Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Slowly Slipping Away

Episode Date: September 23, 2020

The Mariners' playoff hopes are fading following yesterday's loss to Houston. D.C. talks about yesterday's game and shares what he thinks the M's need to do to make it to postseason play this year. Two more division titles have been claimed, D.C. gets you up to speed on who has clinched what, and also gives an updated on the National and American League leaders, both pitching and hitting. 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.

This is Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. You know, gang, ordinarily, I would just brush off the loss as, eh, you can't win them all, but the Mariners kind of had to win them all to have a chance at the postseason. And with their loss yesterday, their playoff chances are, as Haram Scarem said in 1991, slowly slipping away. Welcome to Lockdown Mariners, ladies and gentlemen. I am D.C. Lundberg, and we are part of the

Locked-on podcast network or T-L-O-P-N for short or for shorter, Tlopin. Remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or 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 Tloppin. Follow us on Twitter at L-O- underscore Mariners, and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg, L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G, if you are indeed scoring at home. As I mentioned, yes, the Mariners did lose yesterday, 6-1 to the Houston Astros, and I said on

yesterday's program that I kind of felt like they had to sweep this series to have a shot at the playoffs. The Astros are the team against whom the Mariners are competing for the second spot in the Western Division, which still just doesn't sound right to say. but in any case they are battling Houston for the second spot in the West, which is a playoff birth this year. Coming into the ballgame, the Astros were 27 and 27, exactly at 500, and the Mariners were 24 and 30. Recapping the scoring, Mara Al Astros scored in the top of the first inning, got things going right away.

Kyle Tucker singled to score Michael Brantley. Bottom of the first, the Mariners would answer right back and tie up the ballgame on an RBI double by Kyle Seeger. J.P. Crawford scoring on that play. The sixth inning is when it all went awry. Michael Brantley hit a solo home run, and then with Casey Sadler pitching, well, Casey Sadler then unleashed a wild pitch to score Kyle Tucker and the Astros have a three to one advantage at this point. Later on, in that same sixth inning, Martin Maldonado, who's basically a light-hitting

defensive-minded catcher. He's had a great season against the Seattle Mariners offensively. he jacks a three-run home run, Yulee Guriel and Josh Redick scoring ahead of him to give the Astros a 6-1 lead, which they would hold on to, and that would be the final score. L.J. Newsom started for the Mariners, four and a third innings pitched for him, four hits, one run it was earned, a strikeout and no walks, the good control was back for him,

and I'm honestly not exactly sure why he was pulled so early in the ballgame. he threw 66 pitches, and I'm guessing it's probably because he's just not stretched out enough to be a starter at this point. But, hey, next year, he probably does figure in to the Mariners rotation in some degree. Casey Sadler would then pitch an inning and a third. Two hits, four runs, all of them earned, two walks, that wild pitch we mentioned, no strikeouts, and that home run to Brantley. Two of the three runs that scored on the Maldonado home run, were charged to Sadler.

Brandon Brennan came in for an inning and a third. He'd give up two hits. One run, it was earned, a walk, two strikeouts, and that home run to Maldenado, which was his only earned run of the day. Brady Lale came in and cleaned things up for two innings. He'd give up one hit and two walks while striking out two batters. On the flip side, Astro started Framber Valdez, and he was pretty good. Seven innings pitched for Mr. Valdez.

Five hits, one run. It was earned. No one. box, there you go, and eight strikeouts. That's a very, very good line. With this six to one loss, the Mariners now find themselves four games back of Houston for the second spot in the American League West, which the athletics have already won. Worse news yet, the Angels won last night, and went ahead of the Mariners by a half game. The Mariners now have five ball games remaining, and they pretty much need to win out to have any chance, and also have the Astros.

Los out. That's not a good position to be in. So it's looking increasingly unlikely that the Mariners are going to advance to postseason play this year. And let's face it, we didn't think this was a playoff team, did we, ladies and gentlemen? And honestly, if the playoff structure wasn't so messed up this year, the Mariners wouldn't even be sniffing the postseason. The Astros at 28 and 27 probably shouldn't be either. The Los Angeles Angels shouldn't be either. They're 25 and 31, and the Mariners are 24 and 31. The fact that these are teams that are in the playoff hunt is absolutely ludicrous and goes to prove that they are going to be a lot of mediocre teams advancing to postseason play under this format. Nah, but enough about the postseason.

