Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - M's Win First Series of '21 (Plus Bonus Curling Coverage!)

Episode Date: April 5, 2021

D.C. speaks about the final two games of the Mariners/Giants series, which the teams split. Friday was not the best of days for the Mariners, and two free agent relievers did not impress in their first outings. However, free agent starter Chris Flexen was very good in his first start as a Mariner on Saturday. Plus, the Mariners hit their first two home runs, and Taylor Trammell checked in with his first big league hit, not to mention very good defense in center field the entire series. To wrap up the show, D.C. offers an update on the Men's World Curling Championships which are currently taking place in Calgary. 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. Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Happy Monday, gang. I hope everyone out there had a nice Easter or Passover, whichever you celebrate, if you celebrate either one, of course. Another week is upon us here on Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, brought to you by Rock Auto. Please remember to download rate and follow Locked On Mariner's using 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 the Locked On Podcast Network. So simple to do. All you got to do is say, hey, you, smart device over there. Play me Locked on whatever podcast. After being handed a victory Thursday night in the opening game of the 2021 season, the Mariners proceeded to drop the next game Friday night. but then won the rubber match of the series on Saturday. Going to talk about both games on today's show and the logical thing to do

is to go in chronological order, so we'll start with Friday's loss. To be perfectly honest, I did not begin watching this game until the sixth inning. I was watching curling that evening. But I did see the bullpen do not very well. And thanks to the magic of the internet, I can still watch the highlights and comment on the game at large. Mariters were first on the board in the second inning. Louise Torrens, the starting game.

catcher this day, doubled home Jake Frailey for a pretty quick one-nothing lead. The Giants would get it right back the next half inning, though, on a Buster Posey solo home run. Bottom of that very same inning, Evan White notched a two-run single, which scored Mitch Hanager and tie France. That three-to-one lead would hold until the bottom, pardon me, the top of the sixth. Evan Longoria had himself a series, ladies and gentlemen. He hit a two-run home run to tie the ball game, and the Giants would take the lead the next inning on a two-run double off the bat of Donovan Solano. He would later score on an Evan Longoria single for a six to three lead which would wind up being the final score. Usa Kikachi pitched six innings allowed all three runs.

All of them scored on the two home runs he allowed. On the bright side, he only walked one and struck out ten. In his six innings, he tossed 89 pitches, then gave way to newcomer Drew Steck and Ryder. He and the next man to pitch Keenan Middleton both appeared to me to be overthrowing their fastball, which left a lot of them high outside the zone. Steck and Ryder walked two in only two thirds of an inning, but Key only walked one in his one and one-thirds. Steck and Ryder also allowed two hits and three runs, all of them earned, but the two outs he recorded were strikeouts.

Middleton only allowed that one walk, pardon me, and struck out one. Nick Margievichist pitched the final inning, which was a one-two-three inning with no strikeouts. Both home runs that Kikachi allowed were elevated pitches on the outside edge that were driven the other way. Longo's was more to dead right field while Posey's was more to right center. I'm pleased to see that Kikachi only walked one, which is one of my chief complaints about him. He walks away too many hitters, but my other complaint is that he also gives up too many home runs. And the two that he gave up on Thursday were, both poorly executed pitches. Still, not a bad effort from Kikichi. Steckenrider and Middleton, though,

looked rough. As I noted, they were overthrowing their fastballs and had trouble locating them. However, it's just one game. I'm not worried. Margevich has pitched the final inning, which will not be his primary role, but he needed to get an inning of work in, so he wound up pitching the ninth. Still haven't come up with a nickname for him yet, but I'm also thinking that Steckin Rider might need a nickname. This is baseball. You got to have a nickname. And one final note about Keenan Middleton. It looks like the Mariners have finally found a successor to Ben Gamble in the Great Hair Department. Kenan Middleton's dreadlocks were outstanding.

Some of them were even colored teal to match the Mariners team colors. Very sharp. Taylor Tramel made another good defensive play, robbing Darren Ruff of maybe extra bases. Tramel was playing in right center, shading Ruff to pull, but he had to range almost back to left center, stretched out and made a nice, kind of a halfway between a dive and a lunge to catch the ball. Center field has not been his primary position in the minors. He's played more than twice as many games in left field as he has in center, 120 games in center versus 263 in left, which makes his defense out there even that much more impressive.

