher's interference call yesterday against Yasmani Grandal in the second inning. I will be talking about that in the next segment. When was the first instance of catcher's interference in an all-star game? That answer to that following this word from the locker room. This episode is brought to you by the locker room, as I just mentioned.

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Answer to the trivia question, ladies and gentlemen, the first catcher's interference in an all-star game occurred in 1991 in Toronto. The batter was future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, and the catcher was future Hall of Famer Craig Bezio. Both members of the 3,000 hit club, Bigeo was moved out from behind the plate to second base to preserve his speed and his bat. 1991 was Bigio's last full season as a catcher. He was a full-time second baseman in 1992 when he made his second of seven trips to the Midsummer Classic.

Coming up, what's the latest on James Paxton and Ace Freyley? I don't know, but we're meeting for tea this afternoon. I'll talk to them and let you know what they had to say. Really looking forward to that, ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be delightful. Now this from Rock Auto. Rock Auto.com is a family business, ladies and gentlemen, serving auto parts customers online for 20 years. That's two decades. Go to rockato.com to shop for auto parts from hundreds of manufacturers. Whether it's for your classic or daily driver, get everything you need in a few very easy clicks delivered directly to your door. How easy can it be? They make it so easy, and their catalog is unique and, again, easy to navigate. Quickly see all the parts available for your vehicle and choose the brands, specs, and prices that you, prefer. Best of all, prices at rockado.com are always reliably low, and the same for do-it-yourselfers and professionals alike. Why spend up to twice as much for this same parts? No reason to do that.

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I shouldn't talk about it as often as I do. Anyways, follow the Lockdown Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcast. You know, maybe I'll talk Peter Bikowski into doing a little segment on the World Carling Championships once the gold medal game is finished. No, probably not going to do that. Two things to get to in this segment. First of all, an update on the status of both Jake Frey and James Paxton, and also Evan White, who had to leave yesterday's game. Then I want to talk about the catcher's interference call, which occurred in the second inning. First, the bad news, however, which I hope doesn't turn out to be worse news than it is now. Both James Paxton and

Ace Frey were placed on the 10-day injured list prior to yesterday's game. Paxton exited the second inning Tuesday with a strained left forearm and Ace exited after straining his left handstring on a diving catch in the fifth. Both men underwent MRIs yesterday and the team had left for Minneapolis before the test results came back. So we'll find out more about their status later today in all likelihood. It was reported that Paxton awoke with a stiff elbow and forearm yesterday. not the best of news, especially given his history of injury.

Outfielder Braden Bishop was called up from the alternate training site to fill Aces void, and L.J. Newsom was brought up to take Paxton's place on the roster. Nick Margievichus will enter the rotation in Paxton's stead, while Newsom will take over Margo's role in the bullpen. And yes, I just called Nick Margevich's Margo. It's the best I could come up with, but I got tired of having you type Markievich's 17 times when he's involved in the game. Next, I'll work on a nickname for Steck and Ryder.

Anyways, Evan White had to leave yesterday's game, as I mentioned, after reaching first base on a fielder's choice, on which he strained his left quad. He will not be immediately placed on the disabled list, but he also will not play today. They're going to reassess prior to Saturday's game as the M's have an off day on Friday. I'm assuming Jose Marmonejos will start at first base in White's stead today, but Scott's service could shift his defense around any number of different ways, so we could maybe see Ty France over there, maybe Dylan Moore, if White is going to be out for an extended period of time,

which remains to be seen. I did also want to speak briefly about the catcher's interference call in the second. Not so much about the call itself, which was wound up being the correct call, but I thought Home Plate umpire Nick Marley handled originally missing the call pretty well. Oftentimes we only speak about umpires when they screw up, but they get way more right than they get wrong. And I'm in a pretty good mood, so let's give some love to the Boys in Blue. I'm sure John Miller will appreciate this. He's an umpire.

First of all, this is one of those plays that I would not necessarily blame the umpires for missing, honestly. I was listening to the game on radio, so I didn't actually see the play until I was preparing for this show. Murphy's Bat did obviously graze Yasmani Grandal's glove. Very easy to see on super slow-mo replay. They noted on the radio that it could have sounded like a foul tip to the umpire. buy that to some extent. It's a split second thing. Murphy was very adamant about hitting Grandal's glove

and he's not one to beef with umpires. I don't remember if it was Rick Riz or Dave Sims on the radio call who said that Murphy is one of the more honorable guys in that clubhouse. Their words not mine. So when he's that adamant about something, you

have to listen to him and hear him out. And to Marley's credit, he did and he asked the first and third base umpires for help. He did the right thing, but those two umpires also missed the call. Then they had the umpire in New York look at the replay. The correct call was made, and Murphy was awarded first base rather than being a strikeout victim. Even if this play was not reviewable, Nick Marley handled the blown call as he should have. He asked for help. The other two umpires also missed the call, but hey, Marley still did the right

thing. Even if three umpires missed the same play, you know, gang, sometimes that's baseball. Just like leaving a solid eight pin on a flush strike sometimes is a bad break in bowling, umpiring crews are sometimes going to miss plays. That's why instant replay was instituted, but I feel as if it really hasn't helped too much, and in some cases it's been worse. And about replay at large, Major League Baseball should really take a page out of the NFL's book and mic up either the home plate umpire or the crew chief so he can get on the public address system and explain to the crowd the situation, instead of just using hand signals. Back when I used to watch football, there were a lot of head referees who would explain in great detail what he saw on the video

