Two years into a five-year, $64 million contract, Adrian Beltre has produced a .262 average, 44 home runs, and 176 RBIs. However, after the All Star break in 2006, Beltre slugged .552 with a whopping 18 home runs. Does this strong second half bode well for a turn-around in 2007, or will Mariners fans have to deal with 'A-Drain' once again? This blog intends to follow the 2007 season for Adrian Beltre, and the Seattle Mariners, and promises to hold no punches.
After dropping Friday night's game 5-2 versus the Rangers, it was nice to see the M's rebound to come out on top of Saturday's game, 8-3.
I have to admit, after seeing the results of Friday's game and knowing that the Mariners were unable to find a victory with Jarrod Washburn on the mound, I had very little confidence that either Miguel Batista or Horacio Ramirez would be able to stave off a sweep. But Batista had other things in mind after a 10-day lay-off, pitching 6.2 innings and allowing just three runs. A far cry from his ten-hit, eight-run performance in his miserable outing against the A's.
It's also nice to see the Mariners start hitting the ball... kinda. Coming into the series, the M's team batting average was an anemic .187 after five games. After picking up eleven hits on Friday (seven singles) and eight more on Saturday, that average has been raised all the way up to .214, with a team OPS of .609. It's kind of sad when at the end of today's game, the highest average in the box scoreat day's end for the Mariners is Jose Lopez's .261, who also has a matching on-base percentage and slugging percentage as well. And the M's really need to take advantage of their opportunities- in the first two games they left 34 runners on base. It's hard to win games when you're leaving an average of two runners on base per inning...
Still, Beltre has picked up three hits and knocked in four runs over the first two games of the series, including his first home run of the season in Saturday's game. Not like last year when the first month of the season had passed before Beltre knocked his first one out of the park. Hopefully this is when Beltre taps into whatever it was that fueled his second half last season and begins to go on an offensive tear, with the rest of the line-up following suit.
The pitching match-up for the rubber game pits Brandon McCarthy- who is looking to prove that the White Sox made a mistake and he is worth his former prospect status, dammit- versus Horacio Ramirez, who is not only looking for results in his first "official" start of the season, but also to convince the Mariners' front office (and fans) that they got a good return for shipping Rafael Soriano to bolster the Braves' bullpen in Atlanta. Although this will be his first start against the Mariners in his career, he hasn't had much success facing the M's in relief. This includes a memorable outing with the White Sox versus Seattle last April 24th, when coming into the 11th inning of a 3-3 ballgame, Brandon gave up the go-ahead run after a two-out intentional walk to Jeremy Reed. Is that the type of outing that will haunt Brandon at Safeco Field?
Horacio Ramirez has never faced Texas, and he hasn't pitched in over a week as well, so it reamins to be said whether he'll be rusty and those six walks he tossed against Cleveland a week ago weren't jsut due to the weather, or if the extended rest will do him good, Miguel Batista-style.
I'm feeling confident that the Mariners will pull this series out of an otherwise gloomy beginning. I think the M's have Brandon McCarthy's number, and I'm saying the final score will be 5-3, Seattle.
I have to admit, after seeing the results of Friday's game and knowing that the Mariners were unable to find a victory with Jarrod Washburn on the mound, I had very little confidence that either Miguel Batista or Horacio Ramirez would be able to stave off a sweep. But Batista had other things in mind after a 10-day lay-off, pitching 6.2 innings and allowing just three runs. A far cry from his ten-hit, eight-run performance in his miserable outing against the A's.
It's also nice to see the Mariners start hitting the ball... kinda. Coming into the series, the M's team batting average was an anemic .187 after five games. After picking up eleven hits on Friday (seven singles) and eight more on Saturday, that average has been raised all the way up to .214, with a team OPS of .609. It's kind of sad when at the end of today's game, the highest average in the box scoreat day's end for the Mariners is Jose Lopez's .261, who also has a matching on-base percentage and slugging percentage as well. And the M's really need to take advantage of their opportunities- in the first two games they left 34 runners on base. It's hard to win games when you're leaving an average of two runners on base per inning...
Still, Beltre has picked up three hits and knocked in four runs over the first two games of the series, including his first home run of the season in Saturday's game. Not like last year when the first month of the season had passed before Beltre knocked his first one out of the park. Hopefully this is when Beltre taps into whatever it was that fueled his second half last season and begins to go on an offensive tear, with the rest of the line-up following suit.
The pitching match-up for the rubber game pits Brandon McCarthy- who is looking to prove that the White Sox made a mistake and he is worth his former prospect status, dammit- versus Horacio Ramirez, who is not only looking for results in his first "official" start of the season, but also to convince the Mariners' front office (and fans) that they got a good return for shipping Rafael Soriano to bolster the Braves' bullpen in Atlanta. Although this will be his first start against the Mariners in his career, he hasn't had much success facing the M's in relief. This includes a memorable outing with the White Sox versus Seattle last April 24th, when coming into the 11th inning of a 3-3 ballgame, Brandon gave up the go-ahead run after a two-out intentional walk to Jeremy Reed. Is that the type of outing that will haunt Brandon at Safeco Field?
Horacio Ramirez has never faced Texas, and he hasn't pitched in over a week as well, so it reamins to be said whether he'll be rusty and those six walks he tossed against Cleveland a week ago weren't jsut due to the weather, or if the extended rest will do him good, Miguel Batista-style.
I'm feeling confident that the Mariners will pull this series out of an otherwise gloomy beginning. I think the M's have Brandon McCarthy's number, and I'm saying the final score will be 5-3, Seattle.
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