Examining everything that went down in the Mariners vs Twins series

The Mariners first series of the year is in the books. There was some good, some bad, some ugly, and some plain unlucky stuff that went on. Let’s take a look at some different aspects of the series and check out all the important events that happened during the season-opening four-game set in Minnesota against the Twins.

Mariners vs Twins: The Results

• Game 1: Mariners win 2-1
• Game 2: Mariners win 4-3
• Game 3: Mariners lose 4-10
• Game 4: Mariners lose 0-4

Mariners vs Twins: The Good

Mitch Haniger – Haniger’s power was nice to see. He blasted two home runs in the series and started off the season with a bang by hitting a two-run bomb in the first inning in game one. Unfortunately, he has half of the Mariners rbi so far, driving in 5 of their ten runs.

Julio’s first hit – It took a while, but in the ninth inning of the second game against the Twins, Julio came through when it mattered. He ripped a hustle double and beat the relay in to get into scoring position. It’s his only hit so far, but he has been working deep into a lot of counts, and showing better discipline and patience at the plate.

Starting pitching (the first two) – Robbie Ray and Logan Gilbert were great for their first outing of the year. Both had their mild struggles but continued to put batters away when it mattered most. Robbie Ray was the first pitcher in baseball this year to go seven innings, while Gilbert went five but averaged 86.8 mph on his slider, 3.4 mph faster than last season. It’s a wonderful sign of what hopefully ends up being upcoming dominance by Gilbert.

The batter’s eyes at the plate – The Mariners have 18 walks already on the season, one of the best rates in baseball. They haven’t been able to convert many of them, but there are signs that the team is ready to break out.

JP Crawford – Crawford has been playing really well so far, providing an awesome spark at the bottom of the lineup. He’s hitting .333/.467/.417 with a double. Now, they just need to drive him in.

Mariners vs Twins: The Bad

leaving runners on base – Yeah, that happened a lot in the first three games of the series. They actually avoided it in the second game… because no one really got on base at all.

The 3-catcher rotation (if it’s because some catchers gel better with certain pitchers, then maybe. But no, stop it.) – The Mariners have been rotating their catchers so far. Raleigh, Murphy, Torrens, Raleigh. Many were worried that they were carrying three catchers

Mariners vs Twins: The Ugly

Adam Fraziers error and subsequent grand slam giveup – People are going to look at Marco’s start in game 3 and say “wow, he really sucked”. Yeah, he wasn’t great, but whenever you give up an unearned Grand Slam, it’s going to skew things.

Home runs – This bares repeating like it’s in a Dr. Suess Book. The Homers. Homers. Homers. Homers. The Mariners have been giving them out like it’s candy on Halloween. The Twins hit 9 in the series, including 6 in game three.

Byron Buxton – Can you just be good in all the other series instead. You’re one of my favorite players. All I can see is you salivating at a high 101 mph fastball and straight-up demolishing it. I couldn’t even show my son the highlight cause it would scare him. Not really, cause that’s supposed to be a joke. Like the Mariners RISP batting average. Only one of them is kinda funny, and the other is sad.

The Final game – Gross. Two hits. I don’t wanna get into it, cause we’re leaving that in Minnesota. On to Chicago!

Mariners vs Twins: Other Random Thoughts

The Mariners didn’t hit very well this series, but honestly, I’m not that worried about it. It’s early, and the team has been working counts and putting some decent contact on the ball. The pitching was actually pretty good, and they got out of Minnesota with a split in the four-game series.

Next up is the White Sox, and the Mariners are going to have their hands full once again with the team that is predicted by many to dominate and win the AL Central this year. Now and forever, Go Mariners!