A center field are adapting to a corner is much easier than a corner adapting to six. center. There was one play, and I don't remember if this was Friday or Saturday, where he was fooled on a ball. He started to break back, but the ball wasn't hit that deep. So he had to come back and field it, which he did. So you can tell that he's not totally accustomed to center field. And as someone who has tried to play center field and failed utterly, but who can handle left okay, I can tell you that the bat off the ball just looks totally different in center field as it does and left. Center field is much, much harder, and Tramel has very much impressed me. Time for the trivia corner, and we'll do a hall pass today. Haven't done one in a while.

Today's subject enjoyed an 18-year major league career as an outfielder in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. He amassed a slash line of 274, 338, 480. He smashed 348 home runs, led his league twice in that category, hit 307 doubles and drove in 1,239 runs. Let his league three times in that category. He has three 100 plus RBI seasons, which were his three league leading seasons in that department. He has one MVP award, a second place finish, a third place finish, and received MVP votes in two other seasons. He's a five-time All-Star, an All-Star Game MVP, and a Silver Slugger Award winner. Do you out there in podcast land, consider those Hall of Fame credentials?

I'll tell you who it is after this word from betonline.ag. Betonline is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Yes, all your sports action. Football might be over, but the NBA, NHL, and college basketball are in full swing, obviously Major League Baseball as well, and of course the curling world championships, which I'll talk a little bit about in C Block. Bet Online even covers awards, TV, shows, and reality TV. Real-time updated odds and props on almost anything, anything you can imagine.

Bet Online has you covered for all the news, scores, and odds. It's the best way to place your bet, and it is free. Free to sign up. Head on over to the website or use your mobile device to sign up today and receive your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. Bet Online, your online sports book experts. Promo code locked on. The Hall Pass subject today, George Foster, a big part of the Big Red Machine that won two World Series championships in the mid-70s.

Foster was one of the power sources which drove in many, many runs. He was the 1977 National League MVP, a season in which he hit a league-leading 52 home runs, scored a league-leading 124 runs, and drove in a league-leading 149 runs. He slugged 631 that year with an OPS of 1,013, both of which also led the National League. He accumulated a league-leading 388 total bases that year as well. Coming up, how did Chris Flexen Fair in his Mariners debut? If you answered mushroom gravy, you were not listening to the question. Now back to Lockdown Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg.

Thank you, Joey. Ladies and gentlemen, get all the sports news. You need an under 20 minutes with the Locked on Today podcast. Host Peter Bukowski updates you on the latest news in every major sports with the help of our local experts. Follow the Lockdown Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcasts. I'm certain they'll be talking about the finals of the college basketball tournament. I did see the end of the Gonzaga game last Saturday. My roommate was watching it and happened to go into the kitchen and make a sandwich,

as regulation was winding down, so I decided to watch the overtime period for the hell of it, even though I'm not a basketball fan. But I will say that any clock-beating game-winning shot in any sport is exciting. And ladies and gentlemen, that highlight is going to live forever. And while I'm no Gonzaga fan, I am very happy for my adopted home city of Spokane. This is a basketball town, ladies and gentlemen.

Zag's fever is everywhere. So for Spokane's sake, I certainly do hope they pull it out against Baylor tonight. And for more on this, listen to the brand new Locked-on Zags podcast. I kid you not, there is now a locked-on Zaggs podcast here on the Locked-on podcast network. Go check it out. Back to baseball gang and speaking about Saturday's Mariners game, a shutout win against the Giants, which featured the first two Mariner home runs, the first of which was hit by Ty France into third. Logan Webb hung a breaking ball, and which France did not miss, and sent it into the Mariner's bullpen for a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth, Taylor Tremel finally got his first big league hit and did so in rather impressive fashion. It was a change-up that was fading low and away, but still within the strike zone, which Tremel was able to drive to the warning track in the right center field gap. This went for an RBI double, which scored Evan White for a 2-0 lead. White had led off the inning with a solid double of his own. Following Tramel, Dylan Moore smoked an RBI double, three consecutive doubles to begin the fourth. All of them hit pretty well, and the Mariners had a three-nothing lead.

