En Fuego

“Coming with more hits than the Braves and the Yankees” – Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest on the song “Award Tour”.

The Seattle Mariners are coming with more hits than anyone in Major League Baseball right now. The offense seemingly cannot be stopped. In the past five games, the M’s average 10 runs per game and 14.8 hits per game while posting a 4-1 mark during that span. Additionally they have more hits than any other team in baseball during the month of May and scored the fourth most runs. How did this happen?

Before the Mariners ventured on the current road trip, I wrote in this blog that they needed to win five out of six games against Tampa Bay and Kansas City to have a shot heading into Anaheim. They went out and did just that. To add a little extra excitement into the Seattle fan base, the hometown nine went out and beat the Angels 12-5 last night to pull within 3 ½ games of first and move three games above .500 for the first time since 2003.

While winning six out of seven games, the Mariners line up posted a .334 average while the starters did just enough to win games (with the exception of recently injured Horacio Ramirez). The central difference in this team between then and now lies in the situational hitting.

In my earlier blog, I noted that the M’s ranked 12th in the American Leauge in on-base percentage, 13th in at bats with runners in scoring position, and 9th in average with runners in scoring position. This meant they weren’t getting on base and then in turn weren’t driving guys in when they did get on base. Now they stand 8th in the AL in OBP at .331 (more guys getting on) and 3rd in average with RISP at .286 (driving them in like crazy).

Along with Ichiro’s (hitting .364 in the past seven games) 21 game hit streak, the middle of the line up is finally producing. Richie Sexson is hitting .333 with two homers and 10 RBI in the past seven games while Adrian Beltre is even hotter at .440 with three dongs and four RBIs. Raul Ibanez is hitting .375 in the same time. If these guys continue to hit, the Mariners will be hard to beat especially when they get leads early.

When Seattle gets a lead heading into the 6th or 7th, it is trouble for the opposition. Sean White and Jason Davis provide mop up long relief, but the other five relievers are the guys who protect leads and they are spectacular. The 7th inning belongs to lefty Eric O’Flaherty (2.35 ERA) and right hander Sean Green (2.70 ERA) with Chris Reitsma hurt. The 8th inning becomes tougher with lefty George Sherrill (1.76 ERA) and rookie righty Brandon Morrow (1.96 ERA). Of course J.J. Putz owns the ninth (1.25 ERA and 12-for-12 in saves). Collectively these five have pitched 48 1/3 innings in May with a 2.05 ERA and 51 strikeouts while allowing only 33 hits. Even more impressive, the end three of Sherrill, Morrow, and Putz have given up only one run in the past 36 2/3 innings they have pitched.

With the success of the bullpen and the recent hitting, the starters need to keep the team in the game into the 6th and 7th innings. Currently Felix Hernandez (3-2, 2.87 ERA), Jarrod Washburn (5-4, 3.22 ERA), and Cha Seung Baek (2-2, 4.60 ERA) are capable of this. Washburn went at least six innings in nine of ten starts this season while Baek has done this feat in his past four starts. Felix is getting better each start since the injury and since he has never given up more than three earned runs this season, he always gives the Mariners a chance to win. Batista proves to be inconsistent (5-4, 5.72 ERA) as he pitched at least into the sixth in the past three starts, but the league still hits .321 against him.

The final starter changed since Ramirez went on the DL and we will see what Ryan Feierabend can do today. With Jeff “I Hate You” Weaver still ailing from sucking so bad and no one else on the 40 man roster to replace, Feierabend gets the nod. Not that he has been bad in AAA, posting a 2-2 record with a 3.86 ERA and not giving up more than three earned runs in any of his 10 starts. He goes up against Ervin Santana who looks awful at 3-6 with a 6.00 ERA, but of course he beat the Mariners this year already and posts a 3-1 record with a 2.33 ERA at home this year. The bright side is that Seattle does fine against him in the past three years (1-2, 6.56 ERA).The series concludes with The King versus Jered Weaver. Obviously no matter how well Weaver pitches, the Mariners have a good chance of winning with Felix on the hill.

With a pretty good line up now and a fantastic bullpen, the Mariners have a shot at the A.L. West still. They need Sexson, Beltre, and Ibanez to keep producing like they have in the past week and more help from the bottom two starters in the rotation. Needless to say, you won’t see me complaining much when the team ranks first in the majors in batting average at .281 and at 25-22 with Felix pitching every fifth day. Things could be a whole lot worse (like the past three seasons).