I've spoken about that on other episodes. You know I'm no fan of it. It's obvious at this point. I'm not going to rehash it. Again, there's some unfinished business, so to speak, to get to from Monday night's ballgame. And that involves utility infielder, outfielder, Dylan Moore. He was hit in the head with another pitch in Monday night's ball game. This was a 92-mile-an-hour fastball.

And unlike the first one, which was something of a glancing blow and didn't have, and he stayed in the ball game and then was forced out and it was replaced on defense. He was not so lucky this time. He has a concussion. And he was placed on the seven-day injured list, which, you know, that's basically concussion protocol for Major League Baseball. So his season is done, unless the Mariners, miraculously make the postseason somehow.

But his great season appears to be finished. The more important thing is that he's got to get healthy, just for his own personal well-being. Concussions are nothing to fool around with, ladies and gentlemen, and we do wish Dylan Moore the best. To take his roster spot, the Mariners recalled from the alternate trading site, outfieler Jake Ace Frey.

We're going to talk about some other playoff teams. There's another clinch to talk about. We'll get to that to the second half, of today's program, but first the Mariners trivia question, and it has to do with Kyle Seeger. In Monday's ballgame, Kyle Seeger drove in RBI's number 700 and 701 for his major league career. Only three other players have more than 700 RBI as Seattle Mariners. Name them. Answer following this from Indeed.

Can the Guinness Book of World Records give 2020 world's greatest delay of game? Actually would probably be world's worst delay of game. Even though sports had a break, your business didn't. You have to keep moving. And that makes hiring more important now than ever. And Indeed.com is here to help. Indeed.com is the number one job site in the world because Indeed gets you the best people fast.

Unlike other sites, Indeed gives you full control and payment flexibility over your hiring. You only pay for what you need. You can pause your account at any time. and there are no long-term contracts. Plus, Indeed provides powerful job tools to make your search just that much easier, like sponsored jobs,

which are shown to be three and a half times more likely to result in a hire. With 73% of online job seekers visiting Indeed each month, Indeed is going to get you the important hire that you need just like they have for over 3 million businesses, including my other employer, my day job, I found this job on Indeed.

Right now, Indeed is offering our listeners a free $75 credit to boost your job post, which means more quality candidates will see it and fast. Try Indeed out with a free $75 credit at Indeed.com slash locked on MLB. Gang, this is their best offer available anywhere. So jump on it. Go right now to Indeed.com slash locked on MLB. Terms and conditions apply offer valid through September 30. Answer to the Mariners trivia question in Monday night's ballgame, Kyle Seeger broke the 700 career RBI mark.

The other three players with 700 or more RBI as Mariners, Edgar Martinez leads this list at 1261. Ken Griffey Jr. is second at 1216. Number three, The Bone. Jay Buneer with 951. Right behind Kyle Seeger with 667 RBI as a mariner, Mr. Mariner. Alvin Davis. If you've got a question or a comment, send it to Lockdown Mariners at gmail.com, and I will consider using it for the Friday mailbag segment. With the season likely over, it may go to once every other week, a bi-weekly mailbag segment. So we're having one this Friday,

but following that, I'm not so sure exactly how it's going to play out. But get those questions and comments in to Lockedon Mariners at gmail.com, and I will reply to them on the air. More Locked-on Mariners following the following. Welcome back to Locked-on Mariners. Once again, your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, Joey Martin. Locked on Mariner's back with you to update you on some of the other divisional races. And, you know, just exactly who have clinched playoffs,

who has clinched what, basically, since we last spoke yesterday. And there have been two more divisions claimed they are both in the National League. Let's start out west, where the Dodgers and Padres had both clinched playoff births, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are officially champions of the National League West, having beaten the Oakland Athletics yesterday 7-2. Like I said, Padres have a playoff spot there. The Cubs have clinched a playoff spot as well, but not yet the National League Central. The Braves have not only clinched a playoff spot, they have clinched the National League