Moore's double was hit to the base of the wall in left field. Last year, it may have left the yard altogether. At the very least, it probably would have been off the top of the wall. Mitch Hanigur made it 4-0 in the 7th. Reyes Moronta hung a fastball out over the plate, at the letters, and Manninger made him pay for that mistake, sending the Mariners' second home run of the day into the M's bullpen. And I must say, good catch by M's bullpen catcher Fleming-Beyes.

Four-nothing would be the final score. The M's allowed six hits and only walked two. They struck out 12. Chris Flex had made his Mariner debut, and boy, he looked very good. His pitch count was rather high in the fourth inning, so he only went five. And in those five innings he threw 94 pitches. He gave up four hits, struck out six, but he did walk two.

I liked the way he mixed his pitches, however. Something he apparently didn't do very well in his time in the Mets system, nor did he have this curveball he utilized on Saturday. It looks like it's going to be a good pitch for him. It's got good downward action, but not like most 12 to 6 curveballs, which almost appear to go up before breaking down. This one starts high and then drops, almost like a forkball, and the Giants couldn't hit it. And Flexion was able to locate it pretty well.

Yes, this is just one start, but I'm a believer. I was skeptical when they signed him, given his numbers with the Mets and his numbers in the high minors, but if he pitches like that all season, then the Ms have found themselves a diamond in the rough. Great first outing for Mr. Flexon. Kendall Graven came in to pitch the next two innings, which leads me to believe that Skipper-Scott, is not going to limit him to a setup role. If need be, he can come in and pitch multiple innings, so he and Margievich's can both come in and give the Mariners some length, if need be.

That makes me wonder why they need eight pitchers in the bullpen, especially of both Ace Frey and Taylor Tramel continue to play well upon Kyle Lewis's return. I'm wondering if they would consider rethinking their plan for the bullpen so they can keep Fraley as an extra outfielder when Lewis does come back. I don't seem to them sending down Hose's. Marmalaheos or Sam Haggurty. Marmo is out of minor league options and telegram Sam is just too versatile to send down. Anthony Masevich pitched two-thirds of an inning. He wasn't great. He did give up two hits, but neither of them scored. Raphael Montero pitched the final out of the 8th and then

set the Giants down in short order in the 9th to preserve that 4-0 victory. Certainly a much better outing than his debut on opening day. To his credit though, after giving up the home run to lead off the 9th on Thursday, didn't seem to let it bother him. That's an important asset for a closer to have, a short memory. Also, we learned a little bit about how Scott Service is going to play with his starting lineup. Mitch Hanager was given a half day off of sorts. He started as the designated hitter. The usual DH, Thai France, played second base. The usual second baseman, Dylan Moore, played left field. The usual left fielder, Ace Freely, wasn't right. And the usual right

Fielder, Manninger, was the DH, as we noted earlier. Having an everyday player like Dylan Moore, who can play almost anywhere, is absolutely a huge asset, because it allows the manager to give some players a little extra rest by DHing them and realign the defense almost any way he pleases, since Moore is available at seven different positions. Also, it appears as if Tom Murphy and Luis Torrens will be a catching tandem. Torens was pretty good in the short stint with the Aaron's last season, and Murphy was excellent in his full season in 2019, where he split time with Omar Narvaez. Evan White is looking as if his woes from last season might be a thing of the past.

Again, it's only three games, but he has put some good swings on the ball so far and appears to be making better contact. Very good signs. Ace Freightly is also turning in some good at bats, even if the results in terms of batting average aren't there yet. Mitch Hanigar certainly looks like he's back to his pre-2019 form. These are all good signs. But again, I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself since it is just the first three games of a 162 game season. The Mariners were off yesterday and will begin a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox tonight in Seattle. Justice Sheffield will tow the rubber this evening. The Big Maple will make his hopefully triumphant return to the Mariners on Wednesday.

And the series will be rounded out with a start from Justin Dunn on Thursday. Have you out there got a question or a comment for me? If you do, I encourage you to send it into Lockdown Mariners at gmail.com. Clive Braithwaitech, the fourth, will read it on the air, and I will answer it's on the air as well, I guess. It'd be pretty silly for me to answer it off here, wouldn't it? Anyways, questions and comments on any subject are welcome and encouraged. Highly encouraged, the more off topic, the better, to a point, I suppose. Nope, the more off topic, the better.

