Last night I got off of work, jumped into my truck and made my way to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. About a minute into the drive I flipped to the Mariners game just to see how things were going and the first thing I hear is the score is 8-0 and I instantly can’t believe that 25 minutes into the game and the Mariners are already getting whooped. Then to my amazement I find out that it is in fact the Mariners that are winning and as I listen the Mariners go on to score another 8 runs in the 3rd inning and a total of 21 runs in the game. Now teams have scored a lot of runs before in a game but listen to some of the stats that the M’s racked up in the first 3 innings.
Stat #1 – By the end of the 3rd inning every Mariner starter had a hit.
Stat #2 – Jesus Montero was 3 for 3 with a single, double and a home run. (Almost a cycle in really two innings because his first at bat was in the 2nd.)
Stat #3 – The Mariners had 3 home runs by the end of the 3rd. For the Rangers or Yankees this is normal, for the Mariners this is a small miracle.
Stat #4 – Every Mariner starter had scored a run by the end of the 3rd inning.
Stat #5 – Chone Figgins and Miguel Olivo both got a hit, that is a once in a lifetime occurrence so that’s why I mention it.
Okay now for some stats that are from the entire game and season.
Stat #6 – The Mariners relief pitcher Iwakuma recorded a save despite the Mariners winning by 13 runs.
Stat #7 – This was the second game in a row that the Mariners scored double digits against the Rangers.
Stat #8 – The win gives the Mariners a 6-3 record against the Rangers this year.
Stat #9 – Despite having a losing record of 23-30 the Mariners have scored more runs (218) then they have given up this year (216).
To sum it all up the Mariners looked like a real offensive threat for two straight games. Now because the team is still pretty young I don’t expect this to be an everyday thing. In fact I’d bet that the team will slump and be inconsistent the rest of the year (that is a key trait of young teams). However, this does show the Mariner nation that just maybe there is a future with Ackley, Seager, Montero, Smoak and Saunders creating the foundation for a future.