April 18 Mariners 1 Less then the Angels

It's too bad Richie Sexson can't play like that everyday...

Boxscore.

The Good
Richie Sexson was amazing yesterday. He hit a pair of longballs, and drove in all four of the Mariners runs. He finished the day 2-4, and didn't strike out. He was pretty much the only Mariner awake once they stepped in to the batter's box. The thing about Richie Sexson, it that he's such a streaky player. A good game here, a week later he has a good game. He has little to no consistancy. That may be something that we follow here. There had to be someone on base for the Sexonian to drive in. Adrian Beltre went 2-4 with a double, and scored one run. Jose Vidro scored the other. He went 1-4.

The bullpen was pretty good pitching a combined two innings of relief for replacement starter RA Dickey. Sean Green struck out the only batter that he faced. Aurthor Rhodes pitched one scoreless inning, allowing only one hit and striking out one. Mark Lowe finished the game pitching two thirds, and striking out one. The Mariners pitching was able to contain Vladimir Guerrero, who finished the day, or night rather, 0-2 with a walk and a run.

Raul Ibanez also threw out Torri Hunter at the plate, and has cooled off remarkably these last few days.

The Bad
Jose Lopez made his second error of the season.

The Ugly
RA Dickey was horrid in his start. He lasted six innings, but gave up five runs on 8 hits and a couple walks. He struck out two and didn't give up any homeruns. I expected more from Dickey. He looked really good this Spring, but that can't really be used as a proper measuring stick, but still. The six innings was fine. It's just the five runs that I can't look past. The Mariners got a good showing from their bullpen and Sexson, but when it comes down to it, Dickey's poor start was the difference.

The rest of the Mariners offence, other than Sexson and Beltre, was terrible. Ichiro, Ibanez, and Vidro each had a single, but they were the only other baserunners that the Mariners had. Hitting homeruns is fine, but with one or none on isn't going to get you very far. It's ironic who the two with the most expectations, Beltre and Sexson, pull through, but nobody else can.

I have to mention that Richie Sexson almost sent the game in to extra innings, with a homerun, that Torri Hunter somehow got to. Terrible news for Sexson who was having a solid day at the plate, but that's why the Angels paid hunter $90M bucks.