Eastern Division. No other team in the East thus far has clinched a playoff spot. Ditto the Central. The Braves are at 33 and 22, exactly, a 600 winning percentage. They're 7 and 3 over their last 10 ball games. Miami is second in the division at 28 and 27. They're inexplicably of what, I shouldn't say inexplicably, but surprisingly above 500. Jumping over to the Central, Cubs have the lead, as I said, 32 and 23. Their closest competition is the St. Louis Cardinals at 27 and 25. three and a half games behind.

So with the season wrapping up on Sunday, Cubs look like they're probably going to win. But, you know, the Cardinals still have a shot. The Reds and Brewers also still have shots. They're both four and a half games behind. Pittsburgh does not have a shot. They are 16 and 39. That's a 291 winning percentage.

They're the only team in Major League Baseball with the winning percentage below 300. Back over to the American League, there has been one more playoff spot, The Cleveland Indians have claimed one of the wildcard spots. The second wild card spot is still up for grabs. It's currently held by the Toronto Blue Jays. And now the Los Angeles Angels are on the outside looking.

And as are the Mariners, the Mariners are now just a half game behind the Angels. But Cleveland is going to be a postseason team. They're 31 and 24. They have an outside shot to win the division as well. They're three games back of first place Chicago. The twins are only a half game behind. that is shaping up to be a pretty interesting race over the last week of the season. The raise still hold a three-and-a-half game lead over the Yankees in the American League Eastern Division,

so Tampa Bay probably looks like they're going to win that east. But hey, anything is possible. The New York Yankees still could win, although it is unlikely. We have a little bit of extra time left on the program, so we'll update you. And some of the statistical races, we'll do American League bat. Actually, we'll do both National and American League batting races today, and maybe we'll do some pitching tomorrow if there's time. Leading the American League with a 356 batting average,

DJ LaMayhew of the New York Yankees. The home run leader also comes to us from the New York Yankees, and it might not be who you think it is. It's Luke Voight. The American League RBI leader is Jose Ibrue of the White Sox, stolen base leader is Adelberto Mondesi, with 20 from the Royals. Luke Voit, incidentally, 21 home runs. Jose Ibrahim, 56 runs batted in.

The OPS leader for the American League is also Jose Ibrahimu at 1029. Moving over to the National League now, and the batting champion there is the very underrated Freddie Freeman of the Braves hitting 347. The National League home run leader is also in Atlanta Brave. Marcelo Zuna was 17. He also leads an RBI with 53. Trevor's Story of the Rockies is the National League's stolen base leader. with 14, and the OPS leader comes to us from the Washington Nationals,

Juan Soto, at 1164. That is a huge on base, ladies and gentlemen. And since that did not take nearly as much time, as I thought it might, let's do pitching. We'll start in the National League, where the ERA leader is Corbyn Burns of the Milwaukee Brewers, who has a 1.77 earned run average. Strikeouts is Jacob de Grom.

He's got 94 strikeouts. Your whip leader is Trevor Bauer of the Reds at 0.82. That is pretty good. Moving over to the American League now at this time. The ERA leader is Shane, don't call him Justin, Bieber at 1.74. Bieber also leads in strikeouts with 112, and your whip leader is Kenta Mayeda at 0.76. Very good season for Kenta Mayeda this far, who came oh so close to pitching a no hitter earlier in this season.

That'll just about wrap it up for today's program, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be back tomorrow to recap the third and final game of the three game series versus Houston. Hopefully a Mariners win because they really need it to have any shot whatsoever to make it to postseason play. On tomorrow's show, I will be

joined by Sam Gorpley, Rosie from the Jetsons, and a gravy ladle. Remember to download rate and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you like to use. Follow us on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners, and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg.

Thank you for listening to today's program, ladies and gentlemen. Hope you enjoyed it despite the Mariners' loss. We'll be back tomorrow, hopefully talking about a Mariner's win. Talk to you then. This is Joey Martin, speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.