Who else is having trouble digesting what happened last night? The Mariners absolutely crunched the Rangers and I mean absolutely crunched. In fact the Mariners looked like the Rangers, and the Rangers looked like the Mariners. Once the Mariners started scoring runs, they really didn’t stop (which is what you need to do against a team like the Rangers) and as a result they won. 

Now do they need to score 21 runs every night? Obviously not; however, they need to score five to seven runs a game to consistently win ball games. Last night might have been a step in the right direction, or the M’s could have scored a week’s worth of runs and get swept by the White Sox. But who cares? Last night was the most fun I’ve had watching a Mariners baseball game since Michael Saunders two dingers during a victory in Toronto. 

In that game in Toronto the Mariners drilled three home runs, one Montero mash and the two Saunders dingers (six RBIs). Last night the M’s clubbed four homers (for 11 RBIs) and three of those were in the second and third innings! Those second and third innings were the innings that the Mariners did the majority of their damage, with eight runs in the second and eight in the third. 

For the last few years we have seen the Mariners get runners into scoring position, with no outs, and failing to knock them in. Last night the runners got on base, got into scoring position and scored. It was definitely encouraging to see a struggling (young) offense do what it has failed to do for the last couple of years, and it was certainly encouraging to see it against one of the best teams in baseball (if not the best).  The best part was the Mariners using the long ball to knock in the runners, especially 1B Justin Smoak’s two three-run bombs (403 and 414 feet respectively). 

What is really impressive about this game is the fact that it was the second consecutive night the M’s have reached double-digits in runs scored, they had beaten Texas 10-3 the night before. With the series victory the Mariners now sit at 23-30 on the year and are sitting in third place in the American League West and 5-5 versus the Rangers on the year. We shall see if the M’s learn something from this performance and can continue decent offensive production. But all I really have to say about last night’s game was that it was a lot of fun to watch.