Keep them appropriate, though, please, this is a family. show. Coming up with the first weekend of Major League Baseball in the books, we'll take a trip around the league to find out how the rest of the league is doing. I love trips. First, this word from Rock Auto. Rock Auto.com is a family business gang, serving auto parts customers online for 20 years. Go to rockato.com to shop for auto and body parts from hundreds of manufacturers. Whether it's for your classic or your daily driver, get everything you need and a few easy clicks delivered directly to your door. The rockado.com catalog is unique and remarkably easy to navigate.

I've done it. It is easy to navigate, gang. Quickly see all the parts available for your vehicle and choose the brands, specs, and prices that you like. Best of all, prices at rockato.com are always reliably low, gang. They're the same for professionals and do-it-yourselfers as well. Why spend up to twice as much for the same parts? That doesn't make sense.

So go to rockato.com right now and see all the parts available for your car truck, then SUV or crossover. Write Locked On in their How did you hear about us, box? So they know we sent you. I have no idea why it in that voice either. Amazing selection, reliably low prices. All the parts of your car will ever need,

rock auto.com. Welcome back to Lockdown Mariners. Here once again is your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, JM. Hey, Fantasy Baseball addicts. You now have a new resource to give you an advantage in your leads. Well, what is it, you might be asking? Well, I'll tell you.

It's locked on fantasy baseball. It's a daily fantasy baseball podcast hosted by... What? Hosted by legendary game show host, Bill Cullen? I thought he'd been dead for 30 years. Oh, sorry. It's hosted by veteran fantasy analyst Scott Cullen. Everyone gets them confused.

Anyway, Scott Cullen uses data and nearly two decades of fantasy baseball experience to offer the strategies and waiver-wire pickups that will lead you to league wins. Follow Locked-on Fantasy Baseball on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcasts. Gonna take a quick trip around the league before I wrap things up on a note that probably no one listening cares about. But I'm going to indulge myself and talk a little curling. The World Championships only come around once a year, except last year when it was canceled. So this is a huge deal.

Anyways, baseball-wise, we may as well start in the American League West, since that's where the Mariners play, and I regret to inform you that the Astros swept the Oakland A's in their opening four-game series. Not a good start for Oakland, but Houston is certainly making a statement. They were just a 500 team last year, below 500, no less, with down years from Alex Breggman and especially Jose Al-Tuve.

I thought their time had passed, quite honestly. I thought they'd just be a bit above 500 this year, maybe 84-85 wins. And I thought Oakland was. going to walk away with the division. All that could still happen. Again, it's just a few games. Both teams have 158 of them to go. The Angels went three and one in their series versus the Chicago White Sox. The Angels are a team that got off to an historically bad start last year. I think the worst in franchise history. And I think they'll be better this year. Chicago's good.

And after losing three of four in Anaheim, they may be a little angry heading into Seattle. so I suspect they're going to give the Mariners a rough time. This series is going to be a pretty good test to see what the Ms are made of. San Francisco's bowpen just looked atrocious. Chicago's got much better pitching. The Rangers got off to a one-and-two start. They played Kansas City, and those two teams are, oh, I'll be kind. They're not good.

The Rangers will probably finish last in the AL West. For the record, I've got the Mariners finishing fourth, ahead of Texas, and behind. behind Los Angeles, with maybe somewhere between 78 and 82 wins, right around 500. The M's are a young team. They're going to be streaky, gang. Aside from Houston, there's only one other team that has yet to lose a game, and that team is Baltimore? Yeah, the Baltimore Orioles are 3-0, ladies and gentlemen, break them up. They played the Boston Red Sox in their opening series,

making Boston the only other team besides Oakland in the AL, who has yet to win a game. Unlike Oakland, Boston will probably be out of the playoffs. I don't think they're very good, which I'm actually pretty happy about since they rehired the manager that they had during their cheating scandal. Anyways, going over the rest of the AL East,

