9/27: Open Game Thread

By the grace of Robinson Canó and the flukiest of fluky fluff bunts the Mariners have lived to play another meaningful baseball game. The Astros were not so fortunate, but it's hard to feel too bad for a team that employs Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve for the foreseeable future.

Tonight feels like the ultimate test for the Mariners in a number of ways. As has been pointed out constantly on Twitter, the M's start tonight 10 games over .500 for the fifth time in the season. They have never succeeded in breaking that threshold…until now? To further fuel your anxiety, Félix Hernández has only made one start against Houston this season and it was an abysmal 4.1 inning effort, wherein he gave up six runs off nine hits and the offense managed three hits throughout the entire game. And that was just 11 days ago. In a season of dramatically up-and-down Félix starts, the Mariners could really use another outing like his most recent start against the Jays.

While you're sending good Félix thoughts out into the universe, it might also behoove you to include some hopes for general offensive competence, too. Batters whose last names do not start with "C" have struggled quite a bit lately, particularly against pitches that have any sort of movement at all and, despite what seems to be a widely held belief throughout the team, there are more than two true outcomes of any given at-bat.

Not screwing up tonight would be a great, great thing.

That plume of smoke over downtown Seattle is my head exploding with this inexplicable Ketel Marte start once again. But don't worry, I'm sure it'll dissipate soon, no need for alarm.

Game Time: 5:10 PM PT

TV: ROOTNW, MLB.tv

Radio: 710 AM

Go M's