replay and explain why he was either upholding the call, reversing the call, or why he didn't see enough evidence to either overturn or uphold the call. Baseball should do the exact same thing. It would not add that much more time to the game. Replay takes forever anyway, and it would be much better for the crowd of the stadium who are oftentimes, you know, left to guess what the hell happened, and also for the crowd at home. The TV and radio commentators oftentimes also have to guess what happened before official word is relayed to the booth. I will also note that this is the only cue that I would like baseball to take from the NFL. But to wrap up this point in terms of how to handle a disputed call, I thought this was exemplary. If you have a question or a comment you would

like me to address on the show, please send an email to Lockdown Mariners at gmail.com. Questions and comments about anything are welcome and encouraged. It doesn't even have to have anything to do with baseball. If you have an idea for a nickname for Drew Steckenwriter, send it in, or any player. I like nicknames. Just nothing I have to bleep, please. Coming up, soup, bacon, deli meat, ibuprofen. What? Oh, that's got nothing to do with the next segment. That's my shopping list. I was reading on. off my phone and had the wrong app open. Sorry, gang. Now this, from Bet Online, the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Football might be over, but the NBA and NHL are in full swing,

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Bet Online, your online sports book experts, promo code. Locked On. Now back to Lockdown Mariners and your host, D.C. Lunders. You bet. Thanks, J.M. Hey, gang, be a waiver-wire winner with the Locked-on Fantasy Baseball podcast. is a daily fantasy baseball podcast hosted by veteran fantasy analyst Scott Cullen, who uses data and nearly two decades of fantasy baseball experience to offer the strategies and waiver-wire pickups that will lead to league wins.

Follow Locked-on Fantasy Baseball on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcasts. D.C. Lundberg here with you. We're going to talk about the upcoming Twins series before we get out of here for the day. First game is this afternoon, another early start. 1.10 p.m. Pacific Coast time, which presents a problem for me since coverage of the U.S. Denmark game at the World Curling Championships starts at the exact same time. So I will definitely be flipping back and forth between the two games. US is currently 7 and 3, by the way, as round robin plays beginning to wind down. Good showing for the most part for John Schuster and crew.

Anyways, back to the sport, I actually cover. Marco Gonzalez will look to reverse his fortunes today against Jose Barrios, who's also making his second start of the year. In his first downing, he absolutely dominated the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out 12 over six innings. Wow. Without allowing a hit or a walk, just one hit battsman. Got the win. Last year was a bit of a down year by his standards, went five and four with an ERA exactly at four, walked more hitters per nine innings than he ordinarily does a lot more, but he is a two-time all-star. Off day on Friday, followed by two late morning games, both Saturdays and Sunday's games will begin at 1110 a.m. hour time.

On Saturday, the Ms will run Yusei Kikichi out to the hill, while the twins will start former mayor-owner Michael Paneda. He went five innings in his first start, allowed two walks and four hits, did not allow a run, and struck out five Brewers. Only pitched in five games last year after coming back from a PED suspension at the end of 2019. It was a reduced suspension of 60 games rather than 80 games. He had won an appeal. And I talked about that particular suspension back in November.

On the same show, I talked about Robinson Canoe's latest PED suspension. Sunday is the game I am most looking forward to, as Chris Flexen will tow the rubber for the M's. I was very impressed with his first start, and I hope this next start will be more of the same. He'll be opposed by Matt Shoemaker, the former Angel and Blue Jay. This is his first season in the Twin Cities. He went six innings in his first start, which was a lot of. against Detroit. Three hits allowed, including a solo home run to Wilson Ramos. That was the only run he allowed, and he struck out five and walked no one. The twins are four and two right at this

exact moment, and they're hitting 255 as a team. Andrelton Simmons, another former angel, has started off the season very hot. He's hitting 400. Byron Buxton has started very well, as well, hitting 357. I hope that young man can stay healthy for a change. Nelson Cruz has hit three home runs and has seven RBI, and he's hitting 471 and slugging 1,059. I don't think those numbers are going to last the full season, just to hunch on that one, but still obviously a great start. Luis Arayez has been playing third base in Josh Donaldson's stead. Donaldson is currently on the injured list.

He's hitting 1,000 gang, but that's after just one at bat. He left the season opener with a handstring injury. He will not be eligible to come off the injured list until after, the series with the Mariners has concluded. That is certainly good news for the Maritors. Twins pitching staff overall has a 214 team ERA. That's good for second best in the American League. Bullpen ERA of 309.

They've pitched 23 and third innings. They've given up eight earned runs. Their bullpen whip is 1.114. They're striking out a lot of guys, 11.6 per nine innings. That's kind of par across major league baseball in terms of a bullpen. It's a lot of strikeout guys down there. They're not walking too many hitters so far, however. 2.3 walks per nine innings, 1.2 home runs per nine innings.

Of course, this is a very small sample size, 23 to 3rd innings, 30 strikeouts in those 23 and a 3rd, 6 walks, 3 home runs, and 8 earned runs. Well, gang, I think that's going to do it. We'll close out to the week tomorrow by talking about the Mariners' first road game. Joining me to do that will be Ricky Ricardo, Sonic the Hedgehog, and an abandoned shopping mall. Please remember to download, rate, and follow Locked-on Mariners. Look for us on any podcasting app that you're any podcasting app that you like to use. Thank you for listening, gang. Have a great Thursday. I will be talking to you tomorrow.

This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.