Toronto and Tampa Bay are both two and one. I'm not entirely sold on Toronto, but Tampa Bay had the best record in the AL last year. However, they did lose Blake Snell, something that will actually be brought up on this very show tomorrow. Toronto played the Yankees while the Reyes played their intrastate rivals, so to speak, the Miami Marlins. Moving over to the Central, Detroit is 2 and 1 as of Sunday night. They're another team that's not going to be good. Kansas City is

also 2 and 1, as noted above. Minnesota is also 2 and 1. Honestly, gang, I'm not really sold on Minnesota. I think they're a little overrated. They're going to be good, but I don't think they're going to be great. I think the Central's probably going to be Chicago's to lose. They lost three or four to the Angels, as I said just a little bit ago. The Cleveland Indians are one and two. If memory serves, this is the last year the Cleveland Indians are going to be the Cleveland Indians. I know they're going to change their name, and I think that this is the last season, they'll have the Indians name. I also haven't seen a story yet about whether they've decided on a new name yet, although I very easily could have missed such a story. I don't think I have.

I will go over the National League on Wednesday's program since I'm starting to run out of time today. Tomorrow's show is already recorded, so I can't do it tomorrow. But I will end today's show with a report from Calgary on the Men's World Curling Championships. Team USA is currently 4 and 1 in round-robin play. The first of their games, which was televised, was against Powerhouse Sweden, and Skip Nicholas Aedene, who might just be the best player, the world right now. Both teams had moments of sloppiness, though. It was a pretty close game for the most part, which Sweden won. Sweden lost its first game, which was against a very good Swiss team.

After losing to Sweden, John Schuster's American team played a very young German team. And while Schuster was a little sloppy in this one as well, as was third Chris Plyze, both men played much better in the second half, and Schuster made some key shrewster made some key shots in the final ends, while the young German skip, Sixth-end Totsek, missed some shots late, leaving Team USA an opportunity to make those key shots, which they did execute. The USA then played Japan, and this was another game in which

Schuster and Plyze were shaky early, especially Ply's. He also had some bad breaks, though. And John Lansdiner and Matt Hamilton were not exactly on top of their games early either. The Japanese skip, Utah Matsumara, had a very rough day at the office. Kevin Martin said on the telecast that it's one of those days where he would wake up and try to tie his shoes and the shoelaces would break.

The poor guy just couldn't do anything right, it seemed. He also had some breaks not go his way as well, and the U.S. trounced Japan 10 to 5, and Japan conceded after the U.S. scored three in the ninth end. Schuster and Team USA then played a non-televised game facing Peter de Cruz and Switzerland. And the U.S. handed Switzerland its first loss. Through nine ends, the U.S. led 7 to 6 and had hammer in the 10th.

Switzerland would have to steal a point to force an extra end or steal two to tie. They didn't do that, and the U.S. scored one for the victory. After play on Sunday, Norway is the only undefeated team left. They're 5 in 0. The U.S., Canada, the Russian Curling Federation, Scotland and Switzerland are all four and one. That Russian team is a bit of a surprise. Italy and Sweden are three and two. Sweden being three and two is a surprise also.

They might have the best team in the world. All four of their players are absolutely excellent. Denmark and Japan are both two and three. South Korea is one and five. And there are three teams who have yet to win a game. China, Germany, and the Netherlands. China and Germany are both 0 and 5, while the Netherlands are 0 and 6. That's all for today, gang.

Tomorrow it'll be another crossover episode. Javier Reyes of Locked On Padres will be here, and we talked a lot about the Mariners, two segments worth. It was a fun conversation. Hobby is a great host. We both like to have fun on the air, and we both had fun recording this program. I hope you enjoy it too.

Remember to download Raid and follow Locked on Mariner's. Look for us on any podcasting app you can think of. Thank you for listening, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy tonight's game, and enjoy curling. If you haven't given curling a chance, I highly encourage you to do it. The rules can seem complicated to a newcomer, but you'll be able to get the hang of it if you really do watch a game. I love it, but I still couldn't tell you about any strategy. I can't analyze it like I can baseball or even bowling, but I really, really enjoy it. And it's made even more enjoyable by color analyst Kevin Martin and his Canadian accent.

I went off again. Sorry, gang. I will be back here tomorrow. I hope you will be as well. Have a great day. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.