White Sox Continue To Rain On Seattle’s Already Rainy Parade

In the past two years, when the Chicago White Sox have played the Seattle Mariners, the ChiSox have won 14 out of the 17 games during the matchup.  That’s a .823 winning percentage.  For a lack of better vernacular, the White Sox have owned the Seattle Mariners.  They’ve had a choke-hold on the ballclub, and they won’t let go.  They are the persistent bully you can’t shake, you can’t avoid.  The Mariners skip class because they are afraid of getting beat up again.  The Seattle Mariners do not like the Chicago White Sox.  The Chicago White Sox love coming to Seattle.

This is the type of game that flirts with you.  The kind of game that, yeah, that was a wink, and I will wave back.  But, no.  They weren’t waving to you.  They were waving to the cooler, more attractive team behind you.  But they always wave, they always string you along.  Use your eyes, next time – I’m standing right here!  I mean, look at this boxscore:

The first Mariner run came on a Miguel Olivo first-pitch home run.  Hope!  The next Mariner run is scored on a Trayvon Robinson single to center.  Hope!  But with runners on second and third, Franklin Gutierrez grounds out to third-base.  Three outs.  After that, the offense was silent.  I don’t want to say this was a very Mariners Mariners game, but it was very Mariners.

The thing that stood out to me was Tom Wilhelmsen.  His line is okay.  One hit, one walk and three strikeouts over two innings – but his stuff was looking good.  He touched 98 mph a couple of times:

I don’t know why, but I’m still surprised when Jeff Gray and Wilhelmsen touch 97 or 98 mph.  I guess the lingering memory of Miguel Batista clouds my judgement.  I guess that’s why Zduriencik sent Wilhelmsen down earlier – his stuff.  Jack Z said he wanted the team to get bigger, so look at that.  He’s found himself some flame-throwers in these guys.

If they pan out, great.  Wilhelmsen is a great story.  And that’s exactly what we’re looking for when we watch these “pointless” games from now until the end of the season.  Stories.  Trayvon Robinson is still making spectacular catches.  Ichiro added two more hits to his tally.  Dustin Ackley, Mike Carp and Kyle Seager all got a hit at least once.  They went 2-for-9 with RISP.  Other than hitting with runners in scoring position, the Seattle Mariners kind of hit like an average team today.  They kind of pitched like an average team, too.  That’s a story, isn’t it?

Oh, and Miguel Olivo walked.

Tomorrow is Larry Bernandez bobblehead night.  Are you spending $30 on something that cost $5 to make?

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Adam. H Wong
Follow: @themarinerspen