After taking until the seventh inning to record their first hit last night, the Mariners will look to bounce back today. They’ll pin their hopes on Emerson Hancock, who’s looking to bounce back himself. His last start was his roughest of the year so far, surrendering nine hits and six runs to just three whiffs over four innings in Washington. That continues a downward trend since the gem he spun on the night the Mariners retired Randy Johnson’s number. Since that 14-strikeout performance, Hancock has struck out 29 and walked 11 over seven outings.
He’ll have the luxury of facing off against a Red Sox team tonight that’s cobbled together just an 89 wRC+. If he can’t get right tonight, the team’s going to have some real thinking to do about how he can adjust back to the adjustments the league has clearly made to him. One adjustment he’s made so far is to take a little more control of the game by putting a pitchcom controller on his glove. Manager Dan Wilson said Hancock will probably have it again tonight, though he cautioned that when guys get it, “sometimes it’s a little more than they bargained for.”
On the other side, the Red Sox will bring out another lefty, which has been Mariner kryptonite so far this season. Fortunately, tonight’s flavor is Connelly Early, whose 4.53 xERA compares pretty unfavorably to last night’s starter, Ranger Suarez’s, 3.35. The Mariners can expect to see a lot of fastballs and the lefties in particular will see a lot of sinkers, which has not gone great for them this season.
If the Mariners can get into the bullpen, Luke Raley might be available off the bench after what Dan called “a major step forward” from Raley’s battle with a cold.
Lineups
It’s unclear whether this weekend’s Ref-erendum is real or just fan wishcasting. But he gets another chance tonight after going 0-4 with a strikeout last night. He, Mitch Garver, and Connor Joe will be the righty platoon bats tonight and Víctor Robles will sit, at least to start.
What even is a normal Red Sox lineup these days? Something approximating this, I guess.
Game Info
First pitch: 7:10 PDT
TV: Mariners TV, with Goldy and Angie in the booth and Hyphen on the sidelines, presumably getting a little less of a hard time about his Aussies than he did last night
Radio: Old reliable
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